Some pretty basic ones are wearing hoodies, and ideally having lots of pockets in your clothes. Confidence is key in that if you look nervous and check for cameras/workers/etc, you're gonna look a lot more suspicious. act like you're browsing, grab small things, and conceal as you go!

I occasionally buy things when I go to these stores, so it kinda looks like I'm a frequent browser more than anything else. For another, if I see a disorganized shelf with clear labels of where things SHOULD be, I'll fix it - it looks harmless, and also gives me an excuse to grab multiple items, to the point that walking away with one is hardly noticable.

I'm fairly nice to employees, not chatty or friendly per se but occasionally helpful and definitely not rude. I don't avoid them like the plague, and if I have something in my hands when I pass by one, I won't rush to conceal it. I'll just read the packaging and keep walking. For it to not be in my hand the next time they see me, it might just look like I decided I didn't want it and put it down somewhere.

I think the most important one is that I use my phone a lot - in some stores, I'll take pictures of things, and in others, I'll act like I'm texting. Either way, it gives me excuses to stick my hand in my bag fairly often, and it also gives me a reason to double back to the same areas multiple times (maybe I missed something, maybe someone told me to check for something, etc.)

I also use restrooms to my advantage. If I have any large items that I know won't beep, I hold them close to my body and go into the bathroom. Once there, I can take them out of whatever packaging they're in and conceal them more effectively that way. I'll also use that time to adjust the things already in my bag to make sure nothing's making any awkward shapes in my bag.

another thing that likely helps (though it isn't necessarily the most useful info) is that I'm fairly short, and can easily pass as much younger than I am, so for me to be walking around with a clunky bag isn't that odd, cause it just makes me look like a student. I also wear chunky headphones, giving me a general impression of minding my own business 😭 notably though, I avoid actually listening to anything when I'm doing all this, since I wanna be aware of my surroundings.