A helpful tip…

March 26, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

We all know retail security is a tough game. There are so many different facets to performing the job that it can seem daunting at times. What makes it worse is that even after you have taken every possible anti-shoplifting precaution or have access to, and use, every anti-theft device on the planet, somehow there is someone out there who will still steal from you. It doesn’t matter HOW they do it or even WHY they do it, they just do it and that’s all we need to concern ourselves with. That is why when we get beat (and don’t say you haven’t because we know that’s a lie) we need to learn what our weakness was and adapt to compensate for it.

An example would be a recent endeavor to stop a series of snatch and grab thefts occurring in our high-end children’s clothing area, which is unfortunately positioned within twenty feet of a main exit. It took two hits to that area before we realized what was happening and required installing and affixing more anti-theft devices. When that didn’t work we installed a brand new camera to catch him in the act. That failed too. He was too quick and there wasn’t enough time to spot him and apprehend him.

The solution:

Move his target section to the far end of the second floor.

When it comes to retail security you just need to think outside the box to succeed.

Visit RBC Security Solutions for Anti-Shoplifting or Anti- theft Devices that can help you with your Retail Security needs like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags. Our Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS Labels and Tags are not cheap they are inexpensive and made in the U.S.

For more information on how you can use Anti- theft Devices in conjunction with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system to help you prevent retail theft in your business with products like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags contact us.

Click here for your Free Sample of these new Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags for your Retail Security and Anti-Shoplifting needs.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, retail security

Retail security simplified…

March 26, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I am often amazed at how complex we as business leaders tend to make things. In an effort to always do more and do it better we sometimes just overcomplicate proven processes. Take retail security for example. I am amazed at how many different providers there are of anti-shoplifting tools. Last I checked all EAS tags were created equal.

Think about it. It is the same technology. Whether you get name brand EAS tags or you get cheap tags you still will be preventing loss by protecting your product. Anti-theft devices are unnerving for most shoplifters. Most major studies show that the overwhelming offender is an amateur. This type of shoplifter only knows one thing; anti-theft devices help you get you caught. If they don’t care whose name is on the tag then why do we? Why pay for a name brand tag when cheap labels and tags still deter theft. When you consider switching to less expensive equipment you will still deter theft and save on expenses. I think that’s called a win-win situation.

Visit RBC Security Solutions for Anti-Shoplifting or Anti- theft Devices that can help you with your Retail Security needs like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags. Our EAS Labels and Tags are not cheap they are inexpensive and made in the U.S.

For more information on how you can use Anti- theft Devices to help you prevent retail theft in your business with products like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags contact us.

Click here for your Free Sample of these new Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags for your Retail Security and Anti-Shoplifting needs!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, retail security

Ready for Spring

March 26, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I was looking out my back door yesterday and I saw the first robin of the season. I couldn’t believe it. The winter months have just flown by and now we are already seeing the signs of spring.

After the robin, I noticed the trees are budding out and the grass is starting to return to its normal shade of green. Inside the stores, you can see a shift. Bright spring colors are on display, a long with bright spring merchandise. New shoes, new clothes and definitely new bags and purses.

In the winter we see a lot of tiny little bags and clutches. The spring brings out huge beach bags and carry alls. On more than one occasion I have apprehended a suspect that has stuffed one of these huge bags full of merchandise. In an effort to stop shoplifting using our merchandise as a tool, we started to use Checkpoint security tags.

We are now attaching Checkpoint security tags to all of our purses and handbags. We are putting the pins right into the eye of the zipper pull. So far it seems to be working. Without a means to stuff the product, we are eliminating one more way to attempt shoplifting. It also provides a visual cue that more merchandise in the store is tagged and we are watching our shrink.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, and other RF labels that can help you stop shoplifting in your business.

For more information on Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags and how to stop shoplifting contact us at RF label or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF label, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags, stop shoplifting

Employee Theft Investigation Strategies: End of Shift Observation

March 26, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Another tactic commonly used to spur employee theft investigations is to complete end of shift observations. While sporadic observation of an employee throughout their shift is recommended, it is not until the final minutes before the employee’s break, lunch or shift end that they will typically conduct employee theft activity and conceal the merchandise that they are after.

I was observing an employee during the middle of her shift when a typical lunch break would occur. The employee walked to the break room and punched out. She then took her jacket and purse and headed out of the store. On her way out she stopped in a department and bent down several times, which appeared to be very suspicious of internal theft. The employee then walked out of the building and to her car. I observed her emptying several items into her car before returning to the store, and once I checked the car I could see through the windows that there were several items in the vehicle that appeared to be from our store. After that I decided to observe the subject for the rest of the day. She didn’t conduct any other employee theft during the bulk of her shift, however she did occasionally place merchandise in a fairly secluded area of the store that did not belong there. When it was time for her to go, just as she had before, the employee punched out and grabbed her things. As she was walking through the store the employee stepped into the department where she had previously placed merchandise and bent down several times. After she left the building I found that the merchandise she had staged was missing. On her next shift we interviewed the employee. She admitted to the internal theft and we got a full confession including much more merchandise than what we had observed being taken.

For more information on employee theft , employee theft investigation or internal contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

ORC Boosters

March 26, 2012 by Staff Editor

Not long ago we were having huge problems with Organized Retail Crime boosters coming in and taking whole stacks of Levi’s. At that time we didn’t have any clothing security in place in our low risk stores, and we paid for it. You wouldn’t know you had been hit by a booster until you looked over and saw a missing stack of jeans where there had once been a full stock of them. The boosters were very quick and would be in and out of your store in less than five minutes. We would catch one now and again after dedicated focus on the department, but the problem didn’t stop. They would keep coming back making the circuit of our area stores and wiping out our denim supply. We knew we had to make a change and that we needed to get some anti-theft devices in play.

We jumped on it full force and hard tagged all of our Levi’s. It was a bit of an investment at first to get the supplies, but it quickly became a worth while investment. It was astonishing how quickly the boosting stopped. The ORC groups didn’t want to bother with the hard tags and moved on to somewhere else where they didn’t have to.

Visit RBC Security Solutions for Clothing Security Anti- theft Devices that can help you protect your clothes and prevent retail theft in your business with products like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags. Our Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS Labels and Tags are not cheap they are inexpensive and made in the U.S.

For more information on how you can use Clothing Security Anti- theft Devices in conjunction with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system to protect your Clothes and help you prevent retail theft in your business with products like Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags contact us.

Click here for your Free Sample of these new Cheap Labels and Cheap Tags for your Clothing Security needs!

Filed Under: clothing alarm Tagged With: Cheap Labels, Cheap Tags, Clothing Security

Shoplifters are also getting smarter…

March 23, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When one thinks of working towards retail theft prevention they don’t exactly envision a high-tech industry combating groups or individuals who have the resources of an organized crime syndicate, but in reality it is those types of people who are the greatest threat to our profession. As things become more desperate in this economy, the professional thieves have upped their respective games in more ways than one. Some have become more violent, resorting to outright threats of harming those who get in their way, while others have learned of more methods to cover their tracks such as changing the license plates on their vehicles or wearing realistic masks or prosthetics. Then there are those who are ‘tech-savvy’.

The technically minded shoplifters have begun devising ways to circumvent anti-shoplifting safeguards with computers cell phones. Last week, one of my stores suffered a complete failure of their camera system because an ingenious team of thieves used a series of laser pointers of a certain type to create a feedback error to the system. It disabled the cameras throughout several parts of the store and gave them time to grab what they wanted and make for the doors. Unfortunately for them they miscalculated when they tried to beat the Checkpoint security system. Nearly everything they had grabbed was large and had some sort of Checkpoint security tag on it. Despite their best efforts, the Checkpoint security system went off as they passed the threshold and allowed us on the floor to figure out which way they had exited. When we caught them, the police found a device that they claimed was supposed to jam the frequencies used by the Checkpoint security system for setting off the alarm.

It looked like they miscalculated.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, checkpoint security system, Checkpoint security tags, checkpoint systems, retail theft prevention

Covering all your bases with pre employment screening…

March 23, 2012 by Staff Editor

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times already; there is no singular perfect way to catch criminals. If someone is truly set upon finding a way of stealing or defrauding your company, they will likely find a way and get away with it for some time before you actually catch on and stop them. That is why you always need to employ multiple systems, some that simply overlap in function and others that provide redundancy for what you may already have in order to catch such criminals before they do too much damage.

Case in point: Employee background checks. Any sort of pre employment screening is done as a form of preventative measure to make sure you aren’t hiring a known ‘bad seed’. But sometimes just requiring a basic background check isn’t enough to catch everything. If you want to be sure you have covered all your bases you need to take the time to enforce a full suite of background checks. Many years ago I worked for a certain company that dealt with a lot of sensitive information on a regular basis (as in every second of the day). Their pre employment screening process was intense, including a preliminary drug screening, fingerprinting, standard background check, criminal background check, credit checks, and even a medical history. It took them two weeks just to get the results from everything before they hired me. But even with all of those safeguards in place before they even take anyone on as an employee, it didn’t prevent those who got hired from conducting illicit activities. During my two year tenure, there were no less than seven known instances of employees being fired for committing fraud or embezzling customer assets. So while background checks are certainly helpful, without maintaining constant vigilance over your workforce they can still harm your business.

For more information on background check experts, background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: background check company, Background checks, criminal background check, employee background checks, pre employment screening

Get a Grip On It!

March 23, 2012 by Staff Editor

While looking over some of the various solutions in liquor bottle security, I came across a rather interesting find. Alpha Security, one of the better companies who make bottle locks, has what is called the Alpha Steel Grip.

This particular bottle lock is a little different than some of Alpha Security’s other types of bottle locks, like the EASy Bottle Bottle Lock. Instead of being a cap that slides over the mouth of a bottle, this is more of a ring that is secured around the bottle’s neck.

The Alpha Steel Grip is just that. It is a steel band that has a hard tag inside of it and will set off an alarm if anyone tries to steal the bottle. A lot of time was spent to make sure that this version is much more superior than some of the previous versions. It is definitely better than any sort of cheap import or knock off that you could come across. The grips come in two rather accommodating sizes; Small and Extra Large.

I think one of the things I like best is that it would be more versatile than some of the bottle caps because it could potentially be used for champagne bottles as well as wine and liquor. Because the grips are removes versus being deactivated, it is important to understand the versatility you have when you re use the Alpha Steel Grips on a different bottle.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security , Bottle Lock , Bottle locks , Bottle Security , liquor bottle security or EASy Bottle and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: Alpha Security, bottle lock, bottle locks, bottle security, easy bottle, liquor bottle security

How To Protect Your Fitting Rooms

March 23, 2012 by Staff Editor

One of my all time problematic areas of clothing security has been in the fitting rooms. I can’t even tell you the countless hours I have spent brainstorming new security measures specifically for that area of the store. The mix of protecting the privacy of a customer and the balance of payroll hours spent to monitor a fitting room creates a difficult task at best.

Additionally, the fitting rooms attract a few different types of theft. There is the opportunist. They are the ones who don’t come in to steal, but faced with an unclean fitting room and no watchful eyes to do a piece count, an extra item or two is liable to walk out the door.

Then there are the amateurs who know they want to steal a piece of clothing, but are way to nervous to do it on the sales floor. They will wait for hours in a fitting room until they are the only ones left. They will also take a chance against clothing security tags. Some have the fore thought to bring in a pair of wire cutters in an attempt at hacking off the pin of a clothing security tag.

The best bet to protecting a fitting room from theft is to keep the fitting rooms monitored. While I would love to suggest installing locks, I understand that it can cause a big customer issue. If a customer can’t find an employee to unlock them, you can potentially loose a sale. Next use checkpoint tags whenever possible. Often shoplifters will bypass stealing if faced with the prospect of having to remove one. They won’t run the risk of setting off a clothing alarm with a Checkpoint tag still attached.

With these simple couple of additions to your clothing security, your fitting rooms will stand a better chance of being theft free.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Checkpoint tags, clothing alarm, Clothing Security, clothing security tags, security tags on clothes

Retail Anti-Theft Devices: Technology For A Real Problem

March 23, 2012 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shoplifting or theft is as old as the marketplace. For many years retailers worked with limited technology to address the issue, but today is a new day. The loss prevention industry has long sought for new technology to provide an edge against shoplifting. Recently, the focus has been on retail anti-theft devices as a means to prevent shoplifting. Currently, there are many retail anti-theft devices on the markets, some examples are: 2 Alarm, 3 Alarm, Jewel Lok, Nano Gate, Shark Tag, and Spider Wrap.

Each of these tools has their place in the retail environment. The 2 Alarm and the 3 Alarm security tags is a flexible article security tag. It can be used for many different applications such as: Clothing security, merchandise security and most of all to prevent shoplifting. The 2 Alarm and 3 Alarm tags use RF or EAS technology to notify the store’s personnel in the event that merchandise is taken from the store. These tags work best with merchandise that can be pinned. The Jewel Lok is a small security tag. The Jewel Lok is designed to work to secure your high priced jewelry. The Jewel Lok works on the same principal as the 2 Alarm and 3 Alarm, but in a smaller package. These devices are designed to prevent shoplifting

The shark tag and Spider Wrap are newer products to hit the marketplace. The Shark tag is used to prevent loses that can occur from return fraud. The Shark Tag is a non EAS/RF retail anti theft device. It is attached to merchandise and easily removed by cutting. This allows the retailer to see if the merchandise has been worn. While not designed to prevent shoplifting, the retailer can then deny the return of unsellable merchandise. Spider Wrap is used for securing merchandise packaged within boxes. The Spider Wrap retail anti-theft device is a great tool for “tagging” these difficult to control items.

All of the above mentioned retail anti-theft devices could be partnered with the Nano Gate. The Nano Gate is a device that is placed on the exit/entrance of an area that needs to be secure and not have your product in the area. I’ve worked in the loss prevention industry for a number of years and it’s my belief that it is important to invest in retail anti theft devices for the health of any business.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store for retail anti theft devices that can help you prevent shoplifting in your business.

For more information on how you can use retail anti theft devices to prevent shoplifting contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2 Alarm, 3 Alarm, Jewel Lok, Nano Gate, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, Shark Tag, Spider Wrap