Retail Anti Theft Devices

Why EAS Makes Sense For Your Business

March 22, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Video surveillance is big business. From law enforcement using closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to protect the citizens of this country to retail stores protecting their merchandise, video surveillance has become the main choice for many big and small businesses to use in their businesses. For retail stores to prevent shoplifting the use of EAS systems have become the norm, and among other anti theft devices, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are a must for every retail business around the world.

Police: Nun caught on camera shoplifting

BRIAR CREEK, Pa. — A 78-year-old nun in Pennsylvania was arrested for shoplifting $23 worth of toiletries and snacks from a store.

Surveillance video taken Monday at 3:45 p.m. reportedly shows the woman, named Agnes Pennino, taking snacks from a Surplus Outlet supermarket in Briar Creek, Pennsylvania.

Store manager Zane Kishbach said a customer alerted him to the woman.

“Another customer came to me in aisle 5 and said, ‘I’m not sure what I’m seeing, but I think a woman is stealing,’ and she had already left the store by that time, and I went out to pursue her,” Kishbach said.

Salem finance director charged 2nd time for shoplifting

SALEM — The town’s finance director allegedly shoplifted an assortment of clothing at Macy’s a week before she was arrested at the store in a similar case, according to a newly filed court complaint.

Prosecutors have filed charges against Jane Savastano, 48, for allegedly taking numerous pieces of clothing on Feb. 12 and Feb. 19.
She waived arraignment in 10th Circuit Court, Salem Division, and entered a not guilty plea to all charges, according to court papers filed by her lawyer, Patrick Donovan.
Prosecutors recently notified a judge they are seeking a potential jail sentence for Savastano, who has served as the town of Salem’s finance director since March 2005.
Each of the three charges are punishable by up to a year in county jail.
Savastano is on administrative leave from her job and is expected to face a personnel review by the town.
The new charge against Savastano provided few details about the Feb. 12 incident that happened a week before her arrest. She allegedly entered the store on Friday, Feb. 12, around 3:30 p.m., took a number of clothing items “valued more than $1 and less than $1,000” and left without paying.

Police: Dollar General employee theft ring stole $56k worth of merchandise

ELLOREE, SC (WIS) –

An investigation by the Elloree Police Department uncovered an employee theft ring at the Dollar General store on Old Number 6 Highway.

Police say the store’s management reported a loss of merchandise costing more than $56,000 over eight months.

Seven employees have been arrested on charges of felony criminal conspiracy and breach of trust involving more than $10,000. They were booked into the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center where they have posted bail.

According to the arrest warrants, the employees, “while utilizing a scheme, did knowingly, with intent to permanently deprive the owner, remove, carry away or allowed to be carried away, retail merchandise without payment.”

“They would wait until the close of business at the end of the day and they would already pre-load buggies or shopping carts and right when it time to close the business, they would pull those buggies up, pretend to scan the items, and the buggies would be completely full,” Elloree Police Chief Joseph Avinger said. “Then we went back with the video and checked it along with the register tape to see how much money was spent at the register and it would be only a few dollars — $10 to $15 from buggies filled with merchandise.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices, surveillance

HELP ME! Tips To Maintaining Your Checkpoint System

March 17, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

After 8+ years in the Navy as an Electronics Technician, I considered my options for the next phase of my career. My research lead me to a growing company named Checkpoint Systems, Inc. A position as a Field Service Representative was quite a change from military service. Both were good experiences, but very different. Each Involved travel, I traveled much of the world with the Navy, while exploring mainly the Eastern U.S. with Checkpoint Systems. More recently I joined the team at LPSI, doing my part to provide technical support.

Over the years I have found some items that many times Retailers do not take into account. Many times the simplest of solutions will fix an issue with your Checkpoint system.

Environment of EAS: Electronic article surveillance systems of all varieties are subject to their surroundings. The wrong environmental conditions can cause phantom alarms, false alarms, or poor detection. How close are merchandise, metal racks, and wiring? Is your store front in need of maintenance? I will discuss some of the common items that may be affecting your EAS system performance.

Many EAS systems some level of 360° detection.

Not only do they detect in the doorway, they also have backfield detection, the area on the opposite side of the pedestal from customer walk way.

Tagged merchandise, metal racks, and electrical wiring in this incidental detection zone can have an adverse effect on system performance. As a general rule, tagged merchandise should be equivalent of at least ¾ of you doorway aisle width away from each EAS pedestal. Example; tags should be no closer than 4.5 feet, in a 6 foot doorway. Where possible: metal racks and electrical wiring should be 5 feet or more away from the system.

The store front is often the first impression a customer has of your business. It is really much more than that. Door manufactures do not design doors with EAS system in mind. The condition of older doors and framing can be causing EAS system issues. Loose metal trim, or metal on metal scrapping as a door swings or slides, can cause a false echo, tricking the system into an alarm condition. Even new doors can unintentionally affect a systems performance.

If you are not quite happy with your EAS systems performance, you may be able to take a few simple steps towards improvement. Make sure no tagged merchandise is in the backfield detection zone. Move that metal rack a foot further away. See if any wires can be rerouted, away from the system. If a bolt, nut, or screw is loose, tighten it. Have a door maintenance professional adjust the door hinges so the door does not drag on the threshold. There is no one answer to resolve environmental interference with your Checkpoint system. I have given a few ideas, but if you continue to have system performance issues, contact Loss Prevention Systems for service.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Nano Gate, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, EAS Systems, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

COMMON SENSE TAGGING

March 17, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

You know, sometimes we seem to overthink EAS tagging. Very often, I find that my store managers will focus so heavily on tagging a small, inexpensive (but high shrink) item, that they completely overlook the big ticket item that is absent of any physical security measure. Why is that? A large cooler is just as susceptible to loss as a pair of socks. Maybe it has to do with the perception of what is driving shrink in our stores.

Just last month, I hosted a district LP conference for store managers in my area. I asked each store manager to write on a sheet of paper what they felt their highest shrink item was in there stores. The results were pretty shocking. Not a single one got it right. Heck, they weren’t even close. Most of them hovered around the small items that they knew were being stolen on a daily basis; like pocket knives, wrist watches, socks/underwear, etc. These are also the areas that they are focusing their EAS tagging at.

What most didn’t realize was how high their highest shrink categories actually were. So what I found was that they all had a perceived vision of shrink in their store, and instead of using the reporting given to them, they were mostly making business decisions based off of their own emotions. We all know how that can end up, right? So how can you avoid falling into this trap?

Most companies give their managers some level of reporting that showcases their sales as well as shrink. It’s best to use these reporting tools to help plan on what you’re going to tag with an EAS device. For example, if you’re looking at your shrink report and each week you have hundreds of dollars of losses in a certain style of headphones, well it’s probably time to wrap a Spider Wrap around them.

Additionally, sometimes, you have to use your years of experience in order to be pro-active to potential losses. Let’s say your in store reporting shows you have historically seen losses from high end footwear. It’s spring time, and you begin to receive this year’s new high end shoe line. It would probably be a wise idea to tag these before they have a chance to walk off, right? Of course! The same could be said for hundreds of products in your store.

Don’t overthink your EAS tagging methods. If you have a product that is suffering from theft, then tag it. Don’t wait for someone to tell you to do so, and don’t sit back idly while your profits walk out the front door. The reason EAS tags were invented was to save you money. Let them do their job, so you can continue to have yours.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, EAS Devices, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, mobile POS loss prevention, Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, Shoplifting Prevention, surveillance

Phones and the Theft of Time

March 9, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

In the past when managers discussed employee theft they mostly talked about the tangibles. They talked about their problems with staff stealing product, supplies and money – the physical things which can be touched and seen.

They would also discuss the problem of employees “standing around” and not doing their work. However, this conversation was separate from the one about theft, it was about productivity. But, with the arrival of smart phones the issue of productivity can’t be separated from the one of theft. The theft of time, via lack of productivity, is increasing at a rapid rate.

It’s seldom looked at that way because time is an intangible, it lacks physical substance. Its boundaries are blurrier – an employee who would never think of stealing a shirt from the store has no qualms about using company time to buy, on her phone, a shirt from her favorite website.

The idea of who “owns” an employee’s time is an old argument. There have been countless lawsuits and court decisions made over the years, trying to define it. In the last few years there have been several landmark ones in the tech field. On paper it can seem cut and dried, in practice it’s not.

Especially now, when managers are encountering issues they’ve never had to deal with before. The debate of where, how and when people on the job should have access to their phones is a new one, one with strong opinions and feelings on both sides. Companies are struggling with it and most have yet to agree on, develop and enforce clear guidelines.

At this time the issue is simple. A company pays an employee for a block of time, and during that time they have the right to expect (within the labor laws) the worker to give his attention to the duties of the job, not his phone. The business can enact and enforce policies that support this right.

Soon however, it’s going to become much more complicated. Most of us know someone who’s too attached to their phone – a person who is losing or has lost the ability function without it. Individuals who may need professional help to address their obsession (there’s a fierce argument in the medical community as to whether it’s an addiction or not).

In the next few years companies will have to link their phone/workplace access policies with their ADA and Mental Health policies. Therefore, it’s vital that companies develop and enforce basic phone/workplace access policies and procedures now, because it’s only going to get more complicated. Don’t let employees steal your company’s time; after all you paid for it.

Nicole Abbott is a professional writer who’s had over 150 articles published. She’s a business consultant and former psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in mental health, business and addiction. She’s a coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator. She has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, seminars and college classes.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Workplace Violence

March 3, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Whether you are a small business owner or a company with hundreds of employees, the reality is simple. Good employees are an asset to your company. Some small business owners rely very much on a couple of employees in their business, and the daily tasks seem impossible to fulfill without those key employees. Monetary compensation, health insurance, and retirement accounts for those employees seem to be in accordance to the tasks they perform. But, have you thought whether the security in your business is appropriate? Have you checked to see whether help is there if needed? Ensuring employees safety in the workplace should be a top priority for you, and your business. To read more about this topic follow the links below.

Workplace Violence: The Tragedies Continue

How to protect yourself during an active shooter incident.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7% of all workplace fatalities are the result of intentional homicide. While active shooter scenarios in the workplace are relatively rare, they result in fatal injuries more often than fires and explosions, getting caught in equipment or machinery, and exposure to hazardous substances combined. The latest statistics for full year 2014 indicate there were 403 workplace violence homicides, with 307 or 76% classified as intentional shootings. Nearly 17% of the victims were women, 83% were men. It’s true that armed robberies make up about half of all work-related homicides, but attacks by coworkers, students and relatives make up the rest.

Some incidents of extreme workplace violence are spectacular and receive wide media attention. The recent mass killings at a San Bernardino, California, office party and the August 2015 on-camera shooting of two journalists by one of their former colleagues come to mind. And it happened again just last week. Three people were killed and another 14 injured on February 25 in Hesston, Kansas. The gunman was a disgruntled employee.
Although it is hard to believe and probably the result of how incidents are categorized, the event widely described as one of the first workplace violence shootings in the United States occurred in 1989, when a disgruntled worker brought an AK-47 into the Standard-Gravure printing plant in Louisville, Kentucky and killed eight employees, then himself.

A Look at Workplace Violence in the United States

Fifteen people at a Kansas factory were shot, three of them killed, by a co-worker whom police say had also shot two other people as he drove toward the facility. The shooting at Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas, was at least the fourth workplace shooting in the United States in the past 12 months alone. Some questions and answers about workplace shootings:

WHAT OTHER WORKPLACE SHOOTINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

— Aug. 26, 2015: Alison Parker and Adam Ward of Roanoke, Virginia, TV station WDBJ were fatally shot by former employee Vester Lee Flanagan II during a live broadcast. The person they were interviewing was wounded. Flanagan fatally shot himself after a police chase.

— Feb. 23, 2015: An employee of armed security company Shields Business Solutions in Moorestown, New Jersey, opened fire on a co-worker inside the business before fatally shooting himself outside amid what police described as an “ongoing domestic situation.” Moorestown Police Lt. Lee Lieber said Edgar Figueroa killed himself after shooting Melvin Nieves four times.

— Feb. 12, 2015: Truck driver Jeffrey DeZeeuw got into an argument over a delivery with a supervisor at a Sioux Steel Co. location known as ProTec, in Lennox, South Dakota. DeZeeuw later returned, fatally shot the supervisor and wounded worker Kathy Steever. He also injured another employee, Brian Roesler, who confronted DeZeeuw and is credited with likely preventing more injuries or deaths. DeZeeuw then killed himself.

OSHA National Conference Addresses Workplace Violence

LAS VEGAS, NV – OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab provided the keynote address at a national conference of Veterans Administration hospital workers in Las Vegas last week.

The conference, held by the American Federation of Government Employees, brought together representatives and partners of the host organizations to update and educate them on key and emerging occupational safety and health issues.

Barab highlighted OSHA’s ongoing work with VA hospitals and other healthcare facilities to combat workplace violence, including the release last year of Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers *.

He also discussed the agency’s efforts to ensure that OSHA inspectors have the resources, training and tools necessary to conduct inspections in response to workplace violence.

Barab told the delegates that “care of our nation’s veterans is a national priority, but we also have to look out for the health and safety those who care for them. He added: “workplace violence remains a difficult and dangerous problem, particularly for those in healthcare settings.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Safety First When Stopping a Shoplifter

February 17, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Safety should be the primary concern in any shoplifting detention at any retail store. Unless the employees are trained individuals and know the laws concerning detention of a shoplifter, employees should be very wary of the repercussions associated with stopping a shoplifter. Racial profiling is commonly used by retail stores to spot a shoplifter, and although it is extremely wrong and some stores have gotten sued because of it, the truth is you cannot spot a shoplifter by the way they look. According to the Seattle Police Department though, there are certain actions that are prevalent with a shoplifter: Nervousness, aimlessly walking around the store for long period of times, handling the merchandise, dropping the merchandise on the floor, etc., are some of these behaviors they display. Stress safety first with your employees at all times when stopping a shoplifter.

For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.

Taking steps to prevent shoplifting

In early July, $3,000 in designer dresses, slacks and jackets were stolen from ADORE Designer Retail Boutique in Cary, one of Nancy Alinovi’s two consignment shops in the Triangle. She still feels sick about it.

“It’s just this feeling in your chest,” she said. “It’s not a victimless crime.”

Alinovi said it will be two months before everything returns to normal at the family-owned boutiques, which cut prices in order to stay afloat after the theft. Her experience shows the toll shoplifting takes on small businesses, where margins are small and business is personal.

There were 582 calls to the Raleigh Police Department regarding shoplifting in the past year, said Jim Sughrue, department spokesman. They run the gamut from family-run gas stations to department stores, he said.

According to a National Retail Federation’s security survey, shoplifting accounted for 38 percent of the $44 billion in retail inventory loss due to crime in 2014.

Theft rings use returns to fund operations

TILTON — Next time you let a sales receipt blow away in a store parking lot, you might unwittingly be helping an organized retail crime ring fund its drug operations.
Those rings, often from other states, collect those discarded receipts, go into that store, gather items on the receipt and then take them to the return counter to get handed cash, according to Tilton police detective Nathan Buffington.
“I can tell you of the (organized retail crime) cases that we’ve dealt with, I don’t think we’ve had any that in some way, shape or form that haven’t come back to narcotics, whether it be again to fund narcotic operations, to help profit, to expand,” Buffington said after speaking at a symposium on the subject at Tilton School on Friday.
These rings use a variety of techniques to steal billions from stores annually.

Return fraud alone cost stores $10.85 billion in 2014, according to the National Retail Federation.

The rings “have a list of the stores that carry those items” they’re targeting, according to Nancy Kyle, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Retail Association. The rings often travel north along the East Coast, she said.

Cumbria police collar children as young as four for crimes

Primary school children across south and west Cumbria – aged between five and nine – have also committed crimes but are too young to be prosecuted.

Assaults, criminal damage, burglary, theft and shoplifting are among the shocking offences carried out by children, figures have revealed.

Cumbria police said that it was vital they spoke to these young people when they are at their most “susceptible” and they “do not realise the consequences of their actions”.

Police say interaction with the children can help make them understand that they are heading down a path which “could lead them to have a criminal record which could have an impact on their life, all for something they did when they were a child”.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that there were 60 crimes committed by under-10s in south Cumbria and six in Copeland.

The age of the youngsters mean police were unable to bring charges as the age of criminal responsibility in England is 10, meaning under-10s have to be released without charge.

The most common crime committed was assault, with 37 offences. This was followed by criminal damage with 12 incidents and six counts of theft.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

How to Deal with Retail Burnout

February 16, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Burnout is an on-going, serious issue in the retail industry. The industry is so immense and pervasive that all of us, even if we’ve never working in retail, have knowledge of and experience with the problem.

Personally, some of you may be currently struggling with it or have in the past. If you haven’t personally experienced it you probably know friends and family who have. Finally, we’ve all had unpleasant interactions (many, many times) with burnt out sales clerks, managers or customer service reps.

Last month we looked at why “Retail Burnout Matters” preventshopliftingloss.net/retail-burnout-matters/. This month we’re going to look at how an individual can deal with it at a professional level.

There are many causes and symptoms of burnout. One of the most universal symptoms is a feeling of being stuck. The first place to start if you’re feeling trapped is with a plan of how to get free. People who feel caught often do damage to others and themselves when they try to get unstuck without a well thought out plan.

The first thing you can do is plan how to stay where you are. You may want to stay with the same company in the same store, but need to learn (traditional/online classes, TED talks, books, short term therapy, etc) some stress management techniques to improve your outlook. Many times if you change your attitude and coping skills it’s enough to make the situation better.

Or you may need to plan the next step. Boredom, complacency and restlessness, when not addressed, are often the causes of stress. What kind of change do you need (i.e. sell jewelry rather than candles, increased/decreased level of responsibility, go to a different store with the same company, go to a different company, work in a small boutique or a big box)?

Finally, you may need to plan to leave the field. Retail may no longer, or never has been, your career of choice. If so, then it’s time to figure out how, when and where to from here. For many people establishing some sort of forward momentum, no matter how small, is enough to lessen the trapped feeling.

Having a plan and actively, consciously working that plan is key to alleviating burnout, but it’s not easy. However, the alternative is to stay miserable, and as choices go choosing to stay unhappy is a poor one. As Yoda said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Part 1: Alpha Technology S3i – Taking Alpha Security To A New Level

February 10, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

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Part 1: Alpha Technology S3i – Taking Alpha Security To A New Level

When we discuss merchandise protection the first thought is always towards preventing theft and fraud. The same thing can be said in discussing Alpha Technology; our initial thought turns to security devices such as bottle locks, Alpha hard tags and Alpha Keeper boxes. There is nothing wrong with this, the purpose of retail anti-theft devices is to prevent shoplifting, but, what if it is combined with smart intelligence? What benefits could your store(s) see by incorporating tools that not only enhance theft prevention but also provides inventory management data? Alpha Security S3i technology takes merchandise protection to a new level, bringing Loss Prevention and store operations together to optimize store profitability. In part one of this article, I want to cover the impact Alpha S3i can have on Loss Prevention tactics to save you money. In part 2 we will review the benefits of S3i from an operations and inventory control perspective.

It used to be that the primary purpose of retail anti-theft devices like Alpha hard tags and electronic article surveillance systems was to prevent shoplifting. EAS tagging or placing alarmed hard tags was going to deter theft or it was going to sound an alarm when someone attempted to sneak out of the store with product. Alpha S3i uses the advancements in mobile and cloud based technologies to now make it possible to track merchandise as it is removed from a shelf and moved through a store. Working with Alpha Technology, monitoring zones will be created for areas that are designated as high risk. For example, perhaps your store has an aisle or two dedicated to just high risk electronics such as computer routers and hard drives. That area can be set up as a zone and if merchandise tagged with Alpha S3i alarm devices is moved out of that zone, a real time alert can be sent to store radios, smart phones, tablets, or computers. These alerts can prompt personnel to offer customer service to the patron who has selected the merchandise and walked out of the area. Perhaps your business is not large enough to justify a Loss Prevention officer, so alerting store personnel or managers may be your only immediate responder. Getting that customer service to the individual walking away with the merchandise may be your best means of preventing a loss.

For Loss Prevention personnel, the benefits are even more pronounced. In-Store Loss Prevention teams can receive an alert and immediately respond to a signal on their radio or smart device. Monitoring cameras has always been a hit or miss proposition. Even with multiple digital cameras hooked up to a closed circuit television system, one person can only see so much at one time. Alpha Security S3i technology can make security teams smarter in how they focus their efforts. For smaller stores that may not have the benefit of in-store Loss Prevention, but may be monitored from a district or regional level, S3i still provides alerts and time stamps provide the ability to narrow CCTV review time down to a specific event. This data may provide information needed to track an organized theft ring or even dishonest employee activity. I recall my own experiences of video review for missing merchandise. Sometimes I did not have any more information than what sales tracking reports could provide on merchandise, such as when an item was last received in the store. Video review could be time consuming and did not always provide the results I was looking for in an investigation. With Alpha Technology S3i, investigation time for missing merchandise can be reduced to minutes versus hours.

Make your security system work smarter not harder. Leverage the advantages of Alpha security S3i technology to keep your merchandise where you want it, in the store or at a point of sale. Checkout what the next generation of retail anti- theft devices such as S3i Alpha hard tags and spider wrap can do to protect your assets.

For more information on Alpha Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

When we discuss merchandise protection the first thought is always towards preventing theft and fraud. The same thing can be said in discussing Alpha Technology; our initial thought turns to security devices such as bottle locks, Alpha hard tags and Alpha Keepers. There is nothing wrong with this, the purpose of retail anti-theft devices is to prevent shoplifting, but, what if it is combined with smart intelligence? What benefits could your store(s) see by incorporating tools that not only enhance theft prevention but also provides inventory management data? Alpha Security S3i technology takes merchandise protection to a new level, bringing Loss Prevention and store operations together to optimize store profitability. In part one of this article, I want to cover the impact Alpha S3i can have on Loss Prevention tactics to save you money. In part 2 we will review the benefits of S3i from an operations and inventory control perspective.

For more information on Alpha Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Prevent Shoplifting, Retail Anti Theft Devices, Spider Wrap

YOU CANNOT STOP SHOPLIFTERS!

February 8, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I don’t care about solving social problems. I don’t care about saving the world (okay maybe I really do). But I cannot fix many of these things myself. I cannot make shoplifters change their evil trade for real work. But I can make shoplifters go somewhere else and leave my customers alone.

I have been doing this all throughout my career starting as a Store Investigator through District and Regional Loss Prevention Manager positions. This culminated with being the successful Director of LP for several large Retailers including one international company. Add to that all these years with my own company. I know how to stop shoplifters and what to look for.

If you want to attack shoplifting and fix it once and for all you need to understand who the shoplifter is and how they shoplift. There is not enough space in this article to teach you all that needs to be said. However, there are several important points you must understand to fight off the shoplifters.

First, you must understand that you are not going to “stop” shoplifters from doing what they do. They are going to steal regardless of what you do. What you can do is send them elsewhere. Down the street to someone else who is not prepared. Don’t be THAT guy!

To do this you need to do two things: know your enemy and have the equipment (Checkpoint & Alpha) in place to make your store a hostile environment for them but a delight for your good customers. I am not going to talk about Checkpoint and Alpha here. You know how to reach us for that.

I want to discuss knowing your enemy, the shoplifter. There are three types of shoplifters:

Impulsive shoplifters who steal because the opportunity exists.
Amateurs who steal consistently. They usually keep the merchandise.
Professional thieves who steal to resell the merchandise.

Shoplifters can look like anyone! In fact, if you think you know what they look like, you are fooling yourself. Because you have a stereotype in your mind, then you are missing most of them. Shoplifters will most likely try to blend in and look like your normal customer traffic. That is their stealth: hide in plain sight.

When do they tend to steal? The simplest and best answer is any time you or your staff is not paying attention. I can give you a list but not all of it will apply to your individual store. So do this. Observe your operations, I mean take a hard look. Ask yourself, “When would I steal, if I were a low life scum of the earth shoplifter?” Even better, since you are probably too close to the forest to see the trees, ask someone you trust to look at this. Not a Police Officer, employee….. someone that will give you a real, sometimes hard to swallow answer. Then make adjustments to what and how you operate.

How do they conceal and steal your merchandise? Well, the list is almost endless and you should ask me to conduct my live webinar for you and your staff (my commercial). By the way my webinars are free of charge and can be as frequent as necessary for our customers.

Now that the commercial is over, some of the most common ways they conceal is with pockets and purses. Simple is usually the answer. You also want to watch for shopping bags and baby strollers (also known as shoplifting buggies).

There are other issues you need to understand such as distraction, refunding, tag or package switching and more. But for that I guess you will just need to become a customer or if you already are a customer, simply pick up the phone, call us and schedule the free training.

Have a SUPER February!

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SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS BENEFITS TO A LOSS PREVENTION PROGRAM

February 8, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Over the past five years or so, social media platforms have exploded. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram are essentially a one stop shop for all your news, entertainment and whatever your Aunt Dolly is doing today… Like most Americans, I visit these websites frequently throughout the day (although, I am weaning myself off this addiction slowly, but surely). Businesses have also been quick to jump on the bandwagon and have found that direct to consumer marketing, especially the free kind of marketing, can really help a small business soar. With so many people, places and things interconnected, you can see how the Loss Prevention Industry uses these platforms to not only aid in investigations, but to help track down fencing operations, retail ORC groups and even dishonest employees.

About a month or so ago, I was scrolling through a Facebook “online garage sale group” in my area. A few scrolls down, I noticed a guy was selling a store merchandise credit from one of my stores. I looked up the name in our internal system for any hits and sure enough, it was an employee at one of my stores. A little investigating showed that he had conducted a return of a high end baseball bat, but according to our sales records, the store he worked in had not sold that particular sku. Furthermore, inventory data showed that store to be missing one unit. A little more leg work, and I was able to determine that the employee had altered the price on a high end bat, purchasing it for only a few dollars. He returned the bat for full value at another store and posted the credit on Facebook to sell. From our research, he had done this about a dozen or so times with various merchandise. I was able to make a pretty substantial case from a lead generated from social media.

Take things a little further. Most of you reading this are small business owners. Chances are, you don’t have some large Loss Prevention department; heck, your LP department might be the 16 cameras you have set up in your store. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that; in fact, without the hassle of a large company’s legal department, you have more freedom with those CCTV images of a thief than I do. Most police departments and sheriff’s offices around the country have also been accepting of a social media presence. From the community outreach and the ability to hear concerns directly from citizens, it’s a great way for law enforcement to take a big step into the future. This also gives those agencies the ability to share BOLOs with an enormous amount of people.

Not two weeks ago, a local sheriff’s office shared some CCTV images from a clothing boutique store that showed a female shoplifter, who made away with several hundred dollars in clothing. The boutique had a very good camera system and shared those images from their Facebook page to the Sheriff’s Office page, who in turn shared it with their followers. Literally, within 30 minutes, the comment section was full of tips, eventually leading to the shoplifter’s identity. Heck, some people even began tagging this woman in her own wanted poster. Classic. Without this platform, this crime may have gone unsolved, and that business would have taken a hit out of their own pockets.

While social media can boost sales and drive traffic into your store, it can only be a great tool to reduce shrink. The ability to quickly search through your employee’s friends, or search in wanted ads for particular items and the ability to share CCTV images quickly and with great success, makes social media almost a necessity of today’s small business’s plan to combat shrink and increase profitability.

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