Using Imposter Tags For Clothing Security Can Prove Costly

June 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Clothing Security-5                                                                                                                 WC Blog 529
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Using Imposter Tags For Clothing Security Can Prove Costly

     Protecting clothing against theft is too important for stores to resort to the use of imposter clothing security tags. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In some instances I would agree. I would use parody music as one example where this is the case. I like to listen to music by Weird Al Yankovic and a parody band called Apologetix. Both musical groups take original music by major music talents and change the words to create parodies. They sound a LOT like the originals and in the case of Weird Al, he has even created music videos that spoofed the song and the video that went with it, for example the song and video “Eat It”. Sometimes the parody even has a message that the group wants their audience to hear but uses humor to do so. Merchandise protection can be similar in that there are companies that make security tags that look like or seem to act like Checkpoint tags but the devices are inferior to those of Checkpoint. Going cheaper can cost more in the long- run and that is why the CEO of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. Bill Bregar wants retail owners to use proven electronic article surveillance technology. Checkpoint tags provide consistency in the prevention of shoplifting and employee theft.

     Checkpoint tags for clothing security come in a hard tag design that is built to prevent a criminal from pulling it off an item. The tags have two components, a piece with a pin and the pin cap. When attached to a garment they are clipped so closely together that there is almost no space created. This seamless connection makes prying the pieces apart impossible without tearing or ripping material. Since torn merchandise is not what a shoplifter wants they tend to stay away from products with clothing security tags attached to them. Checkpoint tags also stop shoplifters through the electronic article surveillance (EAS) protection built into the devices. The tags have a radio frequency signal transmitting from them. When merchandise with tags on them get into the range of EAS pedestals or an overhead Checkpoint system an alarm is activated. This alarm elicits an immediate response from nearby employees who are able to resolve issues and get unpaid goods and products back.

     If what I call imitation tags can deter theft why not purchase them instead of the Checkpoint brand? Let me ask you this question, if an imposter is always as good as an original why would you ever buy a name brand product? I can go into my favorite grocery store and I can get a great deal on a store brand of soft drink. I may only pay 78 cents for a 2-liter bottle of store brand cola. I have the option of paying $1.99 for a 2-liter bottle of a nationally known brand. Why would I ever pay $1.21 more for that national brand? I would do so because the national brand is a much better quality. I KNOW the national brand will have a consistent quality and taste. Sometimes the store brand varies a bit in flavor and is not always the same in taste each time. I can’t trust the quality. The same can be said for your merchandise protection. Some other tags can be tampered with much more easily that the Checkpoint brand. The Checkpoint brand can also be depended on to alarm properly when it is near a tower or pedestal. Use another company’s clothing security tags and you may soon see your shrinkage increase as shoplifters find the vulnerability in your strategy.

     I have used Checkpoint tags as a Loss prevention Manager and I know that they work. I trusted them and made sure they were a key component of my merchandise protection plans. The results spoke for themselves and only twice during my career did I see shortage climb slightly over 1%. I have also walked into stores and observed other devices being used and found myself scratching my head. What in the world was the store management thinking? Their tags looked like poor imitations of the tags I used. Spoofs are light-hearted imitations that bring fun and enjoyment as they parody a serious craft. In entertainment that is fine but it is another thing when it is your profits that are on the line. Don’t take clothing security lightly use products that are proven to be effective and stop shoplifting and theft in your stores.
 Need information on Checkpoint tags? Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

     

Protecting clothing against theft is too important for stores to resort to the use of imposter clothing security tags. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In some instances I would agree. I would use parody music as one example where this is the case. I like to listen to music by Weird Al Yankovic and a parody band called Apologetix. Both musical groups take original music by major music talents and change the words to create parodies. They sound a LOT like the originals and in the case of Weird Al, he has even created music videos that spoofed the song and the video that went with it, for example the song and video “Eat It”. Sometimes the parody even has a message that the group wants their audience to hear but uses humor to do so. Merchandise protection can be similar in that there are companies that make security tags that look like or seem to act like Checkpoint tags but the devices are inferior to those of Checkpoint. Going cheaper can cost more in the long- run and that is why the CEO of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. Bill Bregar wants retail owners to use proven electronic article surveillance technology. Checkpoint tags provide consistency in the prevention of shoplifting and employee theft.
     

Checkpoint tags for clothing security come in a hard tag design that is built to prevent a criminal from pulling it off an item. The tags have two components, a piece with a pin and the pin cap. When attached to a garment they are clipped so closely together that there is almost no space created. This seamless connection makes prying the pieces apart impossible without tearing or ripping material. Since torn merchandise is not what a shoplifter wants they tend to stay away from products with clothing security tags attached to them. Checkpoint tags also stop shoplifters through the electronic article surveillance (EAS) protection built into the devices. The tags have a radio frequency signal transmitting from them. When merchandise with tags on them get into the range of EAS pedestals or an overhead Checkpoint system an alarm is activated. This alarm elicits an immediate response from nearby employees who are able to resolve issues and get unpaid goods and products back.
     

If what I call imitation tags can deter theft why not purchase them instead of the Checkpoint brand? Let me ask you this question, if an imposter is always as good as an original why would you ever buy a name brand product? I can go into my favorite grocery store and I can get a great deal on a store brand of soft drink. I may only pay 78 cents for a 2-liter bottle of store brand cola. I have the option of paying $1.99 for a 2-liter bottle of a nationally known brand. Why would I ever pay $1.21 more for that national brand? I would do so because the national brand is a much better quality. I KNOW the national brand will have a consistent quality and taste. Sometimes the store brand varies a bit in flavor and is not always the same in taste each time. I can’t trust the quality. The same can be said for your merchandise protection. Some other tags can be tampered with much more easily that the Checkpoint brand. The Checkpoint brand can also be depended on to alarm properly when it is near a tower or pedestal. Use another company’s clothing security tags and you may soon see your shrinkage increase as shoplifters find the vulnerability in your strategy.
     

I have used Checkpoint tags as a Loss prevention Manager and I know that they work. I trusted them and made sure they were a key component of my merchandise protection plans. The results spoke for themselves and only twice during my career did I see shortage climb slightly over 1%. I have also walked into stores and observed other devices being used and found myself scratching my head. What in the world was the store management thinking? Their tags looked like poor imitations of the tags I used. Spoofs are light-hearted imitations that bring fun and enjoyment as they parody a serious craft. In entertainment that is fine but it is another thing when it is your profits that are on the line. Don’t take clothing security lightly use products that are proven to be effective and stop shoplifting and theft in your stores. 

 

Need information on Checkpoint tags? Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
     

 

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20 WAYS TO STOP SHOPLIFTING AND OTHER COMMON FORMS OF LOSS – PT 2

June 2, 2018 by

4. Customer Service Culture

Probably the #1 problem in my high-risk stores is a lack of engagement from the teams. There’s a reason shrink is higher in some stores and most times it has a direct correlation to customer service levels. What’s so hard about telling a customer “hello”, or offering to assist them? This is quite frankly the most basic form of retail theft prevention and it really gets under my skin when I see employees avoid eye-contact and flat-out ignore my customers. THEY ARE THE REASON WE HAVE JOBS! Every person that enters your store should be treated like absolute royalty. Honest customers will appreciate this and your thieves will move down the road to an easier target. 

5. Store Design

Now, you don’t have to go and reinvent the wheel, but there are some very simple and inexpensive measures you can take that will stop shoplifting. For starters, install some mirrors in those pesky blind-spots, or wrap them around the entire perimeter of the store. It lets your staff easily monitor customers as well as thieves much easier. You can also “lighten” the place up a bit. Look for those darker spots and corners in the store and install better lighting. Thieves don’t want to be seen, so shining a spot light on their favorite corners will really put a crinkle in their day. One bigger move you can make is to eliminate any… well, bigger display units. If you can get your merchandise out on a 4 ft. grid as opposed to a 12ft grid, then do it. Keep your customers in eyesight and you’ll quickly realize that your thieves will hate it. 

6. Security Cameras and Public View Monitor

Here’s an easy test to determine if you need to have security cameras. Are you open to the public and do you sell things? If you answered yes, then you should have cameras. Not only do they work to stop shoplifting, they can help police identify those that take from you, try to break in after hours and can also be used to debunk “slip and fall” insurance claims. Cameras should be the first tool taken from your retail theft prevention tool kit.  I like to encourage stores to use a mix of “overt” cameras (the ones you can clearly see), “covert” (the ones you can’t) and public view monitors to really drive home the message. I also like to encourage the use of the public view monitor in other parts of the store than just the entrance. If you have a category that’s always being stolen, well put a big monitor that live streams a camera placement. There are various, low cost solutions that can fit any retailer’s budget. 

7. Checkpoint System

This really should go hand in hand with a security camera system. If you have merchandise that you sell to the general public, a Checkpoint system is an investment worth making. Where security cameras are a deterrent and can serve as an investigative tool, your Checkpoint system is actively working for you 24/7. You won’t know if a thief is walking out with your product, but your Checkpoint system will. Trust me, you’ll recoup that small investment in a month or two. You’ll also have more peace-of-mind knowing that someone (or something) is working to stop shoplifting in your store all hours of the day. 

8. Checkpoint Tags

Just like love, and marriage. You can’t have one without the other! Sure, you went ahead and bought that shiny new Checkpoint system, but you skimped out on the tags. That’s like buying a car, but not the wheels! Complete your retail theft prevention tool kit and make sure you are using the Checkpoint tags on everything that you can. If your thieves want to steal them, then protect them. You’ll find the little effort it takes to apply the tags is well worth the decrease in shrink. 

 

Get more information on retail theft prevention, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

 

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A Checkpoint System Is Now More Important Than Ever

May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Shoplifters seem to be getting bolder than ever. Much of this is greed. Many people simply want stuff and have no moral compass. Others are emboldened by lax law enforcement or Politicians that pass laws that do little to protect you. Whatever the case be, it has a negative impact on Retailers. We are expected to open our stores, compete, pay employees, pay expenses, taxes…. And make a profit. Shoplifting theft is yet another pressure on us.

The key to stopping shoplifting is prevention! You have to keep the losses from occurring. Once the shoplifter has stolen merchandise, even if you catch them, you lose money in labor, unsellable merchandise, sales and the like. This is where a Checkpoint System shines. This is high-quality commercial grade equipment that works 24/7. However, like anything else, you must get as much value out of any equipment you have. A piece of equipment that can pull double and triple duty for the same investment brings a better return on investment. Consider what Loss Prevention Systems offers.

First, when our customers purchase a system from us, they get FREE anti-shoplifting training for the life of the system. This is live training by a Loss Prevention professional as often as you reasonably need it. I actually spend a fraction of that time on the Checkpoint System itself. Most of the time is spent teaching you and your staff how to detect and dissuade shoplifters from even entering your store. You can actually have fun with shoplifters. Drive them crazy and they will get frustrated and simply leave you alone.

Next, there is a whole world of new innovations in the Checkpoint Systems line. People/Customer counting is one. Your system can count customer traffic. You then receive a weekly report that details your traffic by the hour of the day, day or the week. This data can be merged into your sales data to give you a more complete picture. Customers use this data to help with decisions on staffing levels, open/close times and more. The system will also report on the Checkpoint System alarms. How and when they occur. This further feeds into your decisions about staffing levels. You may say that my cash register tells me traffic. Not so, as not every customer that comes into your store makes a purchase. Why is that? Possibly because you do not have enough staff on at the times when you really need it.

How about remote control of your Checkpoint System from your mobile device while inside your store? This feature notifies you of alarms, maintenance issues, and real-time stats. You can be in your office, stock room or anywhere in your store and the system will notify you of an alarm. Immediately. This also gives you control of the system itself. Checkpoints systems are already ECO-friendly in their power consumption. But you can set up a schedule that tells your system to power down during the hours you are closed. Over a year that money adds up.

Marketing? Our systems have AD Panel capability either built-in or as an add-on. The antennas are there at the front door anyway, why not have them greet your customers with signage that you can change out as often as you wish. Promote an item, a sale, a special or simply say “welcome”. Print whatever you want and slide it into the clear acrylic frame. Now you get double duty without taking up any more floor space.

How about control of items you do not want to leave the store under any circumstances? Key rings, customer hand baskets, notebooks, documents, tools, equipment or supplies. Simply put a tag or label on them.

Contact Loss Prevention Systems today and we will help set you on the path to higher profits!

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Keeping Track of Sales And Customers This Year For Next Year’s Summer Planning

May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

It is hard to believe but summer is almost here! What are you doing about it? As crazy as the question may sound there is a reason I ask. What are you doing that will be different than what you did last summer? Do you know what it was you did to inspire additional sales last year? Maybe you didn’t do anything at all differently. Maybe you added a new piece of summer merchandise to your merchandising strategy. How did that item do in sales? Was it a blockbuster for you? On a similar note, how was the customer foot traffic in your store? Did you see an increase in the number of patrons last summer over the rest of the year? If you aren’t asking the questions then you are probably flying by the seat of your pants and that is not going to be beneficial to you at all. Sales tracking and Customer Counting can assist you in exponentially growing your sales.

Adding products to your merchandise lines may be a good idea. Perhaps last summer you purchased 100 units of a new brand of suntan lotion to supplement your summer lineup. Did you keep track of how many of those units you sold at full price? Did you wind up taking markdowns on them in order to get them to move? You may have eventually been out of the merchandise but if you were not tracking how many you sold by the week you may have lost money if they all went at the end of the season at or below cost. By failing to follow sales of seasonal items you could develop a false picture of how a product moved and make the costly mistake of carrying it again the following year. One aside to this; be sure that seasonal merchandise is in a prominent location. Sticking this merchandise on a back endcap or in the main run is not going to produce the results you are seeking. This can also give you a poor picture of how the item could really have driven sales had it been in a more visible location.

Customer foot traffic is also an important tool for summer planning for the next year. If one of your intended purposes in adding a summer product line in your store is to drive up sales you need to know whether it has the intended effect. If you are keeping track of customer counts you can determine if a new product is drawing in more shoppers. A spike in customer counts can be compared to sales tracking of a new product(s). If there appears to be a correlation in the data you can make preparations for the next summer and plan for additional sales by bringing back those summer items. If a group of summer products proved profitable and drew in more customers then add to it with new summer goods. It would also be a good idea to review those sales figures and add more people on shifts. You may find that customer counts proved to be much higher than sales transactions were. If this is the case it is possible that your store could have lost sales by having insufficient cashiers or sales floor staff to provide assistance. Customer counting can also benefit your store with a breakdown of the time of day patrons were shopping. This provides flexibility in adding staff at peak times rather than adding people for an entire day if it isn’t necessary.  Though it may take time to plan it out using the information you have collected from sales tracking and customer counting the payoff will be seen in sales increases.

A website, workzone.com, had an article, “45 Planning Quotes To Help You Reach Your Goals” by Steve Pogue. One of the quotes was from Warren Buffet, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree long ago.” Another quote attributed to Robert H. Schuller, “Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” So friends, spectacular sales next summer will be dependent on how much preparation you are willing to put into planning today. Dedicate time now in reviewing your seasonal specialty item sales and how many customers entered your business and create a plan that will dazzle you with results next summer.

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School’s Out – Time To Get Ready For School: Tips To Prepare for a Successful Back To School Season

May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Summertime is here and now is the time for children to rejoice and shout for glee as most are finishing up their school year. Put away the pens and paper and lunchboxes and prepare to enjoy the warm, sunny days. No Mr. and Ms. Retailer, not YOU, the children. The moment the schools let out is the moment you should be preparing to roll out the merchandise for the next school year. Wait too long and you will be a step or two behind your competition.

Certainly, most children will not be anxious to go school shopping so soon after starting their vacations but we, the dads and moms out here, are always looking for special sales and deals that will save us a few bucks. Education may be free but all of the accessories are not. Think about what we parents are purchasing to send the kids off to school. We are asked to provide crayons, pencils, pens, glue, and paper. Lunchboxes, backpacks (wait, regular or see-through?), binders and notecards also fill our school supply lists. From there schools and grades may have varying requirements. The retailer who is going to be top of the class is the one who will anticipate the needs of the pupils and parents and prepares accordingly.

What are some of those things that you can do to get the head start that will drive sales for your business?

  • If you aren’t keeping old school supply lists filed away, start doing so. This will give you a good idea of what teachers will probably ask parents to provide the coming year. The schools will probably not make lists for the coming year available until July so knowing last year’s information gains you some advantage.
  • Advertise. Use social media and in-store flyers as cost-effective means of getting the word out to customers. You may also want to check on the price of a radio spot to air a short commercial. If you only rely on posting flyers and banners in the store you are limiting your advertising to those customers already shopping with you. You need to spread the message to bring in additional shoppers.
  • Create displays near the front of the store that focuses on school-related supplies that complement each other. For example, create an endcap with binders, loose-leaf paper, pencils, pens, crayons, compasses, and protractors. If your store is geared to clothing then displays for children’s clothing should be on focal points. Regardless of what your store specializes in, order a one-time shipment of some lunchboxes and food storage containers for sandwiches, chips, dressings/sauces. Parents are conscientious of rising school lunch prices and reusable containers appeal to both the cost concerned and environmentally focused families.
  • In the process of creating the displays don’t forget about merchandise protection. Use electronic article surveillance labels and hard tags on everything. Don’t lose sight of the fact that those displays will also attract the attention of shoplifters and they will steal merchandise that isn’t secure. Small and expensive items will be especially tempting.
  • Begin clearance pricing some summer products earlier to free up floor space for back to school related merchandise.
  • An easy to overlook opportunity is to keep your check lanes full of impulse buy goods. Snacks and drinks are top items but finding cool gadgets and pens that may interest students and adults are great opportunities for a few extra dollars.
  • Don’t forget about add-on sale items. Calculators tend to be popular and they need batteries. Peghook your calculators, keeping your high-end TI-83’s, TI-84’s, etc. in Alpha Keeper boxes to make them available to customers while protecting them from theft. Add the corresponding AA and AAA batteries on additional rows of peg hooks and deter theft by using Auto Peg Tags. Speaking of batteries it would also be a good idea to place battery chargers and rechargeable batteries in this type of display. Again, expense minded and green-minded patrons will find something to appeal to them here.

It is not always easy to think outside the box when anticipating the needs of school students especially if your store specializes in one area but it can be done. Be creative and it can pay dividends.

A final thought on back to school sales opportunities. Some retailers offer special deals to teachers (who present official credentials). Not only does this help your profit line it is a huge boon for teachers who often use their own money for classroom supplies. You can develop a new loyal customer base with such an offer. Make preparations early for the return to the classroom and you will demonstrate you have learned your lesson well.

     

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Inventory Over? Scrutinize The Results If They Seem Askew

May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Some people in retail look forward to it and some dread it. What am I talking about? Inventory! From the planning stages and meetings with the inventory counting team to the actual inventory day it can all be a lot to accomplish even for the best of planners. But what happens when you get through the actual counting phase? What comes next? You wait for the results. You may get preliminary results immediately but for larger stores booked inventory may take several weeks and they have teams to analyze the results. As a small retailer you may have to analyze the reports yourself but do you really understand what you are looking for? Are your results accurate? Stores have to keep track of what they have on hand and owners need to know where shortage has taken place and how it has happened.

A detailed review of the inventory results is important. They can identify areas that may be indicators of poor vendor service. If your store sells groceries, snacks, soft drinks or adult beverages you are most likely served by direct store delivery vendors. If a shortage is somewhat high in these departments you might not be receiving all of the credits you are supposed to receive. This is not necessarily an indicator of theft but it could be. It may be simply poor scanning and crediting for merchandise a vendor is removing from the store. Those credits could be due to product getting ready to expire or that has expired. It may be it was a promotional product that isn’t selling in the quantities the vendor was hoping for. Whatever the reason, the representative could have miscued an entry, for example, scanning a partial pallet of sodas and keying in a quantity of 10 versus 100. If the vendor is in a hurry and no one caught the error at the time it could be costing your store a lot of money.

While we are talking about administrative errors causing shortage it is important that store owners take a look at all of their billings. In a big box retail store, we had monthly P/L (profit/loss) statements that showed the dollar amounts of merchandise shipped to us for each department. One year when inventory results revealed a high shortage result in our shoe department I went back through all of the P/L statements and found an unusual billing amount. I tried to correlate it to a seasonal reset or specific event but was unable to pin it to anything in particular. I sent my concern to our inventory analysts who reviewed the information and found we had been overcharged $10,000 in the shoe department that particular month. Review P/L statements or invoices for potential errors if inventory results seem out of line.

Look at the departments that are showing the shortage. Do they look like areas that would be prone to theft or could there be other administrative issues involved? For example, if you own an office supply store and you have a high shrinkage in printer ink cartridges there is a strong probability this is a theft concern. On the other hand, shrink in foam project boards could be due to process issues. Are individual foam boards shipped in multi-pack shrink wrap? It could be the items are not being separated and a bulk set is improperly sold as a single unit at the register. Have individual units been damaged and unsellable but not properly marked out of stock before tossing them? Foam boards are probably not being stolen but improper handling is costing money to your store just the same.

Certainly, theft has to be a consideration in the review of inventory results. But one must be careful not to attribute ALL shortage to theft. Doing so may keep you from impacting up to 26.7% of your losses in the next inventory cycle. According to the 2017 National Retail Security Survey, 21.3% of a shortage is due to administrative and paperwork errors and 5.4% is the result of vendor fraud or errors. That said it is important to dig into potential theft concerns that are impacting your store. Are you the target of shoplifters? Do you have an employee theft problem you did not realize existed? Getting a handle on theft must be part of your follow-up in creating a shortage action plan to improve shrinkage. Consultation with Loss Prevention Systems Inc. is a good starting point for finding a solution to all of your shortage concerns, theft included.

 If you take inventory and find you are missing SKU’s because results are askew, take time to dig into the findings. Knowing where shortage happened this year and taking steps to correct it will give improved results next year.

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A Leather Coat Looks Good When It’s Protected With An Alpha Cable Lock

May 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-3                                                                                        WC Blog 449
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A Leather Coat Looks Good When It’s Protected With An Alpha Cable Lock

     When I was a Loss Prevention Officer many years ago for a department store we carried a lot of high ticket merchandise, clothing, china, shoes, even candy. We were using retail anti-theft devices sparingly and only on some of our clothing. Those were mainly hard tags designed to prevent shoplifting through deterrence and alarm activations when would-be thieves would try to sneak tagged items out of the store. There was hesitation to use the tags on items made of silk or leather out of concern for the material. This made it difficult for my Loss Prevention Manager and me to protect special shipments of leather coats we would get from time to time. The store manager wanted them displayed but did not want to risk “damaging” leather with a hole from the pin that clipped the tag to the jacket. At the same time he also wanted people to try on coats to see if they liked them and to encourage sales. Talk about a task! That didn’t leave many options so my boss had a special fixture ordered that consisted of wire strands that looped into an alarm box on the fixture. If someone pulled a coat off and tried to run with it the idea was that the fixture alarm would sound. That was great as long as we regularly checked the 9 volt batteries to be sure they weren’t dying on us. It also required a sales associate to unlock the fixture, turn off the alarm and get a jacket off for a customer to try on. It was a barrel of laughs when two or more people wanted to try on coats. Try monitoring that! Oh, and the alarm was off while the coats were being tried on. Granted we did not have many alternatives back then but today the Alpha Cable Lock would be a super choice to use on leather coats.

      An Alpha Cable Lock comes in several sizes a retailer can choose from to prevent shoplifting. There are small sizes that are outstanding to use on purses, wallets, shoes, backpacks, etc. Larger sizes are available to be used on bicycles, infant strollers, and yes, leather coats. The locks have a built in LED light that flashes and let’s bad guys know the merchandise is protected and that deters theft. The locks also have a tamper alarm that sounds if the retail anti-theft device is tampered with in the store and workers can respond and find out what the commotion is about. You can believe me when I tell you it is a commotion when that alarm sounds! These locks also have electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology in them that sets off EAS towers set up at a store entrance and exit. Should a criminal decide they want to attempt to walk out with any merchandise protected with a lock the tower alarm would be set off. As with the tamper alarm employees will be alerted by the sound and respond to the door to stop a theft.

     You may be wondering in our situation why wasn’t an associate required to allow just one customer at a time to try on a leather coat and then re-arm the fixture? Couldn’t the other customers wait until it was their turn? We did want the fixtures to be re-armed but the reality was and is in any store, when there is more than just the one customer and you are trying to do your best to help you don’t always think things through. Could more employees have helped? Anyone who has worked in retail knows there are moments when there aren’t enough people to cover every place they are needed. Sometimes we feel like we are putting out one fire and the next one pops up. The beauty of the Alpha Cable Lock is that is removes the requirement for an employee to stand by while a customer tries on an item. The cable allows enough room for freedom of movement to try on a coat or jacket while providing optimal security should someone attempt to sneak out of the store with  merchandise that has one of these retail anti-theft devices on.

     Did we lose any leather coats? Yes unfortunately even with the “alarm” fixture we didn’t have 100% procedure compliance by all of our associates. Of course that never looks good at inventory time. Make sure you give your customers access to merchandise while you prevent shoplifting and guard your goods with EAS security. Use Alpha Cable Locks and Let your employees focus their attention on the customers that truly need assistance. See what Alpha Security can do for your bottom line.
Get more information on Alpha Cable Lock, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

When I was a Loss Prevention Officer many years ago for a department store we carried a lot of high ticket merchandise, clothing, china, shoes, even candy. We were using retail anti-theft devices sparingly and only on some of our clothing. Those were mainly hard tags designed to prevent shoplifting through deterrence and alarm activations when would-be thieves would try to sneak tagged items out of the store. There was hesitation to use the tags on items made of silk or leather out of concern for the material. This made it difficult for my Loss Prevention Manager and me to protect special shipments of leather coats we would get from time to time. The store manager wanted them displayed but did not want to risk “damaging” leather with a hole from the pin that clipped the tag to the jacket. At the same time he also wanted people to try on coats to see if they liked them and to encourage sales. Talk about a task! That didn’t leave many options so my boss had a special fixture ordered that consisted of wire strands that looped into an alarm box on the fixture. If someone pulled a coat off and tried to run with it the idea was that the fixture alarm would sound. That was great as long as we regularly checked the 9 volt batteries to be sure they weren’t dying on us. It also required a sales associate to unlock the fixture, turn off the alarm and get a jacket off for a customer to try on. It was a barrel of laughs when two or more people wanted to try on coats. Try monitoring that! Oh, and the alarm was off while the coats were being tried on. Granted we did not have many alternatives back then but today the Alpha Cable Lock would be a super choice to use on leather coats.
     

An Alpha Cable Lock comes in several sizes a retailer can choose from to prevent shoplifting. There are small sizes that are outstanding to use on purses, wallets, shoes, backpacks, etc. Larger sizes are available to be used on bicycles, infant strollers, and yes, leather coats. The locks have a built in LED light that flashes and let’s bad guys know the merchandise is protected and that deters theft. The locks also have a tamper alarm that sounds if the retail anti-theft device is tampered with in the store and workers can respond and find out what the commotion is about. You can believe me when I tell you it is a commotion when that alarm sounds! These locks also have electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology in them that sets off EAS towers set up at a store entrance and exit. Should a criminal decide they want to attempt to walk out with any merchandise protected with a lock the tower alarm would be set off. As with the tamper alarm employees will be alerted by the sound and respond to the door to stop a theft.
     

You may be wondering in our situation why wasn’t an associate required to allow just one customer at a time to try on a leather coat and then re-arm the fixture? Couldn’t the other customers wait until it was their turn? We did want the fixtures to be re-armed but the reality was and is in any store, when there is more than just the one customer and you are trying to do your best to help you don’t always think things through. Could more employees have helped? Anyone who has worked in retail knows there are moments when there aren’t enough people to cover every place they are needed. Sometimes we feel like we are putting out one fire and the next one pops up. The beauty of the Alpha Cable Lock is that is removes the requirement for an employee to stand by while a customer tries on an item. The cable allows enough room for freedom of movement to try on a coat or jacket while providing optimal security should someone attempt to sneak out of the store with  merchandise that has one of these retail anti-theft devices on.
     

Did we lose any leather coats? Yes unfortunately even with the “alarm” fixture we didn’t have 100% procedure compliance by all of our associates. Of course that never looks good at inventory time. Make sure you give your customers access to merchandise while you prevent shoplifting and guard your goods with EAS security. Use Alpha Cable Locks and Let your employees focus their attention on the customers that truly need assistance. See what Alpha Security can do for your bottom line.

 

Get more information on Alpha Cable Lock, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

 

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CHECKPOINT HARD TAGS ARE THE BEST REPLACEMENT FOR YOUR OUTDATED MERCHANDISE PROTECTION!

May 9, 2018 by Leave a Comment

More than ever, shoplifting is massive threat to all retailers. When times are tough, shoplifting increases tremendously. Sorry times in the economy can easily attract first-time pilferers. As a Loss Prevention Expert, I deter hundreds of dollars each day from walking out of the door.  A majority of retailers do not realize how massive the problem is, until the amount of loss has spiraled out of control! Loss prevention tactics are consistently updated to cover the growing shrink issues in the retail environment. Shrinkage must be reduced by utilizing anti-shoplifting security tags, as associate awareness is just not enough anymore. What are you doing to ensure your merchandise is not stolen daily?! Does it really deter theft?! Checkpoint Hard Tags are my go-to method, to stop shoplifting.         

 

 When you are able to maximize your merchandise protection needs with Checkpoint Hard Tags, theft will be greatly reduced. I have witnessed several situations proving this method. When I am hired as a Loss Prevention Manager for a new location, I always observe incidents on CCTV that no one realized was happening! When I started racking up high dollar cases each week, my store management team was shocked by the amount of theft that was occurring without them knowing. A lot of retailers base their “known theft” reports off of tags being found. Then when inventory results are calculated at the end of the year, they see several departments they were not aware of had shrink issues. This method is not realistic, and there is so much more to configure to be accurate.  Professional thieves will leave the price tags on the item, knowing that they do not alarm. Sometimes it just takes a specialist in Loss Prevention, to be able to shed light to these type of shrink issues. For retailers, Checkpoint Hard Tags will stop shoplifting by ensuring the highest level of inventory control and protection. I was previously employed at a local retailer, which did not believe in placing Checkpoint Hard Tags on any of their high dollar merchandise. A majority of their products, was at a price point over $59.00, per item. To me, that is too high of a price point to trust without any type of protection. “Hoping” it will not be shoplifted is not enough. This particular store had an increase in shrink, based on their 3 year trend. They were not changing any of their processes and kept doing the same exact routine for merchandise protection. The store never considered updating any of their security devices, until seeing all the investigations that I completed. I pulled the store’s shrink numbers by department and found that their top 5 shrink consisted of a majority of clothing items that had no protection whatsoever. After the team learned that Checkpoint Hard tags are inexpensive, they knew they would have to give it a try. At this point, what did they have to lose?! They already lost 120k with their current program! After placing all the devices on and completing counts daily, I was able to track the theft trends for the store to see if a difference was made. We noticed a huge decline for those areas week by week, and were able to completely turn the store shrink around the following year. Even though I am not employed anymore at that location, I still go there to shop. It is amazing to see they still are utilizing this as a best practice program, and have not missed a beat! 

 

 When retail stores start increasing in shrink, you lose profit and pushing the company to make harsh decisions. This can includ cutting positions and changing budgets. It feels good to know that I changed a retailer around, by such a simple task! Do not lose more money, as a result of ineffective or outdated loss prevention security tags. Do not continue the same path, by not updating your protection. We have to make a change in order to decrease shrinkage in our stores and stop shoplifting. 

 

Need information on Checkpoint Hard Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.                                                       

 

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: ,

Protecting Your Profits This Summer

May 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

In many parts of the country, school will be out soon and the plans for a summer vacation will come sooner than expected. And even though an article in Money magazine states that 56% of Americans haven’t had a vacation in 12 months, the place that most Americans visit when they Do take a vacation is Florida.

Vacationers are a good thing for local economies.  Hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that depend on vacationers see an increase in sales and profits during the summer months due to the increase in customers.  Retail stores see an increase in walk-in customers too but have to be careful to protect some items in the store if they want to preserve those profits.

What are some of the items you need to protect during the summer months?

  1. Swimwear and sportswear – Tagging your swimwear and sportswear with an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) tag can help you prevent the shoplifting of that article.
  2. Hats, visors, and baseball caps are all items that are in demand during these months due to the weather. If you are a store frequented by tourists, displaying these items where they can be overseen by the cashiers could prevent them from being stolen.
  3. Sunglasses – There are many things that are stolen every year that make no sense, but sunglasses are small, beautiful accessories that are sought by everyone.  They can be easily stolen because of their size, and perhaps the accessibility the shoplifter has to pocket them without being caught. There are Enhanced Performance Labels that are placed directly on the UPC label for items such as sunglasses, makeup, and other small items to deter the shoplifter from taking them.
  4. Sunscreens and mosquito repellents are items that many people on vacation need.  These items are small and easily concealed in people’s purses, oversize shirts or even the pockets of their clothing.  Placing an Enhanced Performance Label on these items can greatly reduce the chance they will be stolen.
  5. Drinks and especially alcoholic drinks are easy items to steal, especially for the young people with no I.D

Many retail stores’ profit margins are slim,  and shoplifting does not only put a dent in their profits, it can also mean bankruptcy for some of them.  As you train your employees and make them aware of the issues in the store, shoplifting has to be at the top of them. If employees and the management of the store work together to keep a vigilant eye for shoplifters and keep an up to the date inventory of the store, they will prevent shoplifting and increase your profit margins.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 REASONS WHY I DON’T STEAL FROM STORES THAT PUT SECURITY TAGS ON CLOTHES

May 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
5 REASONS WHY I DON’T STEAL FROM STORES THAT PUT SECURITY TAGS ON CLOTHES


Look, as a career criminal there are certain things that just bother me about retailers. For starters, I think I’ve made it very clear that I don’t want to work and I’d appreciate it if your stores would not make it so difficult for me to get things. I clearly don’t have money, so every time you use a Checkpoint Tag, you’re literally taking the clothes right off of my back. So, in order to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, these are the reasons why I avoid stores that take loss prevention seriously. 

1. I Can’t Carry all the Extra Equipment
Seriously man, I only have enough room for the stuff I want to steal in my bag. If I’m in a store that’s putting Security Tags on Clothes, I have to bring pliers, or magnets and all sorts of aluminum foil to *try and bypass the tags. All that extra junk makes me stick out and really takes up space in my booster bag. 

2. I Like to be in and out
Nothing frustrates me more than spending tons of time trying to steal one single item. I prefer stores that are “LP dumb”. I can stuff my bag and pants with no worries about an alarm going off at the door. The quicker I can get out of there, the better. Checkpoint Tags really slow me down. It would really help me out if you guys didn’t use them. 

3. I Hate When I’m Noticed
Nothing grinds my gears more than an employee seeing me messing with one of the Security Tags on Clothes. They always call a manager and they always ask me to leave. That’s terrible shoplifter service if you ask me. I hate trying to remove the tags myself since it brings so much unwanted attention to me. I love stores that don’t apply any EAS. I just grab what I want and steal away!

4. I Can’t Grab and Run
I am great and grab and runs! My favorite pastime is walking into a store, grabbing an entire rack of this season’s hottest outfit and running right out the front door. This way, I can sell the sizes I don’t need to all my shoplifter friends and dozens of places online. How else do you think I eat? I did a grab and run this one time at a store that used Checkpoint Tags, well the ones with ink in them and it ruined everything. All my shoplifting buddies made fun of me and they called me “Stealing Smurf” for the better part of 5 years. I’ve learned my lesson. Only steal clothes that are completely unprotected. 

5. Jail
First of all, I’m too pretty for jail. Second, I’ve yet to find any honor amongst my criminal friends. Third, I would have to call my mom to come bail me out, again. It’s bad enough I still live in the basement. But seriously, every time I see a store that puts Security Tags on Clothes, I jus turn around. There’s a good chance I’ll get caught and arrested and I’m just not about that life. So, please, I beg of you, stop securing your stuff. There are people who depend on you not doing it to survive. 


Clothing Security is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk. 

Look, as a career criminal there are certain things that just bother me about retailers. For starters, I think I’ve made it very clear that I don’t want to work and I’d appreciate it if your stores would not make it so difficult for me to get things. I clearly don’t have money, so every time you use a Checkpoint Tag, you’re literally taking the clothes right off of my back. So, in order to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, these are the reasons why I avoid stores that take loss prevention seriously. 

 

1. I Can’t Carry all the Extra EquipmentSeriously man, I only have enough room for the stuff I want to steal in my bag. If I’m in a store that’s putting Security Tags on Clothes, I have to bring pliers, or magnets and all sorts of aluminum foil to *try and bypass the tags. All that extra junk makes me stick out and really takes up space in my booster bag. 

 

2. I Like to be in and outNothing frustrates me more than spending tons of time trying to steal one single item. I prefer stores that are “LP dumb”. I can stuff my bag and pants with no worries about an alarm going off at the door. The quicker I can get out of there, the better. Checkpoint Tags really slow me down. It would really help me out if you guys didn’t use them. 

 

 3. I Hate When I’m NoticedNothing grinds my gears more than an employee seeing me messing with one of the Security Tags on Clothes. They always call a manager and they always ask me to leave. That’s terrible shoplifter service if you ask me. I hate trying to remove the tags myself since it brings so much unwanted attention to me. I love stores that don’t apply any EAS. I just grab what I want and steal away!

 

4. I Can’t Grab and RunI am great and grab and runs! My favorite pastime is walking into a store, grabbing an entire rack of this season’s hottest outfit and running right out the front door. This way, I can sell the sizes I don’t need to all my shoplifter friends and dozens of places online. How else do you think I eat? I did a grab and run this one time at a store that used Checkpoint Tags, well the ones with ink in them and it ruined everything. All my shoplifting buddies made fun of me and they called me “Stealing Smurf” for the better part of 5 years. I’ve learned my lesson. Only steal clothes that are completely unprotected. 

 

5. JailFirst of all, I’m too pretty for jail. Second, I’ve yet to find any honor amongst my criminal friends. Third, I would have to call my mom to come bail me out, again. It’s bad enough I still live in the basement. But seriously, every time I see a store that puts Security Tags on Clothes, I jus turn around. There’s a good chance I’ll get caught and arrested and I’m just not about that life. So, please, I beg of you, stop securing your stuff. There are people who depend on you not doing it to survive. 

Clothing Security is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk. 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,
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