While working for a large retailer as a loss prevention store detective one of the biggest challenges was to find ways to stop shoplifting. As a department we seemed to never trust any other employees and had an attitude of “hands off” when it came to any attempts to stop shoplifting. When the company purchased the Checkpoint system we were excited since the LP department had been awarded such an expensive tool to prevent theft. I look back and I can not believe how narrow minded we had become. The Checkpoint system was going to be a catalyst to change the way we conducted business.
When we started with the checkpoint training we were amazed to find sales employees sitting in the room. The trainer started with the general statement that the system was multifaceted and interactive, meaning ALL employees had to work together for the system to succeed. This became obvious once the trainer showed us the checkpoint security tags and checkpoint labels. A couple LP employees were not going to be able to go through the entire store placing rf security tags and rf security labels on the product.
The trainer showed us the benefits of using the rf labels on products such as fragrances, accessories and electronics. He demonstrated the best way to place the rf label on the product without damaging the product or the rf label. He next demonstrated the benefits of the checkpoint security tags. He showed us which products needed the rf security tags such as sneakers, shoes, clothing and several bedding items from the domestics department. The training with the checkpoint security tags took much more time since the rf security tags had to be pushed through the product and if done incorrectly could damage the product. One of the main points made regarding the checkpoint security tags was to ensure the pin portion of the tag was pushed through seams of clothing and eyelets of shoes and sneakers.
At this point we were very glad that our sales partners were going to be a part of the implementation process. This was not the end of the cooperation aspect regarding the checkpoint system. The next point was how to react to the checkpoint alarms. If someone were to remove merchandise with rf security labels how did we best approach the customer? Again, we could not imagine being able to react to every alarm while also watching the sales floor. This is where the proper deactivation of the rf labels and removal of the rf security tags come into play to reduce “false” alarms. Also reacting correctly by offering great customer service when an alarm was set off reduces the possibility of a potential liability incident by falsely accusing a person of theft. The training really forced the lp and sales department to work together to protect each other and achieve the system’s goals.
We had many “dry runs” of reacting to alarms. We found that the checkpoint labels being hidden in or on different areas of product made it tough to find and deactivate at the register. We immediately decided that we needed a system that ensures the checkpoint labels and tags would be placed in or on the same place for each separate product. This allowed the sales personnel to know exactly where to locate the rf labels thus speeding up sales at the register and reducing false alarms due to a missed rf label. RF security labels were not the only items to be missed, if a tag had been forgotten and an alarm was not reacted to then the customer would try to remove the tag at home thus causing damage to the product and then ultimately a return and an unhappy customer.
In the end the checkpoint system helped forge a partnership that led to lower shrink, improved sales and a strong teamwork mentality at the store level. The checkpoint system is an excellent tool to be used to stop shoplifting but as the trainer had said “the system is only as good as the team that works with it everyday”.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, and other RF labels that can help you stop shoplifting in your business.
For more information on Checkpoint labels, Checkpoint security tags, RF labels, RF security labels, RF security tags and how to stop shoplifting contact us at RF label or call 1.770.426.0547
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