Tips for implementing your new Checkpoint system

So you have a brand new Checkpoint security system and all the security tags one could ever need for a store but still question how to implement it all.

The important thing to remember is that any anti-shoplifting system will likely stop shoplifting by all but the most seasoned thieves in their tracks so you need to know how you might consistently confound their efforts long enough to spot them and call the cops.

One thing to consider would be the placement of individual tags.  You always want to make the tags visible enough so your staff knows where they are to remove them, but in such an awkward and unnoticeable spot that they prove difficult to remove otherwise.  I have seen a lot of winter jackets with tags placed at the very edge of the sleeves where there is little fabric for the tag to hold onto making it extremely easy to simply pop them off.  Instead I must recommend a point such as the base of the collar or even the armpit area of the jacket.  That way there is a decent amount of clothing in the way to conceal the tag, but also making it nearly impossible to illicitly remove the Checkpoint Security tags without causing severe damage to the clothing itself.

The other thing to consider is the Checkpoint systems towers.  These noticeable, unmistakable pieces of equipment sit at your doorways waiting for some tagged item to pass through them before emitting a loud and irritating alarm for all to hear.  It does no good without tags on your products so make sure all the items you are looking to protect have the appropriate tags on them.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint Labels, a Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, Checkpoint Systems, or Checkpoint Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Don’t let a Crowd blow your apprehension!

I learned a series of valuable lessons on Saturday.  The most important of all of is that if you are approaching a suspect and they are with a group of other people you have to separate them from that group no matter what.  If not, your endeavors to ensure proper retail theft prevention may prove for naught.

A perfect example of this occurred this past weekend.  A suspect was spotted on the floor, followed throughout the store via cameras by myself and the LPM as she selected a fragrance and used her nails and teeth to remove the plastic anti-shoplifting shell from the item.  Once that was accomplished she discarded everything but the perfume itself in various parts of the store until she left where she was stopped by another member of the team under orders of the LPM.

The problem took place when she was being escorted back inside.  Before she had been stopped she had rendezvoused with several friends who were not only following her back inside the store, but also creating a scene.  At one point I thought they would start a riot.

While this was occurring she was claiming she no longer had the item.  I directed my LPM via radio to the locations of the anti-shoplifting shell and the other discarded pieces but she insisted that the perfume was still in the store.  A friend of hers directed the LPM to a display rack and produced the missing perfume.

We were shocked and under the immediate assumption it was a bad stop until I reviewed the video.  Not once had the suspect come within ten feet of the display.  That led us to the conclusion that while the group was creating a scene one of them planted the item there AFTER returning to the store.

The moral of this story of retail theft prevention: kick the crowds to the curb and just take the suspect.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint Labels, a Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, Checkpoint Systems, or Checkpoint Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Anti-Theft Devices Hurt Theft not Sales!

The most commonly stolen item at my store is denim. Until recently we had little to no anti-shoplifting measures to stop shoplifting in this department. It was like a free-for all. These items were walking out the door just as fast as we were able to fill the shelves because we had no anti-shoplifting devices. How are we supposed to do our jobs as loss prevention if the companies weren’t helping up out with any anti-shoplifting support or retail theft prevention?

We recently started using Checkpoint security tags, which makes sense sine we are already using Checkpoint security systems for the store alarm. The Checkpoint security tags are simple and get the job done. You place the pin into the clothing and attach the tag portion and BAM anti-shoplifting device to the rescue!

Checkpoint security tags are the king and queen in retail theft prevention. When a company starts using Checkpoint security tags it has a 30% return on investment (ROI) in the first year of installing them. I have worked with Checkpoint systems at other retailers. I have used their camera systems, alarm systems, deactivation pads, EAS (Electronic Article System) towers, and Checkpoint tags. Checkpoint systems make my job a lot easier.

When spinning cameras looking to catch a shoplifter one of my favorite things to look for is people checking the merchandise for Checkpoint security tags. That is the first indicator that tells us that this person is looking to steal something. Most shoplifters will go through a few stacks of jeans to find one missing its security tag. I once had the Director of Loss Prevention for my company in my store say he had heard that we had been dealing with a lot of denim boosters in our stores and wanted to see the video. When we played it for him he had us pause and rewind it several times. He pointed out how the guys would check the pants for tags as they selected them. He really enjoyed seeing that the extra measures we had taken with security by adding checkpoint security tags to our merchandise were really paying off. When we first started using Checkpoint systems there was a lot of push back from the stores thinking we were going to hurt merchandise sales because of it. The Director of Loss Prevention had us copy the video for him and he played it for others in the company that were skeptical about using the Checkpoint systems. He showed them exactly where we were making an impact to our bottom line. Without these tags we would have lost a lot more merchandise than we did that year. We never heard another complaint after that. It just goes to show that Checkpoint security systems really work for retailers.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint Labels, a Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, Checkpoint Systems, or Checkpoint Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Low Tech, High Quality

One of the anti shoplifting tools commonly used out in the retail sector is the Keeper Boxes. These boxes are absolutely ingenious in my book. I hadn’t really paid much attention to them until recently.

I think that is one of the best indicators of a successful anti shoplifting device. If your average paying customer can go about their shopping business and not have to pay attention to it, than you are better off for it. If the resources designed to stop shoplifting are hindering or stop selling, than you know you have a problem.

That is what is great about a Keeper box. If I need a pack of razor blades, I can very easily go up to the product throw one in the cart, and keep on shopping.

I recently had a chance to evaluate one of the Keeper boxes. What I hadn’t realized before was that for a seemingly simple concept, it was an extremely high quality way to stop shoplifting.

This wasn’t some flimsy plastic box that could be smashed or pried apart at the seams. This box was very well thought out. The alarm was hidden out of view, and could not be tampered with. It had a simple sliding mechanism to open up easily with the proper detachers, but was not so complicated that you run the risk of breaking pieces with repeated use.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Clearly, a Visible Solution

I have no doubt that by now you have probably seen a Keeper Box being used by some shop for retail theft prevention. A Keeper Box is a clear plastic box that has a locking mechanism on the bottom that also incorporates the security tags to stop shoplifting.

I usually see them being used to protect boxes of cologne or perfume and for boxes of razor blade cartridges. In a lot of ways, I think they are a much better solution to retail theft prevention than the lock boxes were before.

About five years ago, all you would see are these big plastic locking doors hiding all of the merchandise away. While I am sure they were highly effective to stop shoplifting, they irritated me to no end if I needed to buy something and was in a hurry. I hated having to track down an employee to unlock the panel to get my product.

Now I can just pick up a Keeper Box of the same items, toss it in my shopping cart and be on my merry way.

The boxes are unlocked at the point of sale, so I don’t have to track down an employee. Because the cash wraps have the detachers, no one runs the risk of loosing the key, wasting even more of your valuable time as a consumer.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

How does your garden grow?

It’s kind of amazing to watch. Planting a little garden and watching it grow. All those tiny little seeds are starting to emerge from the dirt. The little sprouts growing bigger each day. It is almost addicting to watch the progression each day.

In retail theft prevention, anti shoplifting tools and tactics are like planting a little garden in your store. You start out with little seedlings of ideas and get to watch as they manifest themselves into full-blown action plans.

You might start out using just the Checkpoint labels that the vendors put on for you. As you seek out new ways to stop shoplifting, you might want to start adding those Checkpoint labels to other product that comes into your store.

When the labels turn out to be a good idea, you might start to invest in the Checkpoint security tags. The checkpoint security tags are much more visible and work excellent when you expand into soft lines products, even if it is just back to school bags, or holiday scarves.

Before you know it, what started out as simple retail theft prevention anti shoplifting tools has emerged into quite the force to stop shoplifting.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Worth their weight in gold

Why spend your money on the Checkpoint security systems? There are other ones out there that are just as good, right?

Not always.

One of the primary benefits of using a Checkpoint security system to stop shoplifting is their impeccable quality control.

What you are really spending your money on is the time and effort that they put into making and selling the best Checkpoint security tags that they can.

Let me give you an example. A Checkpoint security tag is a hard shell of plastic. Sometimes other companies will use thin, and easily manipulated plastic for their tags.

You can’t burn a Checkpoint security tag so it will easily melt away. You also have a seamless construction. This is good because seams break. Seams can also allow a screwdriver to be inserted and snap the pieces apart, rendering the tag useless.

Retail theft prevention is about consistency each and every time. You have to have consistent programs in place to stop shoplifting. That is what Checkpoint does, and why you pay the nominal extra price.

If you truly want to stop shoplifting in your stores, go with what retail theft prevention has worked for millions of customers nationwide. They are worth their weight in gold.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Map it out

One of the questions my new hires have is trying to figure out where to spend their time and energy to make the biggest impact to stop shoplifting.

The easiest way is to take the inventory reports and break down the top five or ten biggest shrink areas, and then narrow in on maybe the top 20 items in your store.

This works well if you have rather stationary inventory, one where you will sell the same items season after season, or year after year. Grocery, liquor and hardware are prime examples.

If you are looking to stop shoplifting in a store where the inventory changes frequently (clothing or boutiques) try this out.

Start with a simple chart. Take a floor plan of your store and use different colored markers for different departments. When you find evidence of theft (clothing tags, opened packages) put a dot on the map with the color of the department of missing merchandise.

This will tell you two things: 1- what type of product you are loosing, and 2- where they are taking it.

You may discover that you are missing inventory in a new department, or it might show you an area of the store that you didn’t realize was susceptible to shoplifting.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Can you feel the beat?

Retail theft prevention involves a fair amount of auditing. It is the formal check and balance to make sure your processes are being followed through. If your processes are accurate, then you can move on to step two. Step two is deciding if your retail theft prevention is actually working.

So how do you really find the pulse of you’re anti shoplifting activity? Is there a way to determine prior to an inventory where you are shrinking, and where your shrink is decreasing?

Yes, try running counts on your inventory. If you previously lost significant quantities of item #1234, start counting item #1234 every day. Check it against your on hands and see what comes up.

If your anti shoplifting program is working, you should have accurate counts.

If the count of what you physically can find does not match what your inventory should be, then you have a problem. By tracking these daily counts, you can determine a few things.

Is the frequency that you are missing product decreasing or increasing? Are your counts off after a shipment? Is there a specific day of the week that you are coming up short?

The answers will help you narrow down not only whether your programs work, but will give you the beat on what to do next.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

A day in the life

I would like to take a moment to imagine what life would be like if I were a Checkpoint security tag. Yes, it does seem rather silly. I like to view things from outside perspectives to be able to really get a feel for what retail theft prevention is working in my stores. What better way than through the eyes of a Checkpoint security tag.

Lets start at the beginning. As a Checkpoint security tag, my primary function is to stop shoplifting. So I need to be attached onto a piece of merchandise for that to happen. That means that I am either waiting in my stockroom, or I am in a bin at the cash registers waiting to be reused.

Next I need to be fitted onto the product. It is pretty easy. Stick the pin through the item and push the hard UFO looking piece on the pin. Done! That took all of about two seconds to do.

Now I go to the sales floor with my product. Because I am firmly attached, I know that no matter how many times I get jiggled, handled, dropped, or shopped. I am not coming off.

I’ll stay here until the merchandise is purchased and I am detached at the registers with a simple pull.

Not to bad. Retail theft prevention to stop shoplifting in ways that the entire store can assist with and understand.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, or Checkpoint Labels and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547