Thinking back to my days a store detective there are many things that bring a smile to my face as well as a few things that really frustrated me. One of those frustrations was the feeling you got when you were the only detective in a store and multiple thefts were happening all around you. I really hated that awful feeling in your stomach when you missed the concealment of merchandise by mere seconds only to turn around and miss another theft in another part of the store. The only clothing security in the store was the floor walking you did as a store detective. Days like that never truly leave a loss prevention employee. The worst part is the disappointment from the sales employees on the floor when they see you have dropped the ball. That is why I will never forget when the company finally gave us a weapon to help us when we are outnumbered, the best clothing alarm out there.

My staff and I were so excited when the first box of clothing security tags showed up at the store. When we found out from training that the entire store staff would be working together to put the security tags on clothes we were ecstatic. The fact that everyone knew how and where to attach the checkpoint tags made it easier on the sales team at the registers to remove the checkpoint tags quickly so as not to slow down sales at the POS (point of sale). Now the entire staff had a vested interest in protecting the product in the store. Everyone had invested time and effort into the clothing security system and did not want to see their hard work fail. I was amazed at how quickly the known shoplifters in the store realized there were security tags on clothes. The confused looks on their faces, the testing of the checkpoint tags and ultimately the defeated looks on their faces turned my frown upside down!

Clothing security had a new face in our store and it covered all the products. Was the system infallible, of course not, but it helped bring down the shrink in our store significantly. The first inventory count amazed everyone and grabbed the attention of the higher executives. Apparently as a store we worked together very well to implement the system and though we were in a busy urban market were able to post very impressive shrink percentages. I never felt alone again in that store, the checkpoint system silently had my back.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Although we wish our LP careers were perfect we all have moments when we just get beat. Today was one of those days for me.

I was alone in my office and dealing with half a dozen other problems when it happened.  While listening to the droning monotone of a liability investigator on the other end of the office phone I kept myself busy by scanning through cameras on the call-up monitor closest to me.  At the fifteen minute mark of my conversation I noticed a man who looked completely out of place in the store’s children’s clothing department.  Given his appearance and his unnaturally stuffed shopping bag through which I could see security tags on clothes, my attention shifted from dealing with the accident aftermath to observing the man much more closely.

Less than sixty seconds later I hung up on the liability investigator. The man had selected three pairs of children’s jeans and a child’s printed sweatshirt and rapidly moved away from the department towards the nearby housewares area.  As soon as I paged for a store manager to dial my office extension the man took off down to the first floor in a jog.  I radioed mall security with his description and called local law enforcement as I ran out my office and could hear the Checkpoint tags set off the clothing alarm as the man crossed the threshold into the mall and went into a full sprint.  Other LP units in the mall had eyes on him even as he started ripping clothing security tags off the stolen merchandise as he ran, but somehow he not only made it to his vehicle, he also managed to elude police and avoid being identified. Even with obvious clothing security in place, it only took a two minute grab and dash job to undo it all.

We can’t always be perfect.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm, Checkpoint tags, security tags on clothes or clothing security tags for your clothing security system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Today my store was the victim of the perfidious workings of an organized retail crime group.  They bypassed everything from the clothing alarm to the Checkpoint tags as though they weren’t even in place.  In spite of their ability to surpass our clothing security measures, they failed in the end due a foolish oversight on their part (and perhaps a small amount of carelessness/arrogance).

Less than ten minutes after the first group of women had escaped to their vehicle and fled the mall’s property (without anyone able to spot a license plate unfortunately) our office received a phone call about a man attempting to return almost three hundred dollars of clothing product on the second floor, without a receipt.

Some of the pieces still had clothing security tags on them.  Under our advisement, and a second from management, the return was denied and the man left in a hurry through the third floor where I was waiting to follow on foot.  Sure enough, after tailing him along the outside of the mall for almost three minutes, I found him getting into a car that contained the three women who had stolen the clothing only moments prior.  I managed a walk-by that allowed me to call in the license plate number and a full description of the car to the local police.

Clothing security isn’t always such a task, with the foot pursuits and police intervention, but it seems to be becoming more and more common an occurrence these days. Despite the fact that the Checkpoint tags and clothing alarms were defeated so effortlessly by them, the tools did provide us with the time and means to identify a rather experienced organized crime group.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

In order to stay competitive in the retail market, many companies are starting to focus more on their Internet sales. By eliminating the need for the brick and mortar overhead, Internet sales are increasing the overall profit of a company by huge increases in overall margin. What is yet to be determined is the long-term scope of clothing theft in the warehouses or by fraudulent activity at the store level.

When you look at on line orders there are two major players at work. The first being there is no customer physically present at the time of purchase. That makes things difficult because it eliminates the check and balance system of having another eye watching a particular transaction.

The second part is that on line orders are generally shipped out. Having a clothing alarm will not necessarily help deter this sort of theft. What I have seen in the past is either additional product put into the box for shipment, or a duplicate receipt on a shipment to give the illusion that the product is for a legitimate customer.

To eliminate the scope of fraudulent shipments, try to have a few policies in place. Validate the receipts to the product in the box prior to sealing it. Validate the receipts attached and log the names and addresses. Look for any changes in the address a package is shipped to that occur after it has left the store.

Hopefully you already have clothing security tags in use. If someone other than the person in charge of your on line orders is responsible for detaching the Checkpoint tags, you add another set of eyes to the process. They can look for duplicate items or items not on a receipt.

Checkpoint tags will still prove to be a helpful deterrent against clothing theft. Even without a customer in your store, the tags provided a way to protect your profits.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

After spending years trying to prevent losses and instill superior clothing security in my stores, I recently had the chance to be on the flip side. I had a partnership with one of the other managers at a neighboring retailer. We called each other frequently to discuss trends and share ORT information. One day he asked me to help him do some shoplifter awareness training for his store. I would come in as a customer and start stealing. It would be a test to see how many associates were aware of what was going on in their departments.

So on the scheduled time and date I entered. One of the first things I did was to go to their accessories department and pick out a large bag. I was able to find one without any Checkpoint tags on it. As I rode up an escalator to the clothing upstairs, I pulled the tag off.  Now it looked to everyone on the second level that the bag was mine.

I then spent the next thirty minutes stuffing the bag with as much merchandise as what I could fit. I tried to use as many shoplifter-warning signs that I could think of. Selecting multiple items without regard to size or color. I looked through items to find which one did not have any sort of clothing security tag.  I wanted to get out the doors without sounding the clothing alarm.

By the time I was done, I had been to the top five shrink areas and made it out the door with approximately $4000.00. In a recap later, my colleague told me about some of the phone calls from associates when they saw me stealing. I don’t feel too bad about being a poor shoplifter. The associates learned a lot that day. Not just about how a shoplifter operates, but also how important clothing security and Checkpoint tags are.

Please note: This training exercise was conducted in an extremely controlled environment. We had approval from both corporate headquarters and both parties signed a written agreement. The associates were aware that the test would be conducted on that day, and the entire test was filmed. All merchandise was returned in new condition as soon as I exited the store.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Even though it’s still cold outside, many clothing retailers are marking down the cold weather product and making way for the new spring collections.  For most it is also the beginning of the new fiscal year so the time to add clothing security, such as clothing security tags and a clothing alarm, is now.  Here are the reasons why.

First, putting security tags on clothes is not really an option if you want to keep profits high.  Shoplifting is at an all-time high and not store is immune.  To add to the already theft laden market, warm weather clothes are the easiest to steal.  It is pretty conspicuous when someone puts on a second jacket and tries to walk out.  It is also obvious when large sweaters are stuffed under someone’s shirt.  What is not obvious is when that women puts on a high dollar bikini and walks out.  The customer who pockets the new sunglasses or steals a pair of shorts is not obvious.  The smaller / skimpier products are just plain easier to steal and must be protected.

Since we have to put security tags on clothes I suggest using Checkpoint tags.  Checkpoint tags are cost effective.  Checkpoint tags are also reliable and known to shoplifters so they are a great theft deterrent.  You will also need a clothing alarm from Checkpoint as well so that when the customer tries to walk out with concealed product you will be alerted and can respond to the potential theft.

 The second reason to get your clothing security now is that it is the beginning of the year.  The price of this investment isn’t going to change so by making this acquisition at the beginning of the year you get to reap the benefits of your investment for the full year instead of only part of the year.  It just makes sense to get your full money’s worth by buying sooner rather than later.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

A very large portion of my job that doesn’t involve conducting investigations is performing audits. I am a whiz at audits. I can audit anything and everything, quantify the data and then present a very accurate look at the pulse of a store.

One of the biggest areas that I audit is security tags on clothes. When it comes to clothing security, having something like Checkpoint tags is really an industry standard. Having proper execution of those tags? Sometimes it seems like it is an optional program.

The first part of the audit is to know what the standards are for that type of clothing. Is it above $50? Only certain brands? The next step is to take a random sampling of that product group (say 25 or 50 items) and start counting how many Checkpoint tags are attached. Take note that the clothing security tags are in the right place on the garment.

You should now be able to convert your findings into a percentage. Is this an acceptable number? Some retailers expect at least 95% compliance. Others may only require 80 -85%.

I would compare these percentages against current losses, recovered tags, and apprehensions and see if there is a correlation to poor clothing security standards and current shrink trends. Generally there is a big solid line connecting the two.

I also look at associate engagement in those areas with high or increasing shrink, and poor clothing security. Again, there is usually a common denominator present.

The last thing is to take those findings to the management staff. Having concrete numbers to back up what I am trying to enforce goes a long way. It also helps my managers have something concrete if any sort of performance action is needed with the department’s associates.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

It’s not an ideal situation, but you’ve got to be kidding yourself if you don’t admit that the occasional security tag on clothes is missed. While we try hard to ensure total accuracy, it can be difficult to be 100% all the time. Fear not, there is a bright side to this situation. Recently while watching cameras in my store I observed a subject with a large bag browsing the denim. What tipped me off that this subject was suspicious was that the subject wasn’t just browsing for the right size or color; they were looking for the pairs that didn’t have checkpoint tags attached. After further observation I observed the subject concealing the merchandise and I was able to apprehend and recover our merchandise.

Checkpoint tags are not easy to defeat by the average shoplifter. However everybody knows that as our technology in clothing security advances, so does the professional shoplifter advance. Yet again, there is a bright side! A few weeks ago two individuals came into my store with bags from another retailer. The subjects began grabbing a large amount of merchandise very quickly and we barely had a chance to clear the fitting rooms before they got in. There was no time to get a detailed list of what they grabbed and they paid no attention to if the merchandise had clothing security tags or not. They must have known a way to remove the tags so that they didn’t set off the clothing alarm at the exit. All we knew was that they went in with about 30 items. When they came out it was tough to know for certain, but their bags seemed a bit larger. We rushed to the fitting room to find it a mess with about half the stuff they went in with. The biggest sign we had to know that they had stolen was the pile of about 10 clothing security tags hidden under some of the merchandise. After apprehending the subjects we were able to recover our merchandise and identify some professional shoplifters that had been terrorizing the area for some time.

The ideal situation is for clothing security to protect our merchandise from theft every time. But the bottom line is that everything can be defeated, and the key is to use the flaws of security tags on clothes to your benefit.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

All of us within the loss prevention field have had those moments where we question how people can prove to be so lacking in common sense or logic.

It wasn’t until around five in the afternoon last Saturday that our shoplifter du jour walked through the first floor mall entry point.  Right away the woman set off every alert signal in the profession: clothes that didn’t fit the weather, an almost immediate focus on the cameras, and she made a path for one of the most secluded corners of the first floor, which just so happened to be located next to the designer shirts.  With two LP detectives observing through the CCTV and one on the floor we bore witness to this young woman pull two empty shopping bags from her pockets and then began moving from rack to rack deftly pulling clothes from there hangers and dropping them in her bags in front of dozens of other customers, some of whom spoke out or reported her actions to store employees.  She paid no attention to the fact that there were Checkpoint tags on the items she selected.  It took her all of three minutes to get her fill and try to escape through another entrance where immediately all of the clothing security tags triggered the alarm just as two LP detectives and three local police officers converged on her.  In spite of the witnesses who pointed her out, in spite of the clothing alarms that alerted everyone to her theft, in spite of the blatant video evidence she protested her innocence and insisted we were all crazy and she would see us on the end of a lawsuit.

Right now she is facing five years in prison for the extent of her crimes.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

For those of us in Loss Prevention, Organized Retail Crime is probably the second biggest threat to a store’s bottom line right behind internal theft.  Every ORC syndicate is different in methodology and composition and therefore each one must be discovered and dealt with differently.  There is no ‘silver bullet’ no ‘perfect system’ to catch these seasoned thieves in the act and they have been at it for so long that shoplifting is their primary source of income; therefore they have made it their business to know our capabilities and our equipment.  It doesn’t mean we can’t catch them, but it does mean they are among the hardest shoplifters to stop.

At my particular store, ORC syndicates target high end clothing and accessories nine times out of ten.  Even with our extensive camera network and with security tags on clothes and purses they still manage to beat us a fair amount of time.  But, every so often we manage to stop them by taking advantage of what we know and what we have at our disposal.  At my store we use Checkpoint tags on our clothes and purses.  The ORC groups know this and all have their methods for dealing with them be it taking them to a fitting room and snapping off the tags with tools or stuffing them in foil-lined bags to try and confuse the clothing alarm.  Usually, while they go about trying to remove or disable the clothing security tags they have something else going on to catch our attention or screen their movements.  Even if they have a plan to be in and out before we have time to react, the amount of time they need to invest to deal with the Checkpoint tags gives us the opportunity to stop them.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547