A Worthwhile Investment: Clothing alarms

October 19, 2010 by

Having a clothing alarm is a smart business move for businesses wishing to protect their assets.  Clothing is supposed to be for sale…not free for the taking.

The theft of clothing in a retail environment is unfortunately simple and very common.  Clothes can be folded up, or wadded up, and slipped easily inside of a large purse or backpack.  They can also be worn out of the store by simply putting them on under clothing.  Another shoplifting theft I’ve witnessed is a customer entering a store without a coat, and then wearing one out.  If your employees are busy helping other customers, even this brazen a theft can go unnoticed.

Businesses cannot afford to do nothing to help prevent this type of theft.  A clothing alarm can be beneficial in deterring the theft of the clothing you sell.  A potential shoplifter will come into your business, see that you have this security measure…and then they will move on to the next business.

Shoplifters want to have to spend only a very short amount of time prepping merchandise in order to steal it.  They also do not want to draw attention to themselves.  Taking the time to try to remove a clothing alarm is not something most shoplifters are willing to do.  Risking an audible alarm if they leave with the clothing is also a chance many shoplifters will not take.

Shoplifters are not the types of customers you want to have in your store.  And higher prices to recoup the loss from shoplifting are not what you or your customers would like either. A clothing alarm helps keep the shoplifters away and profits where you’d like them to be.

For more information about clothing security or clothing security tags contact us about clothing alarm or call 1.770.426.0547.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Clothing Security Are You A Sheep Or A Wolf?

October 12, 2010 by

Remember, the shoplifters are not dumb about clothing security. They know how to steal from you and are good at it. You have to be smarter and in the prevention mode rather than the reactive mode at all times. To get your store and staff in the right position consider the following issues:

Experienced, professional shoplifters will case your store in advance of hitting you. Waiting for them to be in the store and shoplifting puts you behind the curve. These thieves look for employees who are indifferent and clueless. Staff that would rather be on your phone or their cell phone are not really paying attention. For example, are you really paying that good of attention when you are on your cell phone and driving?

Shoplifters are watching to see how your staff handles an EAS clothing security alarm. Do they just wave them through or do they investigate? If one does not occur while they are watching they will make one happen.

Theses thieves will observe your staffing coverage. Do you have enough people to cover the floor? When is the customer to employee ratio the highest? Is there a time when there is only one person covering the floor even if there are not any customers present? Two shoplifters working together can create a distraction while the second one steals.

Another common tactic is for one thief to intentionally trip the EAS clothing security system and while the employee is sorting that out another goes out with the merchandise.

Thieves will also use booster bags. These are shopping bags lined with foil in an attempt to defeat the EAS clothing alarm system.

The key to prevent losses is two fold: Training is paramount! Train all new employees on the EAS clothing alarm system and shoplifting prevention. Retrain employees four times a year to keep the information fresh and to present and discuss issues that have occurred. Do not forget to ask for your staffs input. They may have some great solutions. The second is to keep your EAS clothing alarm system in top operating shape. Is it tuned properly? Are clothing security tags and labels on all products that you specify? Are clothing security tags attached properly? If you are not sure about this yourself contact us we have a great hard tag placement guide we will send you free.

You can either lie down like a sheep and be a victim or you can take proactive and aggressive action that shoplifters will hate but real customers love.

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Clothing Security In Europe vs The U.S.

October 8, 2010 by

I just got back from a much-needed vacation in France and Germany. Even though I tried to shut down from work a bit, I found it difficult as we were doing a bit of window-shopping. What I saw amazed me. Shoplifting, use of a clothing alarm and clothing security by retailers is alive and breathing in Europe.

In fact it was unusual to see a retailer of any size that did not have some protection. It seems that European retailers have figured it out; proactive clothing security is the way to go if you want to make any money (or survive). I even saw a clothing alarm system in a shop that could not have been more that 200 square feet and one isle.

I saw security tags on clothes of every kind. Of course leather but they have in many cases gone down to a lower price point than I see in most U.S. retailers. What I heard is that “If you have a system, use it”. Clothing security was even being used on items with price points in the $1 – $2 area. This applied to both large and small retailers.

I did not see the use of as much CCTV as I thought I would have with clothing security . Major retailers had them in several locations but I would have thought the POS and all entrances would have been covered much more. Of course these cameras could have been hidden. We also have to keep in mind that the laws governing liability are different there. They are not as concerned about lawsuits.

What I wondered about was their use of a Loss Prevention Agent on the sales floor. My wife decided for me that testing the system was probably not a good idea!

But clothing security did seem to be a huge issue.  Retailers made use of everything we have here in the U.S. also such as lanyards, flex strings and keepers. I also saw a fair amount of ink tags. What I did not see is some of the more recent security tags on clothes like the new Checkpoint releases.  Clothing security tags there seemed to be on the larger size. Also clothing security tags in Europe use the same various lengths of pins that we do here.

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Alphas New Fashion2 Accessory Tag Clothing Alarm

September 26, 2010 by

As the clothing alarm arena is concerned Alpha a division of Checkpoint Systems has hit another home run. The new Fashion2 Accessory Tag solves a few issues that have been out there for some time in the Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) offerings.

These clothing security tags are designed for accessories like shoes, handbags, gloves, briefcases, luggage, belts, watches, hats and about anything else that traditional clothing security tags and pins would damage or not work on. If the item has a space or hole that the built in 3” lanyard could loop through then the problem is solved.

The lanyard attached back through the merchandise item and locks back into the hard tag clutch. The lanyard is made of plastic coated stranded aircraft cable, which makes it almost impossible to cut.

The Fashion2 is available in S3, Standard Lock and Super Lock clutch strengths. The S3 is a newer technology detacher that cannot not be duplicated.

The Fashion2 clothing alarm tag comes in three colors; black, gray and beige. These will blend in with almost any style garment. The Fashion2 is small, less than two inches long by 0.55” wide by 0.80” deep.

Available in both RF and AM formats this sleek fashion-forward design will complement your high-end apparel while providing the ultimate clothing alarm .

The Fashion2 clothing alarm tag comes in quantities of 250.

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Clothing security tags boost profits

September 20, 2010 by

Retailers who use clothing security tags notice a boost in profits beyond expectations.  It is a simple yet often overlooked formula for figuring out the return on stopping retail shrinkage or inventory loss.  Simply divide the value of the lost merchandise by the net profit (not gross profit margin which is obviously much higher).

Example, a $35 stolen shirt with a net margin of three percent requires $1,166.67 in sales to recoup the loss.  Hard to believe isn’t it.  It is one of those “I don’t look at that because I don’t want to know” things.  Loosing one $35 item is not a $35 loss.  In order for the business to replace the items total retail value of $35 you will need a net profit of $35.  $35 divided by a net profit of 3% is $1,166.67.

So obviously a very powerful way to boost profit margins is to control losses and use products like clothing security tags to keep the merchandise on the rack.  If total losses is 5% in a $1mil per year clothing boutique the total lost merchandise is $50,000 per year.  Now look at that divided by the net margin and you will get $1.6mil.  If you can reduce your losses by a realistic 50% by using security tags on clothes you will be adding $25k to the profit margin.  I’ll leave that one to you to figure the boost in net margin…it is significant.

Check out the world’s leading manufacturer of clothing security tags and clothing alarm systems, checkpoint systems and learn how you can stop loosing merchandise and start boosting profits today.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Clothing alarm for retail businesses

September 13, 2010 by

I just typed in “ clothing alarm ” in Google out of curiosity and I was  surprised what surfaced. About a third of listings on the first page were posted by thieves discussing how to defeat the alarm.

If you are a retailer you may have googled to find the same thing and might have realized it is tougher to find solutions to retail theft than it is to find tips on how to steal.  Retail crime is increasing and it is making it tougher for retailers to earn a good profit.

If you are looking for a clothing alarm you will want to stay with genuine name brand parts such as Checkpoint Systems.  Checkpoint Systems is the market leader in Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS). There are some cheaply manufactured copycat systems out there and you want to avoid those.  The cheap copies are less effective  and have chronic false alarm issues.  Also they typically are not available as installed by a factory trained technician.  Having an EAS system installed by a factory trained and authorized technician can be critical to your systems performance.  The environment around the clothing alarm can affect its performance significantly and therefore will need to be custom tuned to perform at peak levels.

For lowest prices on genuine Checkpoint  clothing alarm products visit: checkpoint systems

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Security Tags On Clothes That Make a Shoplifter Think Twice

September 2, 2010 by

Retail theft is a part of the retail store business. The retailer’s of the past used to just except theft as a part of life. It is a fact that retail theft drives the cost of merchandisehigher. The key to dealing with shoplifting is controlling it to a level that is acceptable (if there is such a thing). So how do we make shoplifters think twice and go somewhere else? Clothing alarm systems!

When you start talking about clothing security it gets even trickier to catch the shoplifter because many clothing thieves wear the shoplifted item out of the store as if it were their own. The good news is that retail can fight back against this type of shoplifting.

Clothing alarm systems are simple for the retail stores and their employees to use. The systems are also powerful enough to stop the criminals while being cost effective. There are many useful features and benefits to using clothing alarm systems.

Here is how these systems work: Clothing alarm tags are attached to merchandise and the antennas at the doors detect the tag when the shoplifter tries to exit. This system sets off an audible and visual alarm which alerts the retail employees.

Keep in mind this is only one of a clothing security systems many advantages. Features, like people counters, analytics, alarm management are now available. These systems are designed for one thing: reducing shoplifting!

A clothing alarm system makes it easy on the good guys and hard for the bad guys. It is not unusual for a system to reduce shoplifting by 60% or more.

Contact us at clothing security or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Use of Clothing Alarm Tags

August 14, 2010 by

One of the best inventions to protect retail merchandise is the clothing alarm tag. These tags come in many forms but the basic concept is that a hard plastic tag is placed on a piece of clothing. The tag can only be removed by store personal at checkout.

Clothing alarm tags are normally used with an Electronic Article Surveillance System (EAS). If a shoplifter attempts to take the item out of the store it trips the alarm on the EAS system alerting store personnel.

There are also clothing alarm tags that contain vials of permanent ink or dye. This type of tag is called product denial. If the shoplifter attempts to remove the tag forcefully the pressurized vials break and spread ink on the item ruining it. These tags can be used with an EAS system.

Other clothing alarm tags have built in alarm sounders. They have an aircraft cable that can be looped through leather jackets or other expensive coats. If the shoplifter attempts to cut the cable or force the tag open the internal siren goes off. These tags can also be used with an EAS system.

For more information contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

What is involved in installing a clothing alarm?

August 11, 2010 by

What is involved in the installation of a clothing alarm?  Well first we should review what the components are.

The primary compnents are antennas at entry and exit points, inside the store.  They are usually about a foot and a half front to back, 5 feet tall or so and a couple inches thick.

These antennas will pick up tags that are either, hard tags or labels.  Checkpoint security systems (pictured above) uses a radio frequency technology.  The tags vibrate at a specific frequency that is picked up by the antennas when they get in range.  This will set off the alarm notifying everyone there is an issue with merchandise heading out the door.

Go to Checkpoint  security tags to learn more about both hard tags and labels.

The Checkpoint tags that are hard tags are removable with a special device that is attached at the cash register.  The labels are deactivated when processed through checkout via an under counter deactivation pad.  Unlike other systems that require direct contact of product rubbing on the deactivation pad, Checkpoint Security Systems tags will deactivate within a 12 to 17″ field above the counter.  This is because it is not a magnetic system.  Magnetic systems are the older technology which can damage credit cards and cell phones.

Installing a  clothing alarm will deter would be shoplifters from entering your store and they will simply move on to another location that is unprotected.

Visit Loss Prevention Systems to learn more.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:
« Previous Page