I was first introduced to the idea of a clothing alarm using clothing security tags in the shoe department. As I walked through the stock room, you could see the carnage of old Checkpoint Tags thrown around; missing pieces, blue ink splatter on the ground. It was not a pretty sight.

Even worse, the reason we were there to begin with was from the number of customer complaints because the security tags on clothes had been put on the shoes with the bulky part on the inside.

Our customers could not try the shoes on without the tags being removed first. This was not the deterrent our store was looking for. This was not supposed to be a deterrent to our paying customers.

Our store manager quickly called us into action. We needed to undo all of the checkpoint tags and put them on correctly. That meant that all of the hard tags had to be reversed on almost a hundred pairs of shoes.

It was a very time intensive task. Once we were done, we knew we needed to train the department so it never happened again.

Loss prevention is frequently called “sales prevention” because too often the quest for clothing security overlooks the needs of the customers. It is important to remember that whatever policies and procedures are put into place, they must not stand in the way of the customer’s positive shopping experience.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

It should be no secret that you need clothing security tags to protect your merchandise. What you might not realize is that it is also not a secret as to which specific items need clothing security.

The first place is to start looking at your last inventory report. You are conducting inventories at least on a yearly basis right?

If you aren’t, you need to start. How will you ever know that you have a problem if you don’t have any way to manage or quantify your inventory losses?

If you have inventory items that you still carry that are still seeing losses of, these are the ones that need Checkpoint tags first. If these items caught your eye, then you are probably missing either high dollars or high quantities of these items. These are your top shrink or your high shrink items.

Analyze your reports further and you will find which other items are on the list of losses. These are the items you need to make a decision regarding whether they will benefit from security tags on clothes.

If you find an item that you had shrink in, but you no longer carry the item determine if you have a comparable item. If so, you may consider using clothing security tags to be proactive in reducing your shrink.

A clothing alarm system will pay for itself in approximately 5 ½ months.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Our store recently apprehended a shoplifter in what we thought was a relatively routine case. A man walked into the men’s wear department, picked up a shirt, and headed toward the fitting room.

He walked out of the fitting room with the shirt within a few minutes and walked into a far corner of the store. We watched him as he removed the shirt from the hanger, rolled it up tightly, and carefully placed it under his arm thinking no one would see it.

The clothing alarm sounded as he was leaving the store as we expected it would. Because we knew he had not paid for the shirt, we assumed we would find the clothing security tag on the shirt.

I picked up the shirt to catalogue the item number and description after we got him back into our office for processing. I looked for the price tag to get the information needed, and as I turned the shirt around in my hand, it struck me that the shirt didn’t have the Checkpoint tag anywhere on the garment.

The suspect became adamant about going to the bathroom which set off an alarm in my head. As it turned out, he had also stuffed a pair of jeans into his jacket unseen. The jeans had alerted our clothing alarm with the checkpoint tag.

Without a tag on the jeans, not only would we have never discovered the jeans, but the alarm would not have sounded at all with the tag missing on the shirt. Bottom Line: it is much simpler to accost a thief with an alarm as well as to assure you have found everything upon discovery.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase clothing alarm and clothing security tags as well as the Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags and how they can work with Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system please contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547.

 

I had the opportunity to be on the flip side recently.  After spending years trying to prevent losses and impart excellent clothing security measures for my stores, I recently had a partnership with one of the managers at a neighboring retailer.

We called each other frequently to share ORT information and discuss trends. One day he asked me to help him do some shoplifter awareness training for his store. He asked me to play the part of a customer and commence stealing. He wanted to discover if his associates were paying attention to what was going on in their respective departments.

I entered the store on the scheduled date and time. The first things I did was approach their accessories department and choose a large handbag. I quickly found one without the Checkpoint tags attached.  As I rode an escalator to the clothing department upstairs, I pulled the price tags, etc. off.  It now looked like the bag was mine to everyone on the second level.

I spent the next thirty minutes stuffing the bag with as much merchandise as I could fit into the bag. I used as many shoplifter-warning signs as I could think of. I scrutinized the items to find which ones did not have any clothing security tag attached and began selecting multiple pieces of clothing without regard to size or color.  My goal was to get out the door without sounding a clothing alarm.

I shopped the top five shrink areas and made it out the door with approximately $4,000 of merchandise.  My colleague recounted later some of the phone calls from associates as they observed my actions. I don’t feel too badly about being found out by some of the associates – they all learned a great deal that day. Not only did they learn more about how a shoplifter operates, but they also learned how critical Checkpoint tags and clothing security are to the process of controlling shrink.

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

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

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

Did you watch the runway shows in Paris?  No?  Neither did I. I am always aware of the shows and that it is just a matter of time before they (or reasonable knock offs) begin to hit the shelves. The only reason I didn’t watch was a result of my preoccupation with a new shipment of clothing needing Checkpoint tags.

I am fortunate to work with a company that is adamant about placing security tags on clothes.  This company understands that consistency is crucial to proper clothing security as well as thoroughness of application. It has been documented time after time in post apprehension interviews with both shoplifters and employees with “sticky fingers”  that lawbreakers will diligently search out clothing that does not have a Checkpoint tag or any clothing security.

Security tags on clothes remain, above all, a visual deterrent. Clothing security tags thwart a shoplifter’s plan of attack to simply enter the store, steal stuff, and rush out the door. When they have to add a step – like “take security tags off clothes” – their plans falter. Potential shoplifters will most likely back off rather than run the risk of being caught in a situation that has suddenly left them unsure of the situation as well as their ability to thwart the system.

Plan now to include the hottest accessory around: clothing security tags.

Whether you own a high- end boutique with runway designs or last season’s middle market versions choose clothing security from a company that will offer creative solutions to your every requirement.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase clothing alarm and clothing security tags as well as Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, clothing security tags and how they work with Electronic Article Surveillance or security tags on clothes contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.

The sound of the clothing alarm used to haunt me in my dreams for a couple of reasons. One reason was that the cashiers in my store frequently forgot to deactivate or detach clothing security tags. In reality some would forget; others claimed they knew which pieces were tagged, so they only needed to deactivate those particular items. Needless to say, clothing alarms found a way to go off at the doors almost continually throughout the day.

Another reason for my frustration was that I was new to the business and I would race to my camera system to discover who set the alarm off every single time the alarm sounded.  Even if they were already out the door, I was determined to catch the thief in the act of stealing.

I no longer feel the need to prove something to myself or to my stores. I have also learned to train my cashiers more effectively on the value of proper deactivation. I have learned how to explain all components of clothing security as well as customer service and how they are interconnected.

I also learned to emphasize how critical it is to deactivate correctly the first time because it creates so much less work for everyone in the end.

It was as much a lesson for me to learn as it was for my cashiers. Those early experiences have fueled my success throughout my career.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase clothing alarm, clothing security tags, and Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information about EAS system please call 1.770.426.0547 or contact us via security tags on clothes.

Almost everyone has seen an EAS tag, but not everyone understands what they do or how they work. Clothing security tags, and Checkpoint tags specifically, consist of two pieces of hard plastic. One side has a steel pin attached. The other side has a tiny hole to receive the pin as it pierces through the material of a garment.

The checkpoint tags are virtually indestructible once clamped together. They require the use of a detacher to remove them. I have observed shoplifters attempting to pry them off, cut them off, and even burn the plastic off.  Few succeed and if they do manage to succeed, success is bittersweet.  Either the clothing is destroyed or the ink inside is busted in the process rendering the item useless.

The clothing security tags referred to as ink tags are hard EAS tags that contain two ampoules of dye in one of the sides. There is generally a blue dye and a glow in the dark dye that will stain whatever the inks contact.

EAS refers to electronic article surveillance. In basic terms, security tags on clothes contain an RF transmitter.  When this transmitter intersects the path of the clothing alarm – those big towers flanking the doors of a retailer – an extremely audible alarm sounds.

Security tags on clothes – also referred to as EAS tags – are used in the majority of large chain stores. It is equally advantageous for small boutiques and small box stores to utilize the EAS tags for clothing security.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase clothing alarm, clothing security tags, as well as Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on how Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags can work with Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system please contact us via security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547.

I just came back from a great weekend with my family. We took a road trip to visit one of the national museums that we had wanted to tour for some time. It was well worth the trip, even my toddler loved it.

We decided to take a quick swing through the gift shop on our way out after we had walked all seven floors of the museum. We observed that they had a large quantity of clothing for sale, but none of it seemed to have any clothing security tags.

It seemed quite unusual for a tourist attraction not to have any visible clothing security.  Upon closer examination, I observed clothing security in the form of soft labels imbedded into the price tags of the clothes.  Although they didn’t use clothing security tags, there was still a form of protection in place, but it wasn’t overtly obvious. I thought it was a pretty smart move.

No doubt this store has its share of shoplifters, but the number of false activations from their clothing alarm are greatly reduced because someone forgot to remove a hard tag. The soft tags are disarmed as soon as they are placed on the counters at the wrap stand.

The last thing one wants in a museum is to have a clothing alarm going off every few minutes. This individualized program for clothing security was very well designed to suit the unique needs of a specialty store.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system and to get a system personalized to the needs of YOUR store.

For more information on how Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags can best work with your Electronic Article Surveillance (or EAS system) contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Protecting your stores from shoplifters is not the only reason for clothing security. Procedures must also be in place to dissuade employees from taking advantage of the system and stealing your merchandise.

One instance that comes to mind involved a very well-liked manager. Now perhaps I should begin by saying that we used Checkpoint tags for our clothing security. We were very good at making sure the appropriate type and quantity of security tags on clothes were in place. The problem wasn’t with the Checkpoint tags.

The problem was the indiscriminate use of our detachers. We used hand held detachers in the store for several very legitimate reasons, but we had become careless. It was not uncommon to have our detachers anywhere in the store with almost unlimited access.

We didn’t give much thought to controlling the access of the detachers until we started noticing one of our managers frequently wearing some of our newer clothing lines. More than one eyebrow was raised upon seeing him parading around the store in expensive new duds in light of the fact that he habitually complained about how little money he had.

He was able to remove any of the clothing security tags he wanted with his unlimited access to a detacher and no system of checks and balances in place. He simply changed clothes in the dressing room; either by layering the clothing under his own, or by entirely changing clothes when the shifts changed.

Because we failed to manage his freedom with a detacher, the security tags on clothes were ineffective. A system of checks and balances would have eliminated the opportunity for him to steal.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase the clothing alarm, clothing security tags or Electronic Article Surveillance (or EAS system).

For more information on how Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

One of the most problematic areas of clothing security is the fitting rooms. Fitting rooms attract different types of theft. There are the opportunists who don’t plan to steal, but find it irresistible to leave without taking an extra item or two which they have not paid for when tempted with a cluttered fitting room and no watchful eyes to do a piece count.

There are the amateurs who have already decided to steal a piece of clothing, but are too nervous to do it on the sales floor. They will wait for hours in a fitting room until they are the only ones left. They will also take a chance with clothing security tags. Some have even brought a pair of wire cutters into the dressing room to attempt hacking off the pin of a clothing security tag.

I have spent countless hours brainstorming security measures specifically for that area of the store. The challenge of monitoring a fitting room while protecting the privacy of a customer creates an extremely difficult task at best. Security tags on clothes can make a huge difference when the shoplifter is presented with the temptations inherent in the fitting room.

The best method to protect a fitting room from theft is to keep the fitting rooms monitored. Installing locks is a great suggestion; however, the retailer can possibly lose a sale with the potential service issues involved if a customer can’t quickly locate an employee to unlock the door.

A better option is using checkpoint tags whenever possible. Shoplifters usually bypass stealing when faced with the prospect of having to remove the security tags on clothes. Most shoplifters do not want to run the risk of setting off the clothing alarm when a Checkpoint tag is still attached.

To purchase the clothing alarm, clothing security tags and/or the Electronic Article Surveillance (or Loss Prevention Store. Your fitting rooms will stand a better chance of being theft-free with these simple additions to your clothing security.

For more information about EAS system) contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547