Are you Actively Secure?

It absolutely amazes me that more retailers are not actively concerned about their liquor bottle security. When I say, “actively concerned” I am really talking about a lack of any visible type of liquor bottle security. It doesn’t just have to be hard liquor, but expensive wines as well.

I was out at my local liquor store this evening. As I walked up and down the aisles, I noticed that this particular retailer had shelves absolutely jam packed with bottles. They had such a variety, it was almost overwhelming. I think I saw wines from every corner of the world.

What I didn’t see however were liquor bottle locks. Not a single bottle had a liquor bottle lock for liquor bottle security. I had to wonder to myself that maybe this retailer was over saturating their inventory with a huge variety of SKUs to attempt to make up for their shrink losses. It would make sense. That wouldn’t be the first time I have stumbled across a store trying desperately to out run their shrink.

I sometimes forget that not everyone knows how much difference a device like a liquor bottle lock can make. Many retailers and small business owners don’t know that there are solutions for preventing inventory losses. It’s just a matter of looking in the right places.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle liquor bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Liquor Bottle Lock, Liquor Bottle locks, Liquor Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

What to do when they start stealing the cheap stuff too…

In the bottle security world we find that as we fix one problem another may pop up. We get reports from time to time from clients that they have protected the “good” stuff but now the shoplifters are stealing the less expensive liquor and wine.

This is normal and a part of fixing the overall problem. Think about it, the shoplifter is accustom to stealing from you. They expect it and have come to depend on the free stuff they get from you. Now that you have a bottle security program in place and are beginning to squeeze them out of your life they are not happy about it. Some will simply go to your unprotected competitor. Some will change to stealing product that is not protected or secured with a liquor bottle lock.

This is actually good as it is telling you that your efforts are working. Now let’s fine tune the solution. You have liquor bottle locks on the good stuff like Grey Goose. But there has been an increase in the theft of the less expensive stuff. Maybe the mini bottles are disappearing or the less expensive full size bottles. What do you do?

You have several options. You can do nothing and absorb the losses. But that still means that you will be losing money. What you need though is an option that is cost effective. You could place a liquor bottle lock on $5.99 vodka and that may work especially because the liquor bottle locks are reusable.

But another solution could be to put a Checkpoint label on the bottle and deactivate it at the time of checkout. Checkpoint labels are very inexpensive.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle liquor bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Liquor Bottle Lock, Liquor Bottle locks, Liquor Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Liquor Bottle Security for Washington State

The State of Washington is in the process of privatizing liquor sales. This means that there is a huge opportunity for retailers in the state! It also means that that are shoplifters looking forward to new opportunities. Bottle security is critical from the start. Retailers that take liquor bottle security seriously before they open their doors to liquor sales customers this year will be ahead of the pack.

Liquor bottles locks like the EASy Bottle, EASy Guarde, Crystal Guarde and Steel Grip from Alpha Security will keep your profits in store by denying shoplifters the ability to steal your product. Liquor bottle locks can even deny shoplifters the ability to open and consume or pour off your merchandise into a flask before they leave the store.

Washington State retailers will be facing these same issues just like other states have. The great news is that the liquor bottle lock solution works and works very well. Alpha Security basically invented the liquor bottle lock and produces the highest quality liquor bottle locks made. They are built to stand up to wear and tear in a retail environment. A liquor bottle lock is simple and easy to apply and remove, by store staff.

A liquor bottle security program is easy to set up and maintain. It is clearly cost effective. Consider the loss of one bottle of Grey Goose. Shoplifters do not target less expensive brands they go right for the expensive stuff. Securing these bottles behind a counter has a negative effect on your good customers. They cannot shop and compare as easily. Keeping all product on the sales floor and available it the principal behind a wine and liquor bottle security program.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle liquor bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Liquor Bottle Lock, Liquor Bottle locks, Liquor Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

The Real Cost of Bottle Loss

Retailers are scrutinized for their profits like never before. Whether a company has to report to franchise owners, shareholders or investment firms, someone is always looking at the bottom line profit. In the case of anyone who does alcohol sales, the cost of losing even one bottle is astronomical.

First you have to look at the cost of the bottle lost. Then you have to start adding up how much it would be to replace that bottle. It’s not just the price of a new bottle; there are many other associated costs.

You have to add up the margin loss on the first bottle, and the cost of any manager or employee to investigate that theft. Don’t forget the labor cost of checking inventory on hands to reorder the correct amount of product. There are labor costs to receive, unload and merchandise the new bottle, all overhead costs such as taxes, electricity and rent…. The list can go on and on.

While using products like EASy Bottle Bottle Locks by Alpha Security’s can be an initial investment, the long-term price of bottle security pays for itself in the end.

To use this type of bottle security, labor is only used once to apply the bottle locks. To detach the bottle locks takes only a moment of time at the POS. It is much quicker than trying to figure out what happened to a bottle of alcohol. Long term payouts with a short-term investment always make prying eyes happy!

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Locks, Bottle lock, Liquor Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

It’s EASy as 1, 2, 3

Hopefully you are looking for liquor bottle locks and bottle security solutions because you are trying to take a proactive approach to your liquor store’s liquor bottle security problem. That is truly the best way to protect your inventory and your profits. If you are already suffering inventory and sales losses as a result of liquor bottle theft, then you are now on the right path.

Alpha Security makes a wonderfully reliable and simple to use product. It is called the EASy Bottle liquor Bottle Lock. It truly is easy to use. Basically the EASy Bottle liquor Bottle Lock is a cap that is simply pushed down over the top of the liquor or wine bottle. There are three sizes that fit virtually every bottle that’s out there, so no worries about finding the right size. Just pick from your supply of Small, Large and Extra Large.

Once the cap is in place, it cannot be removed. That is, unless you have the key. The key allows you to maintain control over who can take the caps off. By limiting the access to that key, you can make sure that only your most trust worthy associates can unlock the bottles for sale. Liquor bottle security has never been as easy as this. It really is as EASy as 1- 2- 3.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security , Bottle Locks , Bottle lock , Liquor Bottle Security , bottle security or EASy Bottle and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Bottle Locks can be a Sobriety Check for the Would Be Shoplifter

What comes to mind when you think of your favorite brand of liquor?  If you are a merchant that sells alcohol chances are your thoughts immediately turn to liquor bottle security.  Liquor theft continues to be a major problem for retailers.  The good news is there are devices available that can help merchants prevent loss while increasing sales.

Alpha Security offers the EASy bottle liquor bottle lock system designed to provide a deterrent to theft by offering a highly visible liquor bottle lock system.  The locks can only be removed by using a key designed specifically for that device.  Alpha provides bottle locks that protect the product while looking great when applied.  Any merchant knows that having a great looking display is critical to increasing sales.  The Alpha Security EASy bottle liquor bottle security system provides an aesthetic deterrent to theft while making the product available for paying customers to handle.

I was fortunate enough to witness just how effective liquor bottle locks are while I was a market investigator for a large retail chain.  Many of the stores I was responsible for had high shrink in liquor. We understood something more had to be done to combat the theft.  It was decided that we would implement a liquor bottle security strategy on a trial basis to see how such devices would impact shortage.  Positive results were immediately apparent once the bottle locks were installed.  One incident immediately comes to mind.

I was observing the liquor department when I observed a subject, who had been known to steal liquor in the past, approach one of our high theft liquor displays.  The subject noticed the bottle locks and was visibly upset.  He angrily left the store without making any attempt to steal merchandise.  About an hour later I received an email from a neighboring store regarding a subject that stole a large amount of liquor from them.  I opened the attached picture and was surprised to see that their thief was the very one that stormed out of my store after seeing that we had liquor bottle security installed on our merchandise.  At that point I couldn’t help but feel that Al Capone himself wouldn’t dare attempt to steal our liquor.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Your Employees and Liquor Security

While no one ever plans on having an employee steal, it is an unfortunate reality of the retail environment. Take a look at the following suggestions. There are no sure fire ways to avoid theft. Implementing some of these strategies will reduce your exposure to the criminal element.

First, are you running background checks on your employees? That will help reduce the bad apples from the start.

Next, understand that the honest employees you do hire may not always remain so. Be watchful of signs of financial stress or alcohol abuse. Both situations could lead to cash or liquor theft.

The next part is to implement some form of liquor bottle security. Alpha Security has a truly comprehensive line of products specifically for bottle security. Their EASy Bottle liquor bottle lock is a quick fix to prevent theft. It is a cap that is placed over the top of a bottle that has an embedded alarm tag. This cap will alarm your Checkpoint Systems if it gets too close to the doors without being removed.

Keep in mind that liquor Bottle locks are great to guard against both employee theft and external theft (shoplifters).

If you can, include some camera equipment at your store. Common points of view would be over the registers and at the entrance/ exit doors. Make sure that your cameras are visible to anyone who enters. As a general rule, people are less likely to do something bad if they are aware of being filmed.

This is a great start to protecting your employee’s good name and your good profits. Keep your eyes open and your employees will be more likely to stay honest.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Locks, Bottle lock, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Keep Kids Off Booze

According to a 2011 study on underage drinking conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, shoplifting has become an increasingly popular method used by minors to illegally obtain alcohol. Underage drinking has an effect on the community as whole, and it’s the duty of schools and parents to reduce opportunities for unsupervised parties and home access to alcohol. But what responsibilities are left to retailers?

Legally, in most jurisdictions expectations of retailers extend to asking for identification and training their employees on spotting fakes and counterfeits. Socially, however, shouldn’t we be making it harder for the youths in our communities to illegally consume alcohol?

Based on the findings of this study, a national campaign called We Don’t Serve Teens is being promoted and sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission. This campaign stresses the role retailers’ can play in reducing underage alcohol access and consumption.  The commission recommends that retailers not only take steps to decrease overall theft in their establishment, but especially theft by minors. One of their suggestions was for stores to have a more open floor plan to make it easier for store personnel to monitor their alcohol stock.

The commission also recommended retailers to increase their liquor bottle security and significantly reduce not only underage alcohol theft but all liquor shoplifting, by investing in bottle locks; anti-theft devices that are secured over the cap of the bottle and removed after the item is sold. Not only do these devices serve as visual deterrents, they physically prevent someone from accessing the bottle’s contents while secured on the product. Not only do they help retailers with their problems of bottle security, but they help make them more socially responsible and responsive to the needs of their community by preventing underage alcohol theft.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

It Takes Two Types

There are two types of bottle security: Passive and Assertive. When one starts to look at how to protect the investment of liquor and wine inventory, it is important to take a dual approach. While there are many different components to passive and assertive theft prevention, here are a few examples of each one.

A passive form of liquor bottle security is one that leaves an impression in someone’s mind that there is more to your bottle security program. It can be as simple as taking inventory on a daily basis. That doesn’t mean you have to count every bottle every day. It could just mean you pick a select grouping to count. Anyone who is watching (employee or customer) will have the impression that if something is missing, you will know immediately. They will be less likely to steal.

An assertive form of liquor bottle security would be the use of an anti theft device such as the EASy bottle from Alpha security. This is a product that attaches over the mouth of a bottle. It prevents the contents from being consumed prior to purchase. The EASy Bottle liquor Bottle lock will also sound an alarm at the doors if the lock gets too close.

These liquor bottle locks are visual deterrents against shoplifting. It is a more in your face approach, as anyone who enters your establishment will take note of their presence.

Being passive and assertive in your shrink reduction will lend to consistent levels of profit. Taking a dual approach will strengthen your rate of success.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Locks, Bottle lock, Liquor Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Minimize Wine and Liquor Theft By Maximizing Liquor Bottle Security

Bottle security is something that all businesses engaged in liquor and wine sales can take for granted.  Bottle theft is very common in the food and beverage industry because a server, cook or dish washer can quickly remove inventory from a stock room while everyone is busy on the sales floor.

Locking inventory in a closet to control access is a great first step but we all know the stockroom will be unlocked at times. EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security are a great tool for reducing theft through deterrence.

A hotel restaurant I once worked for didn’t have liquor bottle security in place during the busy holiday season.  They hired about 10-15 seasonal support staff members during this time so it was tough to make money because tips were split between so many people.

Dinner was the busiest shift and we started noticing high-end vodka disappearing in the evening.  Everything was locked in a stock room but it was hard to keep the door secured because so many people needed ready access.  Servers didn’t have time to wait for a key holder because customers’ meal orders were already delayed because of the evening rush.

A bottle lock was placed on each high-theft item before they were placed in the stockroom.  When the vodka stopped walking out the back door the red wine started disappearing.  The restaurant manager decided to place an EASy bottle bottle lock by Alpha Security on each bottle before it was placed in the stockroom.

The access key to the bottle locks was kept at the server station for ready access.  Implementing liquor bottle security stopped out inventory from walking out the back door.  It was learned that one of our seasonal cooks was stealing from the stock room while servers were on the sales floor and liquor bottle security helped management identify the thief.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks from Alpha Security. 

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Locks, Bottle lock, Liquor Bottle Security, bottle security or EASy Bottle contact us or call 1.770.426.0547