The drone business is set to be a multi-billion dollar a year industry. As with any hot and exciting product, you have to Prevent Shoplifting if you want to keep yourself profitable. Whether you plan to stock the very best high-end camera platforms, or some inexpensive toys, these products are guaranteed to be a hit this year and can really add a significant amount to your bottom line. So, let’s talk strategy, shall we?

 Last year around the holidays, my store purchased tons of drones. Small ones, big ones, cheap ones and expensive ones. They were an absolute hit and we sold them hand over fist. We also lost quite a bit to both internal and external theft. This was our first year really buying into the category, and we really dropped the ball in securing them. This year, we bought a few hundred wrap tags  to get us through the season. Here’s why we made that decision this year and why you should consider it as well. 

 With the drone category, you really have to give your customer’s access to the product. The open-sell concept is what really drives the business in this category. You can’t have the product behind a case, or a have just a display box on the shelf. You have to let the customer see the product, hold it in their hands, and yes, even let them play with it. (I set up a little indoor area for customers to play with some of the more popular ones. Great way to blow out of them). What I didn’t do was use an wrap tag in order to Prevent Shoplifting. 

 Within the first week that we set our displays out, we had lost two. In another week, I had lost 10. By the time Black Friday rolled around, I was down nearly 25 units. I stationed an employee at the display center, but you know how it is during those busy days. There’s just no way that you can keep up with everyone. All told, I lost about 100 units last year. You can bet that my stores are not going to lose that much again this year. I’ve got my retail utility belt on and I’m primed and ready to Prevent Shoplifting. 

 If you’re thinking about adding some cool new drones to your store’s holiday assortment this year, you’d be remiss if you didn’t at least consider the retail anti-theft devices. While I never expect any singular product to completely Prevent Shoplifting, I fully expect to see between 50-60% less theft than last year. Go ahead, give them a try. 

 
For more information about retail anti-theft devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.

Alpha spider wraps

I was strolling through a store today doing some shopping with my wife. We went through clothing, electronics and the food departments. We continued in the main aisle of this store walking past the household appliances and an endcap with two popular, single cup coffee maker boxes on it. No, it wasn’t the coffee makers that caught my eye; rather it was the retail anti-theft devices being used to prevent shoplifting. Each of the boxes was protected with an Alpha Spider Wrap securely tightened around the merchandise ensuring a would-be thief would be hard pressed to steal the items. Then something else about the display caught my attention, a cable locking the spider wraps together and the other end attached to the base deck of the endcap. I stopped my wife and asked her what was wrong with the display. After an audible sigh (she doesn’t always share my enthusiasm about security) she looked at the endcap and confessed she didn’t know. I explained to her the silliness of what had been done with the devices and how they were defeating the purpose of Alpha Spider Wrap.

Alpha Spider Wrap is an anti-theft device designed of aircraft grade steel cable in a sturdy housing unit. The housing unit contains the cable and loosens and tightens the cable so it can be cinched tightly around merchandise and loosened and removed at the point of sale. The housing also holds an electronic article surveillance (EAS) coil. For stores that have EAS antennas located at doors and entryways, the wraps will activate antenna alarms when carried with the detection range of the antennas. The audible and visual alerts of the antennas can prevent shoplifting by warning employees that a theft attempt may be taking place. Wraps also have tamper alarms that sound when a thief attempts to cut a length of the cable in order to remove it from merchandise. The use of these retail anti-theft devices acts as both a visual deterrent and a physical deterrent to theft through alarm activations. 

Alpha Security retail anti-theft devices are created with the purpose of securing merchandise to prevent shoplifting while at the same time keeping goods accessible to customers. Tools such as the Alpha Spider Wrap have given retailers the ability to take products from behind locking display cases or minimizing the amount of merchandise on shelves. Customers can pick up merchandise, view it, read label information, carry product around the store as they continue to shop and check out at their leisure. Some stores keep only one item on a shelf to prevent theft. When the one item sells, shoppers have to wait for an employee to “check the back” for more product. Using Spider Wrap means more units can be maintained on a shelf for more customers.  Alpha Security products drive up sales because customers were leaving stores rather than wait for service. They also improve a store’s productivity because an employee is not tied to an area waiting to open a showcase for a customer to simply browse merchandise.

This brings me back to my endcap escapade. The idea of securing the Spider Wrapped merchandise to the endcap was absurd. I am sure someone was well intentioned however they missed the point of using the wrap in the first place. IF I had wanted the coffee maker someone would have had to come by with a portable detachment tool (there was no call button), unlocked the unit and carried it to the checkout lane for me. Worse, in this situation I would have had to look for an employee since no one was in the area. That is a recipe for a disgruntled customer and can have a negative effect on future sales, even the potential loss of a patron. 

Use Alpha Security products as they were designed and let them work in your favor. You will improve your staffing model, payroll and drive sales all at the same time. You will also prevent shoplifting and improve stock shortage, adding profit to your bottom line, and who doesn’t want to run a profitable business?

Get more information on Alpha Spider Wrap, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

I have been working in retail for a LONG time now, the majority of those years being in Retail Loss Prevention. Even today as I work in the sales and customer service side of retail, I still draw on my Loss Prevention experience to prevent shoplifting. Just the other day I had an opportunity to stop someone from stealing a cell phone case. This wasn’t just an ordinary case, this has a built in charger that plugs into the mini-port on a phone so it can charge while still in the case. I began watching the suspect when he knelt down in the phone accessory aisle and began picking up phone cases. He reminded me of someone I had stopped from stealing phone cases a few weeks prior to this. As I watched the suspect for a few minutes I noticed that the guy was avoiding the cell phone cases wrapped in Alpha Spider Wrap.

The Alpha Spider Wrap is a retail anti-theft device that secures around a piece of merchandise. The device has wires that extend from a housing unit and are wrapped around an item and secured together with a clip. The units have tamper alarms that are set off if someone cuts one of the wires. the noise from the alarm is loud enough to be heard across a store, alerting employees to a possible theft in progress. The Alpha Spider Wrap also activate electonic article surveillance antennas if a piece of merchandise that is protected by a wrap is carried out of a store. The antenna alarms activate and employees are made aware a theft is taking place. Staff respond to the alarm and recover merchandise, OR in many cases, the alarm scares the thief and they drop the merchandise.

The “shopper” in my situation was looking at cell phone cases and examing them and then he started to take them out of the packages. While doing this he also looked around and appeared to be trying to make sure no one was watching him.  He did finally seem to settle on a case and he removed it from the package.  He put the package down then palmed the case in his hand and stood with his hand at his side next to the front pocket of his shorts. Based on experience I knew what he was going to do as he took one last glance around the store. I walked towards him and asked if the cell phone case in his hand was the one he wanted to purchase. The “shopper” was clearly startled and fumbled over his words as he tried to tell me he was making a decision about the case and if it was what his daughter needed for her phone. I engaged him in conversation as I would anyone else and at the same time picked up the empty package for the phone.  He asked about the price of it and I scanned it and found it was almost $70.00. My friend was shocked, why he thought it was on clearance for about $6.00. After several minutes of conversation my customer said he might be back and met up with a woman he was with and they walked around for several minutes and left together. Because of our conversation, I believe this was the same person I stopped from shoplifting previously.

As I put the case back in the package I was surprised it was not protected with an Alpha Spider Wrap like other phone cases that were a few dollars more in price. As it turned out, the case my customer had his eye on did not fall into the price range of those that our company protects with retail anti-theft devices. Because of a few dollars difference, we almost experienced a loss due to a merchandise theft strategy that is not very flexible. It is my contention that retail anti-theft devices work, they just have to be used in order to do the job. In my opinion, setting a “price point” as a basis for protecting an item is not necessarily the best way to prevent shoplifting. Protect ALL of your products and you will see your merchandise shortage decrease significantly because of their ability to deter theft.

Invest in retail anti-theft devices such an Alpha Spider Wrap and you will prevent shoplifting. As you stop theft you will see your profit margin grow and your store in-stocks improve, allowing merchandise to be available to paying customers.

The Alpha Spider Wrap are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.  

In my professional life I take pride in being a detailed investigator, brilliant interviewer and all around excellent LP teacher.  I love telling good stories, using real world experiences to instruct others. That is unless the story involves me and my being human. Those stories, where an oversight while applying an Alpha Spider Wrap turned into a hard lesson, I wish I didn’t have to tell.

As those of us in the loss prevention community know we do far more than just prevent shoplifting. Many of us also serve as compliance officers, enforcing policy. We work as safety captains, checking fire doors and clearing hazards and we work as process auditors, making sure company programs for using devices like an Alpha Cable lock are in place and 100% correct. Retail is a tough world and it is much easier to protect the sale you have already made then it is to find a sale to replace it.

Yearly inventory is a gauge of our success in LP. Inventory results can accelerate or derail an LP’s path forward. Preventing inventory shrink is why we prevent shoplifting, why we use Alpha Cable Lock devices to secure display TV’s and laptops. It’s why we use an Alpha Spider Wrap to protect Vacuums, Printers and TVs from theft. Or at least why we are supposed to use them.

Inventory is a crazy time for everyone, LP included and no one is immune to being overwhelmed and losing focus. I was clearing out cancelled layaway merchandise and it was a nightmare. Besides the storage area being heat wise just shy of the surface of the sun and slightly warmer than Death Valley in July, I was running about a million miles an hour.

I hadn’t done anything to prevent shoplifting in about two weeks and I was flat out worn down. Imagine my delight when I found a dozen TV sets just sitting in a stockroom completely forgotten. The fact that I had prevented a miscount was little consolation as I dragged the pallet of TVs across the store to put them out on display. I remember talking with associates who were busy securing electronics to the counter with Alpha Cable lock devices and asking if they had any Alpha Spider Wraps with them. They had some but not enough and I secured what I could before heading to the back.

I never made it.  One associate question, led to another which led to issue after issue. With all the fires around I finally understood why the store was so hot.  It wasn’t long before I had forgotten that we even sold electronics much less that I was stocking them. Overloaded and with my stomach on empty I decided that lunch was a matter of life or death and with everything else forgotten I left for lunch.

And there sat a trio of lovely TVs that I failed to use the Alpha Spider Wrap on. You can guess where the story ends. I walk back into frantic manager who informs me that we had a pushout of three TVs a few minutes after I left. Just perfect. My mistake didn’t prevent shoplifting it had enabled it!

It was a costly lesson. The subject was in my store under three minutes and the only thing they had taken was the three TVs I left unprotected. Had I maintained focus and applied the last three Alpha Spider wrap to the TVs I’m sure this story would have had a different ending. In the end we have to accept that we cannot see everything, cannot prevent every loss but what we can do is to ensure that what needs to be protected is, even when we aren’t there. 

Need information on Alpha Spider Wrap? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now

I recently gave some advice on the top 5 items (in my opinion) that should be protected with an Alpha Spider Wrap. After writing my thoughts, I went to power down my laptop for the night, but I couldn’t. While those 5 items were at the top of my priority list, I couldn’t help but think of 5 more. I’d be remised if I didn’t share them with you.

6. Electronic Razors

I recently replaced my aging shaver, and quickly realized that costs have gone up over the past 2 years. I guess I could’ve waited until Christmas, but I’m not going for the Duck Dynasty look. I noticed that all these clippers were well above the $50 price-point, but the store was not taking any measures to prevent shoplifting. A simple Alpha Spider Wrap would be the perfect solution if thieves are clipping you daily.

7. Printers/Printer Ink

These are targets for organized crime rings. They are expensive, hard to secure and easy to resell. Most retailers opt to keep the ink behind glass cases and the printers behind cages. Great idea to prevent shoplifting, but customers are probably leaving empty handed if they can’t track down an employee to open those cases.

8. Headphones

Little square boxes that sell for $200+. The better the sound quality, the higher the price. The higher that price, the more likely it is to be stolen. If you aim to keep your product accessible to customers, the Alpha Spider Wrap is the sure fire bet to keep you from hearing about all that loss from shoplifters.

9. High-end Cookware

Ever go out and purchase a good pot, or pan? It’s likely to set you back a few dollars. Additionally, most individual units aren’t packaged in any type of box, but are mostly open so the customer can marvel at high quality metal. So how are you supposed to secure a $100+ single item that no traditional tag can? The Alpha Spider Wrap can be a great solution to this problem, as they are perfect for those awkwardly shaped items!

10. Televisions

People steal TV sets more often than you would ever imagine. One thing that seems to deter this activity is a physical security measure in place. The most effective method I’ve seen to prevent shoplifting is the Alpha Spider Wrap. I’ve seen criminals completely bypass TVs that were secured and steal the smaller ones that were not. Needless to say, we use them on all boxed TV sets that we display on the sales floor!

Get more information on Alpha Spider Wraps, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

In the past decade or so, Organized Retail Crime (ORC) has seen a dramatic rise, affecting retailers of all sizes. ORC consists of “professional” groups of shoplifters who target specific items that are carried by retailers, to then re-sell online, at flea markets or on the Black Market. Many retailers are left scratching their heads on how to mitigate their risk of becoming victim to this seemingly never-ending cycle of theft. Retailers understand that they must keep good merchandising standards in place to improve sales, but also know they need to protect their merchandise to prevent shoplifting. This is where the Alpha Spider Wrap comes into play. Alpha Spider Wraps are a top of the line merchandise protection product, while leaving the items to have excellent shelf placement for consumers.

The product comes in various sizes, has a very loud audible alarm and secures around a product. The device cannot be removed without the alarm sounding unless a store employee removes it with a special Alpha Key, designed specifically for the device. One might now ask, “Won’t the shoplifter just walk out with the device on the product,” or “How does this prevent shoplifting?” After spending numerous years in Retail Loss Prevention, I can attest that this is a very uncommon practice as the device also works in conjunction with EAS towers, setting off their audible alarm upon as exit as well. What if the shoplifter cuts the device to remove it? This would be a very bold move on the part of the shoplifter. By doing so, the device starts its audible alarm, causing the subject in question to immediately discard the merchandise and exit the store embarrassed, and most likely knowing they should think twice about coming back. 

Whether a merchant wants to protect large, high value power tools or a smaller high value fragrance set, Alpha Spider Wraps will get the job done. Employees are easily able to attach the devices to the product without doing any harm to the packaging, along with the aesthetics of the merchandise. As stated above, the product comes in numerous sizes, and it is adjustable making it suitable for most applications. When it comes time to remove the device from the merchandise, this is easily done in a matter of seconds by the cashier with the Alpha Key. If retailers are looking at cost, it is noteworthy that the Alpha Spider Wraps can be used countless times over, reducing the expenditures that come with constantly having to order other merchandise protection equipment. 

While at work, it’s a huge relief when I see a would-be shoplifter select an item that has an Alpha Spider Wrap placed on it. Gone are the days where I would run out to the floor to prepare for an apprehension. Now, all I essentially have to do is let the device prevent shoplifting! On the off chance that the shoplifter actually exits with the merchandise and the device, the EAS towers sound, and store associates are there to greet the suspected shoplifter- thus deterring the theft once again. Sometimes it can get quite comical watching shoplifters attempting to remove the devices, most of the time being unsuccessful. The device fits securely on the items so that it cannot be simply pulled off and discarded- but boy do people try their hardest! These devices certainly give store owners and employees less anxiety when it comes to protecting their merchandise, preventing shoplifting and losing profit, all while lowering costs of the merchandise protection plans. 

For more information about Alpha Spider Wraps contact us or call 1.770.426.0547