stop shoplifting

There’s Plenty To Lose Without Checkpoint Systems

February 12, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

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There’s Plenty To Lose Without Checkpoint Systems

I work for a small retail pharmacy. We are located in an inner city setting within close proximity to several highways so we battle petty theft as well as the professional boosters. It’s a perfect storm. I try to shop local small businesses when I need something, whether it be for my home or even for my store. I am always on the lookout for new ways to stop shoplifting and I tend to pay close attention to what my neighbors are doing. The first thing I look for is the presence of Checkpoint Systems. If they do have a system in place, I look around to see what types of items or categories they have incorporated Checkpoint tags. It’s a good idea to know what is being targeted in other stores because you never know what you may get hit for next, especially if you carry similar items.

I had to go to a local dollar store last week because I needed supplies for my store that we don’t sell. For one, someone had stolen the toilet paper roller from the restroom. Yes, someone really stole that from our public restroom, presumably because they needed one. I hope it wasn’t just to be a jerk. Anyway, I went to this store and I made my usual observations. First of all, Checkpoint Systems were clearly in place and being utilized. And by being utilized, I actually mean they were working it to death. It was like I was in a Checkpoint Systems wonderland. This store staff tags EVERYTHING. I was in the back of the store checking around the housewares and I was simply amazed. Shower curtains, window curtains, sheet sets, and even table cloths all had Checkpoint Tags attached. They put them on the packs of socks, baby blankets, and even on bug spray bombs. These employees had tags on all the bags of beef jerky! Obviously, retail theft prevention is a priority for the manager or owner of this location. I could see cameras on the ceiling that looked like the whole place was covered with surveillance. It was, in my mind, a loss prevention department’s dream. When I walked up to the guy running the front I had to ask about the extreme measures they were taking to stop shoplifting. I told him about our restroom bandit and my reason for being there. He said they had to tag all their stuff because of all the theft that occurred there before. He then smirked at me and said they still steal the soap from our bathrooms. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Now I have to admit, I don’t think I have the time or energy to start mega-tagging like this store does. And honestly, I don’t have that kind of need for it either. However, as a store manager, I do what I need to do and so do they. There’s another store close by that I shop and they don’t have a clue. Merchandise walks out of that store on a daily basis, and if they know it, they don’t make any changes to their business model. Checkpoint Systems will give you a return on your investment. When you use serious asset protection tools, you keep your bottom line in the black. Shrink can be reduced and thefts can be deterred as long as you know what you are losing and you do something about it.

For more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: checkpoint systems, Checkpoint tags, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

CHECKPOINT SECURITY SYSTEM: A VISUAL AND ACTIVE DETERRENT TO SEND THIEVES RUNNING

December 14, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

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CHECKPOINT SECURITY SYSTEM: A VISUAL AND ACTIVE DETERRENT TO SEND THIEVES RUNNING

There aren’t too many variables when it comes to the overall goal of loss prevention professionals. It’s quite simple to stop loss and reduce shrink. The only way this can get done is with a sound loss prevention plan and one that includes the proper tools to achieve the goal. Retail theft prevention measures are most effective when used in conjunction with all available resources. One such resource is having a first line of defense with a Checkpoint security system.

I recall one time where I was working in a retail store where the management had a lax program in place. It was so bad that after we would apprehend them, thieves would actually make jokes about the measures that were in place. Telling us “Man this place is a joke”. Or, “I lift here more than the gym!” I’ve heard it all. What I also heard was that if management didn’t bother to install some sort of EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) system soon, that we would never stop shoplifting in that store. The lack of accountability at the door was one of the things that thieves counted on at the store. They knew that if they could conceal it, they could get it out the door.

See an important part of retail theft prevention is being able to thwart the loss that you don’t always see or even know about. There is no way to tell just how much product is leaving your store really but with the use of EAS measures like a Checkpoint security system, you’ll at the very least know about attempted occurrences. The five finger crooks that brazenly lift your store blind will no longer have a free ticket to just waltz right out the front door with your product. It’s this degree of accountability at the very least that makes all of the difference. See, by installing an EAS system in your store, you add an element of utter inconvenience and deterrence to your plan to stop shoplifting.

EAS systems work by using RF (Radio Frequency) technology within your store. Some systems also include the use of AM (Acoustic Magnetic) technology. The differences between the two technologies are in the way the system interacts with your products. In both cases, select items are tagged with small asset tags, labels or stickers that are unobtrusively placed somewhere on the products themselves. Once the tags come within a prescribed proximity of the EAS pedestals installed at the store exits, the system will alarm alerting store staff.

This form of technology is widely available to you as a retailer and comes with various options and installation configurations. It is important to understand that the use of EAS systems can provide a much needed visual deterrent to ‘would-be’ shoplifters above and beyond totally embarrassing the ones that fail to estimate the full functionality of them. The casual shoplifter may not know how they work to their disadvantage however; they do know that they are there. You can hardly miss the pedestals at the front of the stores and almost all of us have witnessed them being triggered before whether accidentally or intently. Since most people recognize the EAS pedestals as an anti-shoplifting resource, when they see them in your store, they know you aren’t playing around. They know your serious and plan to stop shoplifting in your store.

The presence of the EAS pedestals alone may even be enough to make casual shoplifters think twice about stealing from your store actually. Hypothetically, even if the system was inactive (powered off) the simple visual presence of them alone would still have a strong visual impact on all that notices them. The bottom line though is that if you install these retail theft prevention items in your store, it is absolutely going to stop shoplifting in your store to some extent. In the long term, the system will more than pay for itself monetarily when you consider the shrink you are preventing. Thieves will be less cocky about how easy it is to steal from your store and casual shoplifters will be stopped in their tracks.

For more information about the Checkpoint security system please contact us at 1-770-426-0547.

For more information about the Checkpoint security system contact us or call 1-770-426-0547.

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, checkpoint security system, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

Five Strategies to Stop Shoplifting in Your Business

July 15, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

You walk around the endcap and the “customer” standing in front of your DVD display stands up quickly. “What was he doing?” you ask yourself. It looked like he might be trying to put that movie down his pants. You can’t be everywhere. Just how are you supposed to stop shoplifting? It is costing you a fortune by all accounts and retail theft prevention is becoming even more discussed as organized retail crime comes to the forefront with law enforcement and retailers. Retail theft prevention is every retailer’s business and there are five anti-shoplifting strategies one can employ: (1) awareness; (2) merchandising; (3) customer service excellence; (4) zero tolerance; and (5) technological countermeasures.

Awareness is the least expensive solution that the retailer has available to them to stop shoplifting. People …your staff … are the key to retail theft prevention. Ensuring that your staff understand pricing, store policies and are trained in what to look for in potential shoplifting behavior as well as what to do and what NOT TO DO when they see a shoplifter is important in anti-shoplifting strategy. It is important that staff be reminded they are not to be heroes and never are to risk their safety or the safety of your customers for your merchandise.

Merchandising – everything in its place – is important as well in making it difficult for that shoplifter to make off with your merchandise. Is your high dollar merchandise too close to the exits? Are your small, easily concealable trinkets located away from main isles and stacked together on displays so a would-be shoplifter can grab a handful and conceal them? Are your displays so high that your staff can not see over them or around them? Are you exits so open without displays moving traffic away from the exits that a shoplifter or a group of shoplifter can push a shopping cart load of merchandise right out the door into a waiting van or car? If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, you need to take a look at your merchandising plan and consider anti-shoplifting merchandising strategies.

Customer service excellence pays you dividends in many ways other than ensuring you a happy returning customer. It also plays a strong role in retail theft prevention. No shoplifter likes to be noticed and when your staff is asking that shoplifter over and over, “Can I help you?” or “Let me show you our newest line of products that can save you money” they are making that potential shoplifter very nervous indeed – so nervous that he or she is likely to give up their mission and leave your store. If your store has an excellence reputation for having staff on the floor and demonstrating excellent customer service, they undoubtedly have a strong reputation to the shoplifter of being the place to avoid.

Zero tolerance is a key to that reputation. Your store must have a reputation that if one shoplifts there and gets caught they are going to jail and be prosecuted. This is a conscious policy decision that needs to be discussed with your management team and agreed up in order to ensure there is no deviation from this zero tolerance for shoplifting and you will stop shoplifting. Shoplifters are like water: they flow to the area of least resistance.

Technological countermeasures is the fifth strategy and is the one that is likely to have you do some return-on-investment analysis. It is often worth the investment, however, if one really wants to stop shoplifting in his or her store. Checkpoint Systems, for example, has numerous solutions available at different price points to place labels on merchandise that can be detected by Checkpoint Systems’ devices located at your exits should a shoplifter try to leave with the merchandise without paying. There are other vendors besides Checkpoint systems that provide such devices as well. Closed-circuit television is often a strategy one thinks about as a potential strategy. This much be clearly thought out, however, because if one should not monitor the systems live or have them monitored, they are only good at detecting who stole your merchandise and when.

When multiple strategies are used together, including awareness, merchandising, excellent customer service, zero tolerance, and technological countermeasures; it is then when you have strong retail theft prevention in place that can actually stop shoplifting in your store. You actually don’t have to worry about being everywhere at once to prevent that person from walking out of your store with the DVD. Your strategies will do it for you!

For more information about shoplifting, contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Antishoplifting.net

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, checkpoint systems, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

Don’t Be Creepy – The Art of Physical Surveillance and Retail Theft Prevention

May 15, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

In the fight to stop shoplifting in retail stores, there are several retail theft prevention methods you can employ to accomplish the task. Of course, you will want to have a good security alarm system in your store to ensure that your business is protected after hours from burglars. You will also need to get a good EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) system for your entrance and exit doors, like a top of the line Checkpoint systems setup that works with different kinds of security tags and labels. Last but not least, if you have the budget, it would be a good idea to hire someone that handles investigations on shoplifters and employees.

If you are able to have a loss prevention or asset protection team member working in your store that looks for shoplifters, make sure they have the proper training so they don’t wind up scaring away your loyal customers. After all, the goal is to stop shoplifting, not stop customers from purchasing your merchandise. I have worked in the retail loss prevention field for several years, and know that if you aren’t mindful of your surroundings while you are watching someone in the store, you can turn out looking like a creep yourself.

I remember several occasions that my coworkers and I have been mistaken for shady characters ourselves. For example, I remember watching a person from across the store when another customer just happened to walk in the line of sight between myself and the shoplifter. The customer thought I was watching her, and she became so nervous that she asked for a manager at the front of the store, and said that there was a strange man watching her. The manager said that he would call “security” to safely escort her to her car. To her surprise, I showed up and introduced myself. After realizing the situation, the customer laughed and obviously no longer needed the escort to her vehicle. Although I was well trained myself, things like this do tend to happen on occasion.

Once you have watched shoplifters a few times, you start to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work. You need to know the setup of the store and know where you can get a good vantage point when you are watching someone wherever they happen to be in the store. You can also use your environment and the merchandise to blend in without being seen. For instance, you can use peg holes in the shelving to look through, or adjust merchandise so that it hides your head and body as you are watching someone. When a shoplifter is looking around to see if someone is watching them, they tend to look at eye level, so if you stay lower when you are looking at them from behind merchandise, they will be less likely to see you. I’m not saying that you have to crawl around on the ground, but just try to stay below eye level. With a combination of good retail theft prevention equipment and a team that is looking out for shoplifters in your store, you are sure to make a positive impact on your bottom line.

For more information contact us: (retail theft prevention) or call 1.770.426.0547

In the fight to stop shoplifting in retail stores, there are several retail theft prevention methods you can employ to accomplish the task. Of course, you will want to have a good security alarm system in your store to ensure that your business is protected after hours from burglars. You will also need to get a good EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) system for your entrance and exit doors, like a top of the line Checkpoint Systems setup that works with different kinds of security tags and labels. Last but not least, if you have the budget, it would be a good idea to hire someone that handles investigations on shoplifters and employees.

For more information contact us at Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: checkpoint systems, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

This Is A Test- Checkpoint Systems

February 2, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When is the last time you ran a test on your Checkpoint Systems alarm? If the answer is – never- then you might want to reconsider having a test done. At the very least, an alarm test should be conducted once every six months, or biannually.

While Checkpoint Systems alarms are very reliable, conducting a test ensures that all of the physical components are working properly. That means the motion sensors are alarming when they should and all of the door sensors register when they are opened.

The alarm test is actually pretty simple to conduct and should not take more than about twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the size of your store and the amount of access points to test.

Step one is to call the alarm monitoring company and tell them you are going to conduct a test of your Checkpoint Systems. They will place the system on test for you. This is extremely important to do first. If your system is not on test mode, the alarms that you trigger will notify the police. You may be charged a false alarm fee if the police have to respond.

Next walk through your store. Make sure you walk past all motion sensors and open all doors that have an alarm. When you are done, call the alarm company back to have your system taken off of test mode. You should have a detailed list of all points that triggered. Any point that did not alarm that should have needs to have maintenance done immediately.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint Labels, a Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, Checkpoint Systems, or Checkpoint Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547

The alarm test is actually pretty simple to conduct and should not take more than about twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the size of your store and the amount of access points to test.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint labels, checkpoint security system, Checkpoint security tags, checkpoint systems, Checkpoint tags, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

Motive and Opportunity- Anti Shoplifting

January 3, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When dealing with shoplifting crimes, you have to combat the two driving factors involved: motive and opportunity. In order to stop shoplifting you have to effectively reduce either one or both of these driving factors.

For a shoplifter to consider stealing, they need to have a motive for doing so. Specific motives can vary widely amongst shoplifters, but a safe generalization is that they are trying to get something for nothing. It can be motivated by greed- wanting more than what they can afford. It can be driven by necessity; they simply cannot afford to purchase something like food or diapers.

When this motivation to steal is coupled with the opportunity to commit the crime with a lowered risk of getting caught, you can be sure that they will make an attempt to steal.

You can’t control what motivates people. You can’t stop every customer coming into your store and giving them an evaluation to make sure they do not have any motivation to steal. What you can do is reduce the opportunities presented within your store to stop shoplifting. Maybe you remerchandise your high theft products. Perhaps you have a need for Checkpoint Systems as your primary form of anti shoplifting. What ever it takes, your best bet is to look at removing shoplifting opportunities.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

When this motivation to steal is coupled with the opportunity to commit the crime with a lowered risk of getting caught, you can be sure that they will make an attempt to steal.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

Knee Deep In It- Anti Shoplifting

December 25, 2014 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

A shoplifter was in our store picking up a variety of electronic items like DVDs and flash drives. We didn’t really want to make an apprehension, we primarily wanted the shoplifter to drop the merchandise and leave the store. We had employees standing near the exit, and had them start talking about the anti shoplifting tools we use in the store.

We hoped that the shoplifter would be more hesitant to try and leave with the stolen merchandise. What I think we actually did was scare the shoplifter into confusion about what to do next.

The shoplifter had already concealed the merchandise in his bag, and thought he was already in trouble. What he didn’t realize what that if he left the product in the store and exited without any further incident, he could have gone away without any further consequences.

Because so many shoplifters are not fully aware that if they discard the merchandise they are trying to steal, they can leave the store without being apprehended by store employees. They figure that they are already so far in trouble the best bet is to go ahead and risk leaving with the merchandise unpaid for.

This is a perfect example of why anti shoplifting methods need to deter the shoplifter before they start, instead of when they are knee deep in the situation.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

We hoped that the shoplifter would be more hesitant to try and leave with the stolen merchandise. What I think we actually did was scare the shoplifter into confusion about what to do next.

This is a perfect example of why anti shoplifting methods need to deter the shoplifter before they start, instead of when they are knee deep in the situation.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

Don’t Brag About It- Retail Theft Prevention

December 18, 2014 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Customers want to have an innate sense of safety as they walk through your store. They should not be worried that their purse will be stolen if they walk away from a shopping cart for a minute, or that they might be assaulted in a parking lot after dark. To feel that safety, customers expect a certain level of retail theft prevention and security measures to be in place.

What a customer does not want to see is the glaringly obvious reality of your security features. If you have signs, and alarms and bars and gates and locked boxes everywhere, it could actually have the exact opposite effect. Your store can feel like it so locked down, that customers worry about what kind of problems, and criminals, are you trying to prevent? If you have that much security, do you have a frequent criminal problem going on in your store?

Retail theft prevention is a visual deterrent, but it should not overstep the boundaries of customer perception. Using EAS towers and tags to stop shoplifting is a common and expected retail tactic. Showing off your security to the point where it seems like you are bragging about it will do more than dissuade shoplifters to come into your store- it will also dissuade your paying customers.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

Living In The Digital Age- Checkpoint Security System

December 11, 2014 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When we are living full throttle in the digital age, there is no reason why our retail theft prevention needs to be left in the dark ages. When we look to data analysis and reportable metrics, the Checkpoint security system is the way to go. In order to better understand our EAS system, we need to look to the digital functionality that gives us the information we need, when we need it.

Retail theft prevention in the form of EAS tags, labels and tower systems are only as effective as the accuracy of how we use and employ those devices. We need to start by ensuring our tagging is 100% without fail. Then we can better analyze the reports that come from the digital alarm keypad, popular with the newer Checkpoint security system models.

Designed like the face of an ATM machine, employees can record what kind of alarm the EAS towers are recording. The options include false alarm, tag in area, recovery, test, etc. By training your employees to accurately record what caused the EAS alarm to register, you can develop an action plan to eliminate false alarms through better employee training, and stop shoplifting by making an actual incident more noticeable.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

Self Auditing- Stop Shoplifting

December 4, 2014 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Performing a self-audit is a quick way to help stop shoplifting of your high theft merchandise. Using Checkpoint Tags for retail theft prevention is only a part of the equation for success. If those Checkpoint Tags are not consistently used on every article of merchandise, you create an opening for shoplifters to take advantage of your store.

This doesn’t mean that you need to have retail theft prevention like Checkpoint Tags on every single piece of inventory within your store. It means that whatever items you decide need tags are actually being tagged. If you have a specific style or brand of jeans, for example, which is high theft, then each of those pairs requires a tag. It does not mean every pair, of every style and brand of jeans need to be tagged.

A self-audit means taking either a sampling of those tagged items (for large quantities) or all of the items and checking for accuracy. If you conduct a sample of ten items and only five have tags, you are at 50% accuracy. 50% is not going to keep shoplifters at bay. Based on this audit you know where you need to focus your efforts to make sure you are at 100% accuracy.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.