In current day and age, it seems that many people like to blame others for their problems in life. In keeping with that theme, then, shoplifting must be your problem, because you as the store owner or manager are at fault… right?!?
Actually, I think there could be some truth to that–but not in the way you may be thinking. Shoplifters are despicable pond scum; that is one of the problems in our society. They result in a collective jump in price for our necessary goods and services. The shoplifter alone is responsible for their theft.
But we as retailers do have control over our environments. The Merchant laws in almost every State in American actually define and make shoplifting a crime and provide protections for the Retailer. So where is the problem?
We simply do not exercise adequate control over our retail establishments. Oh, I know we have to be careful, because we do not “want to run off our good customers”. This is true, but that is assuming that shoplifters and customers feel, act and respond the same way. Nothing is further from the truth. A good customer rarely even notices the anti-shoplifting efforts going on. They simply do not care. They did not enter the store and begin shopping with even the slightest thought of theft. They are there to compare your prices, service and store’s feel. Oh, sure, they may notice the Checkpoint Antennas or gates at the door, but most have no idea what they are for– and even if they do, they don’t allow it to occupy their thoughts while shopping. Honest shoppers don’t have to care about your LP measures. The closest they get to your shoplifting efforts may be seeing the sign that says “Shoplifters will be shot at sunrise” or some such thing.
A shoplifter is another issue. They are watching for your anti-shoplifting efforts. Thieves pay close attention to employees that are providing excellent customer service. They are afraid of your employees. In case you did not know it, customer service is the number one way to prevent shoplifting. All other tools and devices are a support mechanism for customer service.
So start controlling your environment. Get some training from us if necessary and make it happen. YOU have control over whether or not a shoplifter ruins your day, week, month or year. Don’t be the reason that shoplifters find your store more attractive than your competition.
Many times when LPSI is called in to help a client, we find that the Owner or Manager has let a problem get so far out of control that it’s shocking to us how much they have allowed themselves to lose– be it from shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud, inventory control or other loss prevention areas. Even though they knew it was going on, they may have made some halfhearted attempts to “deal with it”… but they really did nothing until their situation pushed the company into severe financial difficulty.
All of that money went down the drain. In fact, dealing with problems like employee theft and shoplifting should be simple, easy and painless. What I see with most management teams or individuals is a disconnect between their normal business decision processes and an LP issue. For some reason, they tend to think LP is very complicated and fraught with legal mines. Yes, of course, we must keep criminal and civil laws in mind. But remember, we are talking about theft, truly the oldest profession in the world. Laws in this area are well defined and fairly straight forward. If you take something that is not yours, it is a crime!
Now, back to the real problem. Why does an otherwise successful, intelligent business person who can work their way through a huge variety of business problems suddenly go completely blank on what essentially is just another business issue that must be managed? They deal with sales, customer service, employment issues, insurance, taxes, permits, licenses, cash flow, banking, etc.– on a daily basis! The problem continues to get worse, however, because this same competent, capable, intelligent individual makes the mistake of ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away. OMG! What are they thinking? The only thing that will go away is your inventory and your money! If you own a grocery store and a freezer unit starts making a strange noise, do you simply ignore it? No, you get an employee or vendor on it, NOW. Because you know that the inventory in that freezer is worth thousands of dollars in cost, sales, labor and handling!
Do not prepare to lose it, prepare to save it. For example, like most business owners, I am not a CPA. I have a CPA that handles these things. That is what he is trained for, and that’s what he is good at. I call him, he fixes the problem. Even though our minds often tell us differently, we have to remember that we are not experts in everything. We all need help from time to time– even if it is simply advice.
My CPA is on speed dial. My phone number for your LP speed dial is 1-770-426-0547.
Summertime is upon us, and your customers are going to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather. They’ll be grilling, going to the beach or lake, camping, or just spending time outside. While enjoying the weather, many will enjoy alcohol as they socialize.
If your business sells wine or liquors, then business is probably picking up this time of year. Along with that increase in sales there could unfortunately also be an increase in loss due to theft. Bottle security will help reduce your losses and be better stocked for your honest, paying customers.
An EASy Bottle Lock , from Alpha Security can be just the option you choose to protect their high end wines and liquors. This bottle lock is awesome; it fits over the top of the bottle and does not allow the bottle to be opened without a key. The bottle lock is then removed when the bottle is purchased, and can be reused on bottle after bottle. Liquor Bottle Security is so simply why wouldn’t you use it!
Your customers also like to be able to handle the vast variety of wines and liquors that you offer, reading labels and deciding what they would like to purchase them. Instead of having these items behind a counter or in a locked case, you can display them without worrying about loss from shoplifters. Bottle locks can allow free merchandising and high availability to your customers, and studies have shown that sales increase when items are displayed for the customers.
Take advantage of the increase customer flow in your business this summer. Display your merchandise openly while still deterring theft in your business through bottle locks. Using bottle security is the best way to make that happen.
Visit the Retail Loss Prevention Store to buy liquor bottle security like the EASy bottle bottle lock from Alpha Security.
For more information about Alpha Security , bottle security , bottle locks , EASy bottle , liquor bottle security and contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
We are frequently asked what the difference between Alpha High Theft Solution devices that have 1 Alarm, 2 Alarm and 3 Alarm features. In the clothing security world we can use those devices in conjunction with a clothing alarm and regular security tags. These devices are used for merchandise that we have a more serious problem with or that shoplifters have targeted that may not be able to utilize traditional security tags on clothes.
Alpha Security 1 Alarm – These types of clothing security tags or devices will only trigger the antennas at the doors. A regular hard tag or label will do this. However, Alpha also has Spider Wraps, Cable Loks and other items that will cause an alarm.
Alpha Security 2 Alarm – A 2 alarm device will do what a 1 alarm device does plus it will “self-alarm”. Self-alarm means that if a shoplifter tries to remove the device, cut the cables, pry the device off or damage it the device itself will go into alarm. These 2 alarm devices have a built in sounder that produces about 90 dB of sound. That will immediately draw attention to the shoplifter. Normal repeated use by customers and store personnel will not cause an alarm. These devices are very robust.
Alpha Security 3 Alarm – These devices do everything that a 1 and 2 alarm device does plus when the shoplifter tries to leave the property the 3 alarm devices built in sounder, again about 90 dB goes off. The shoplifter then has a choice they can run down the street or mall with this sounder going off, attracting attention to themselves or they can drop the merchandise. The sounder will last up to 10 minutes once the shoplifter passes through the antennas.
These clothing security tags are as robust as any Checkpoint tags or Alpha clothing security device. They have excellent construction, solid plastic welds and high quality electronic components. Of course the added benefit is that they are reusable over and over saving you money and labor. Alpha High Theft Solutions are not intended to be for all merchandise. It is clearly more cost effective to use Checkpoint tags for the bulk of your merchandise. But remember your clothing alarm is only as good as the security tags on clothes.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.
For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547
Let me jump right to it – stealing someone’s identity is fairly easy.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (www.FTC.gov/idtheft ), ID theft strikes nearly 10 million U.S. consumers every year. That’s a bit unnerving.
You guard your credit card with your life, you don’t give out your social security number to just anyone and your passwords are all cryptic and yet – you could still be a victim and not know until it’s too late.
Part of protecting yourself is education. I want to talk to you about five areas of identity theft.
1. Social Security Number Theft – You might be surprised to find out that your child’s SS # is even more at risk than yours. Credit accounts are opened, jobs are obtained, medical insurance is purchased – all with a SS number belonging to a child. Why? Because most likely, you won’t ever check THEIR credit score – you assume they don’t have one. CBS news conducted a segment on this very thing in 2010.
2. Medical Identity Theft – With healthcare insurance premiums at an unbearable high – desperate people are committing desperate acts. Stealing an insurance ID card and having surgeries or other procedures done, is becoming more common. Women are having babies in hospitals and then leaving the medical bills, and sadly the child, behind. All the while, the woman whose identity is stolen can potentially be jailed for leaving “their” child behind and given the burden of having to prove the child is not their own.
3. Criminal Identity Theft – This happens when someone is arrested or violates a law and uses your name and address as their own. This could result in a criminal record, in your name! It could prevent you from getting that job you wanted or worse, you could end up in jail.
4. Financial Identity Theft – Typically, this involves using your personal information to obtain credit cards, loans, bank accounts, etc. You end up buying things, you’ll never see.
5. Driver’s License Theft – This is primary identification used for most of your transactions. Once a driver’s license is obtained the thief can potentially ruin, among many other things, your driving record.
Yes, this is scary, but there are things you can do to help prevent your identity from being stolen.
• Guard your information
• Shred anything that has personal information on it before you throw it away,
• If your wallet is stolen, report everything that was taken, including ID cards, credit cards, banking info.
Restoring your identity can take a tremendous amount of time and a lot of money. The key is that you must be proactive to keep this from happening to you. If you’d like to find out more about how you can protect yourself in the event that your identity is stolen please contact me.
Lisa Moore is with Work Site Connect. She has 9 years in the insurance industry. You can reach Lisa at [email protected]
