Employee Background Checks – 3 WC blog 46
Pre-employment screening-4
Pre-Employment Screening Provides Profit Protection
In a recent blog I wrote about clothing security and referenced the 2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer. In the report they discussed the causes for increased shrink in garment specialty stores. Part of the increase was attributed to a decrease in spending on retail anti-theft devices within this segment of the retail industry. Another factor the researchers found was employee theft being a major cause for shortage. This applied to all retailers, including clothing stores, the focus of my earlier article. According to the report, employee theft accounted for 45% of all shrink in North America amounting to $16.56 billion dollars. It was noted that, “The primary reasons for employee theft were weak pre-employment screening procedures, reduced associate supervision, increasing part-time work force (especially during peak winter season) and easy sale of stolen merchandise.” (GRTB page 52). In this article I want to focus on employee background checks. Do you complete pre-employment screening before you hire a new member to your staff? If you aren’t, what is it costing you in terms of shortage and theft by not learning more about the person you are allowing to join your team?
Without doing employee background checks you have no idea who the person is that you are suddenly empowering with access to cash registers, merchandise or more importantly, other employees and customers. A solid pre-employment screening will let you know if a prospective employee has a criminal history they are attempting to hide from you. You can also learn if the candidate has declared bankruptcy or what their payment history has been. A good background check company will also run a sex offender registry check on a person. Whatever your business is, you are serving others and, like it or not, their safety and security is your responsibility.
I worked closely with our Human Resources Manager during my years as a Loss Prevention Manager. I know our company did background checks, I saw applicants turned down after a background check came back with a discrepancy. I also know that during the fourth quarter we started our seasonal hiring process and the number of temporary employees we brought on board could not have had the same level of scrutiny as those hired during the remainder of the year. Often these were the employees we ended up apprehending for theft during the holiday season. In many instances, after I would catch someone stealing and interview them I would learn about financial situations that should have been caught in a more detailed pre-employment screening. Especially during the holiday season I remember a number of different employees I caught stealing and how often I would find out an employee had creditors they were trying to pay off. Bills looming over them along with the desire to provide gifts for the holidays often contributed to people justifying why they committed their crimes.
It was not uncommon for me to catch employees during the holidays stealing merchandise by passing items to a relative or friend. I caught my fair share of employees stealing over the years, but I remember the cases that were most troubling to me were those involving young mothers. I recall one employee I apprehended who was stealing children’s clothing and toys and passing them to a relative by not ringing them in the register. During my interview of the employee, she admitted she had been out of work for some time prior to getting the job with our store and was behind on bills. She was stealing in order to provide gifts for her baby for Christmas. I don’t know whether a more thorough employee background check would have caught something in this young woman’s history that might have prevented her being hired in the first place. I do know that she was hired in our fourth quarter hiring rush and went to jail. I will never know if we accounted for every loss she caused the store, certainly we accounted for most, but how much loss is “okay” for a business? That is a question you need to ask yourself.
I tell this story because it fits exactly into the research results of the Global Retail Theft Barometer. My case was probably more than 10 years ago, but employee theft continues to grow and businesses are hurt as a result. Don’t take a chance on hiring the wrong people. Let a background check company help you preserve your reputation and profits.
For more information on pre-employment screening contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
In a recent blog I wrote about clothing security and referenced the 2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer. In the report they discussed the causes for increased shrink in garment specialty stores. Part of the increase was attributed to a decrease in spending on retail anti-theft devices within this segment of the retail industry. Another factor the researchers found was employee theft being a major cause for shortage. This applied to all retailers, including clothing stores, the focus of my earlier article. According to the report, employee theft accounted for 45% of all shrink in North America amounting to $16.56 billion dollars. It was noted that, “The primary reasons for employee theft were weak pre-employment screening procedures, reduced associate supervision, increasing part-time work force (especially during peak winter season) and easy sale of stolen merchandise.” (GRTB page 52). In this article I want to focus on employee background checks. Do you complete pre-employment screening before you hire a new member to your staff? If you aren’t, what is it costing you in terms of shortage and theft by not learning more about the person you are allowing to join your team?
Without doing employee background checks you have no idea who the person is that you are suddenly empowering with access to cash registers, merchandise or more importantly, other employees and customers. A solid pre-employment screening will let you know if a prospective employee has a criminal history they are attempting to hide from you. You can also learn if the candidate has declared bankruptcy or what their payment history has been. A good background check company will also run a sex offender registry check on a person. Whatever your business is, you are serving others and, like it or not, their safety and security is your responsibility.
I worked closely with our Human Resources Manager during my years as a Loss Prevention Manager. I know our company did background checks, I saw applicants turned down after a background check came back with a discrepancy. I also know that during the fourth quarter we started our seasonal hiring process and the number of temporary employees we brought on board could not have had the same level of scrutiny as those hired during the remainder of the year. Often these were the employees we ended up apprehending for theft during the holiday season. In many instances, after I would catch someone stealing and interview them I would learn about financial situations that should have been caught in a more detailed pre-employment screening. Especially during the holiday season I remember a number of different employees I caught stealing and how often I would find out an employee had creditors they were trying to pay off. Bills looming over them along with the desire to provide gifts for the holidays often contributed to people justifying why they committed their crimes.
It was not uncommon for me to catch employees during the holidays stealing merchandise by passing items to a relative or friend. I caught my fair share of employees stealing over the years, but I remember the cases that were most troubling to me were those involving young mothers. I recall one employee I apprehended who was stealing children’s clothing and toys and passing them to a relative by not ringing them in the register.During my interview of the employee, she admitted she had been out of work for some time prior to getting the job with our store and was behind on bills. She was stealing in order to provide gifts for her baby for Christmas. I don’t know whether a more thorough employee background check would have caught something in this young woman’s history that might have prevented her being hired in the first place. I do know that she was hired in our fourth quarter hiring rush and went to jail. I will never know if we accounted for every loss she caused the store, certainly we accounted for most, but how much loss is “okay” for a business? That is a question you need to ask yourself.
I tell this story because it fits exactly into the research results of the Global Retail Theft Barometer. My case was probably more than 10 years ago, but employee theft continues to grow and businesses are hurt as a result. Don’t take a chance on hiring the wrong people. Let a background check company help you preserve your reputation and profits.
For more information on pre-employment screening, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Pre-employment Screening- 4 WC blog 59
Background Checks-4
Who Are The People In Your Office Space? Background Checks Can Ease Employee Concerns
I remember a certain children’s show when I was little that I loved. It had puppets and people interacting and having fun. It had educational lessons, I learned about counting from a friendly vampire and episodes were “brought to you by the letter (you fill in the blank)…” . There was catchy music that caught my attention too, one song was about “rubber ducky” and the other was about “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” As I have grown over the years, I still recall these memories, but I have changed the words to the “Who are the people in your neighborhood song” to fit my time as a Loss Prevention Manager. My version goes something like, “A criminal is a person in your company, in your company, in your c-o-m-p-a-n-y, oh a criminal is a person in your company, a person that you meet each day!” I changed the words to fit my day so sometimes it was a criminal employee and other times a shoplifter. However I re-worded the song, it always made me laugh. I kind of do that to myself, much to the chagrin of my wife (she does not think I am as funny as I think I am). While this is funny to me, there is an element of truth to it. Who ARE the people in your company? Who is that person sharing an office space with their co-workers? Did you conduct a pre-employment screening of your staff members before bringing them on board? If so, how thorough was that screening or background check? If not, you need to ask yourself what you really know about that person.
I know what you are thinking, “I don’t need to have anyone do background checks on my employees, I called their references before I hired them”. I have a couple of concerns I would like to point out about this strategy. First, if the reference was a former employer most employers today can only confirm if an employee worked for them and what dates they worked there. They may tell you if the employee is rehireable or not. In order to avoid legal issues most employers will not discuss the quality of the employees work or workplace issues they may have had while employed. All you are left with is a very innocuous report that tells you little about your prospective new hire. Are the references you called personal references? OK, let’s be serious for a moment, are the personal references you have on your resume people that may not like you or have worked with you and would not have good things to say? How are you sure you aren’t calling the prospective employee’s mom (not too many mom’s out there are going to bad-mouth their kid)? An employee background check done professionally will uncover criminal history, verify school or education information, and validate employment history and addresses. A pre-employment screening may also be used to get driving record information if the employee would be in the position to have to drive a company vehicle or even use their own car in the execution of their job responsibilities.
If you still aren’t convinced of the need for pre-employment screening, let me share one case in which an employer is involved in a lawsuit, in part, for failing to conduct a background check that resulted in one employee injuring another. From an article in Littler.com, by Jennifer Mora, September 16, 2015, “State Appellate Court Considers Employer’s Duty to Conduct Criminal Background Checks”, the writer reports on a case in which a temporary staffing agency placed a plaintiff in a supervisory position at a rice mill and he was assaulted one night by another worker who had been hired by the staffing agency who had become insubordinate and assaulted the plaintiff. The plaintiff suffered damage to his teeth and shoulder. The article goes on to say that the allegation against the staffing agency is that they failed to conduct a background check on the assaulting employee. The assaulting employee stated in pre-employment paperwork he had never been convicted of a felony, but his criminal record reflected prior misdemeanor convictions which included assault.
By conducting employee background checks you don’t have to wonder, “Who is the person in your neighborhood?” Sing another tune like, “Happy days are here again”. Keep your workplace safe and avoid possible legal problems. Look into the benefits of background checks.
For more information on background checks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
I remember a certain children’s show when I was little that I loved. It had puppets and people interacting and having fun. It had educational lessons, I learned about counting from a friendly vampire and episodes were “brought to you by the letter (you fill in the blank)…” . There was catchy music that caught my attention too, one song was about “rubber ducky” and the other was about “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” As I have grown over the years, I still recall these memories, but I have changed the words to the “Who are the people in your neighborhood song” to fit my time as a Loss Prevention Manager. My version goes something like, “A criminal is a person in your company, in your company, in your c-o-m-p-a-n-y, oh a criminal is a person in your company, a person that you meet each day!” I changed the words to fit my day so sometimes it was a criminal employee and other times a shoplifter. However I re-worded the song, it always made me laugh. I kind of do that to myself, much to the chagrin of my wife (she does not think I am as funny as I think I am). While this is funny to me, there is an element of truth to it. Who ARE the people in your company? Who is that person sharing an office space with their co-workers? Did you conduct a pre-employment screening of your staff members before bringing them on board? If so, how thorough was that screening or background check? If not, you need to ask yourself what you really know about that person.
I know what you are thinking, “I don’t need to have anyone do background checks on my employees, I called their references before I hired them”. I have a couple of concerns I would like to point out about this strategy. First, if the reference was a former employer most employers today can only confirm if an employee worked for them and what dates they worked there. They may tell you if the employee is rehireable or not. In order to avoid legal issues most employers will not discuss the quality of the employees work or workplace issues they may have had while employed. All you are left with is a very innocuous report that tells you little about your prospective new hire. Are the references you called personal references? OK, let’s be serious for a moment, are the personal references you have on your resume people that may not like you or have worked with you and would not have good things to say? How are you sure you aren’t calling the prospective employee’s mom (not too many mom’s out there are going to bad-mouth their kid)? An employee background check done professionally will uncover criminal history, verify school or education information, and validate employment history and addresses. A pre-employment screening may also be used to get driving record information if the employee would be in the position to have to drive a company vehicle or even use their own car in the execution of their job responsibilities.
If you still aren’t convinced of the need for pre-employment screening, let me share one case in which an employer is involved in a lawsuit, in part, for failing to conduct a background check that resulted in one employee injuring another. From an article in Littler.com, by Jennifer Mora, September 16, 2015, “State Appellate Court Considers Employer’s Duty to Conduct Criminal Background Checks”, the writer reports on a case in which a temporary staffing agency placed a plaintiff in a supervisory position at a rice mill and he was assaulted one night by another worker who had been hired by the staffing agency who had become insubordinate and assaulted the plaintiff. The plaintiff suffered damage to his teeth and shoulder. The article goes on to say that the allegation against the staffing agency is that they failed to conduct a background check on the assaulting employee. The assaulting employee stated in pre-employment paperwork he had never been convicted of a felony, but his criminal record reflected prior misdemeanor convictions which included assault.
By conducting employee background checks you don’t have to wonder, “Who is the person in your neighborhood?” Sing another tune like, “Happy days are here again”. Keep your workplace safe and avoid possible legal problems. Look into the benefits of background checks.
For more information on background checks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
CP Labels-3 , EAS-1 , Stop Shoplifting-1
The Moose Is Loose
We dealt with a booster a couple months ago that was using an accomplice nicknamed Moose. After we talked to him and got some information and names from him, the rampant thefts stopped. Now he’s back. We made some gains with what he gave us though. He said their group was aware of our electronic article surveillance methods, and they generally chose to avoid our stores because of them. He said when they came in the front door they always looked for the telltale Checkpoint pedestals, and would even go so far as checking to see if the power lights were on. The lady that boosts with him has even stopped carrying a foil-lined purse since many versions of Checkpoint Systems can detect those and sound an alarm as the suspects enter. They know what they can defeat and what they don’t stand a chance against. If retailers want to stop shoplifting, they have to use the tools that are available and know which ones really work to deter thieves.
When Moose and his friend entered my store Monday night, they were greeted and offered help. After that, they used the next six minutes to explore the aisles and steal $75 worth of merchandise. I type that with a smile on my face because it could have been so much more. They walked down the side and went to the hair regrowth formulas. That was what they stole from us on their first visit a few months ago. Now, however, they are wrapped up tight with Alpha Spider Wraps and they know they can’t get them off. Then they went to the oral hygiene section and checked the teeth whitening kits. Since those are encased in Alpha Keepers, they paused only for a moment there too. Then they ventured over to the denture creams. That is where they stopped and stuffed her bag full. All ten boxes are gone. When I get those items back next week in our delivery, we will have to do something different. Otherwise, I know they will just keep taking them every week. First of all, they will definitely have Checkpoint Labels adhered to them before they go on the shelves. We have our store name and city printed on our stock of Checkpoint Labels, so in addition to the obvious protection they also offer a source of identification for the police if they are stolen. After they left that aisle, they went over to the cough and cold section. They stopped in front of the nose strips that help people breathe, but those are all in Alpha Keepers too.
My store was not her first victim of the week though. I had just had an alert sent to my store from one of our stores that is in a town about half an hour away. The same woman had been there but with a different guy the day before. She swiped all their hair regrowth boxes and stuffed them down in the same purse she brought to my store. I asked that store manager what she had been using on the packages, and she said nothing. I asked her if she planned to continue that plan or if maybe she was considering adding Checkpoint Labels or some other tool to prevent the couple from wiping her out again. The thing is this woman will keep coming back every week, usually with that same huge bag, but many times with a different guy. We can’t count on her to change her ways, but we can make changes and take the necessary steps to stop her. We have too many tools at our disposal to let her get away with this.
For more information on Checkpoint Labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
We dealt with a booster a couple months ago that was using an accomplice nicknamed Moose. After we talked to him and got some information and names from him, the rampant thefts stopped. Now he’s back. We made some gains with what he gave us though. He said their group was aware of our electronic article surveillance methods, and they generally chose to avoid our stores because of them. He said when they came in the front door they always looked for the telltale Checkpoint pedestals, and would even go so far as checking to see if the power lights were on. The lady that boosts with him has even stopped carrying a foil-lined purse since many versions of Checkpoint Systems can detect those and sound an alarm as the suspects enter. They know what they can defeat and what they don’t stand a chance against. If retailers want to stop shoplifting, they have to use the tools that are available and know which ones really work to deter thieves.
When Moose and his friend entered my store Monday night, they were greeted and offered help. After that, they used the next six minutes to explore the aisles and steal $75 worth of merchandise. I type that with a smile on my face because it could have been so much more. They walked down the side and went to the hair regrowth formulas. That was what they stole from us on their first visit a few months ago. Now, however, they are wrapped up tight with Alpha Spider Wraps and they know they can’t get them off. Then they went to the oral hygiene section and checked the teeth whitening kits. Since those are encased in Alpha Keepers, they paused only for a moment there too. Then they ventured over to the denture creams. That is where they stopped and stuffed her bag full. All ten boxes are gone. When I get those items back next week in our delivery, we will have to do something different. Otherwise, I know they will just keep taking them every week. First of al, they will definitely have Checkpoint Labels adhered to them before they go on the shelves. We have our store name and city printed on our stock of Checkpoint Labels, so in addition to the obvious protection they also offer a source of identification for the police if they are stolen. After they left that aisle, they went over to the cough and cold section. They stopped in front of the nose strips that help people breathe, but those are all in Alpha Keepers too.
My store was not her first victim of the week though. I had just had an alert sent to my store from one of our stores that is in a town about half an hour away. The same woman had been there but with a different guy the day before. She swiped all their hair regrowth boxes and stuffed them down in the same purse she brought to my store. I asked that store manager what she had been using on the packages, and she said nothing. I asked her if she planned to continue that plan or if maybe she was considering adding Checkpoint Labels or some other tool to prevent the couple from wiping her out again. The thing is this woman will keep coming back every week, usually with that same huge bag, but many times with a different guy. We can’t count on her to change her ways, but we can make changes and take the necessary steps to stop her. We have too many tools at our disposal to let her get away with this.
For more information on Checkpoint Labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha Thunder Tag-4 WC Blog 56
i-pad theft-3
Tablet theft-4
Patient Data On Medical Mobile Devices; Protect It With Alpha Thunder Tags
Remember the credit card commercials from several years ago that gave the prices of items and ended with a some touching moment or funny ending and the narrator ended the commercial with the word “priceless”? Here is my version of the commercial:
i-pad mini $299.99
ipad air 2 $374.99
Apple i-pad pro $1,082.89
Microsoft Surface Book $1,499.99
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 $2,199.00
Personal Data Security – Priceless!
In today’s medical field the use of medical mobile devices is becoming commonplace. i-pads, tablets, laptop computers all are taking the place of paper files and records. From the viewpoint of the medical providers I can appreciate what this access means in terms of providing faster service. Patient records are available at the tap of a screen or the few clicks of a mouse. The concern that I have seen expressed in medical related websites has been the breaches of medical information security. Not only is hacking of medical information from external threats an issue, there is also the issue related to laptop theft, tablet theft and i-pad theft. Many of the devices in use today can easily fit into a purse, a book bag and even under clothing. While there are not many anti-theft tools available to prevent theft of mobile devices, there is one effective device on the market, the Alpha Thunder Tag.
So the question you may be thinking is, “Why am I concerned, my devices have gps tracking so if they leave the building they can still be tracked?” Once the device leaves the building you no longer have control over it. What information can hackers retrieve if they do get into your tablet, i-pad or laptop? The Alpha Thunder Tag prevents laptop theft or tablet theft by attaching directly to the mobile device and has three potential alarm mechanisms. The first two alarms work in conjunction with electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems. If someone were to walk out with a device that has a tag on it, the EAS alarm antenna will activate an audible alarm built into the antenna. The device itself will also activate a built in audible alarm alerting staff to an unauthorized removal of the mobile technology from the building. Should someone attempt to remove the tag from a device in an effort to steal it, there is a tamper alarm that will sound.
Aside from the value of some of the tablets and i-pads being used in the medical field, what does tablet theft, or i-pad theft benefits someone? What could they possibly do with a patient’s medical information? In an April 23, 2014 Reuters (online) article by Jim Finkle, the writer quotes a senior manager from EMC Corporation, a company specializing in data storage, “Some criminals use medical records to impersonate patients with diseases so they can obtain prescriptions for controlled substances.” On the black market, prescription medications can be valued in the thousands of dollars, depending on the drug being sold. This does not include the value of personal information on the black market which I have read in several articles can be valued from $20 to $50 per patient. The buyers can obtain information about patients from billing addresses to social security numbers. The impact can be more severe than the data breaches suffered by major retailers in the past few years. Alpha Thunder Tags keep the devices used in medical offices in the building and out of the hands of criminals and hackers. Any attempts to exit a building with a Thunder Tag protected device and has entry points/exits secured with EAS antennas will activate the alarms and allow office personnel to intervene.
Who can benefit by preventing i-pad theft and tablet theft? Any medical provider that deals with patient information can benefit. This may be the family dentist practice on the corner or the small medical research laboratory. A medical provider that can become a victim does not have to be the regional medical center or medical school it can be the smaller office serving a local town. Any facility that begins converting to the use of mobile medical devices needs to consider the security offered by Alpha Thunder Tags.
For more information on Alpha Thunder Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Remember the credit card commercials from several years ago that gave the prices of items and ended with a some touching moment or funny ending and the narrator ended the commercial with the word “priceless”? Here is my version of the commercial:
i-pad mini $299.99
ipad air 2 $374.99
Apple i-pad pro $1,082.89
Microsoft Surface Book $1,499.99
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 $2,199.00
Personal Data Security – Priceless!
In today’s medical field the use of medical mobile devices is becoming commonplace. i-pads, tablets, laptop computers all are taking the place of paper files and records. From the viewpoint of the medical providers I can appreciate what this access means in terms of providing faster service. Patient records are available at the tap of a screen or the few clicks of a mouse. The concern that I have seen expressed in medical related websites has been the breaches of medical information security. Not only is hacking of medical information from external threats an issue, there is also the issue related to laptop theft, tablet theft and i-pad theft. Many of the devices in use today can easily fit into a purse, a book bag and even under clothing. While there are not many anti-theft tools available to prevent theft of mobile devices, there is one effective device on the market, the Alpha Thunder Tag.
So the question you may be thinking is, “Why am I concerned, my devices have gps tracking so if they leave the building they can still be tracked?” Once the device leaves the building you no longer have control over it. What information can hackers retrieve if they do get into your tablet, i-pad or laptop? The Alpha Thunder Tag prevents laptop theft or tablet theft by attaching directly to the mobile device and has three potential alarm mechanisms. The first two alarms work in conjunction with electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems. If someone were to walk out with a device that has a tag on it, the EAS alarm antenna will activate an audible alarm built into the antenna. The device itself will also activate a built in audible alarm alerting staff to an unauthorized removal of the mobile technology from the building. Should someone attempt to remove the tag from a device in an effort to steal it, there is a tamper alarm that will sound.
Aside from the value of some of the tablets and i-pads being used in the medical field, what does tablet theft, or i-pad theft benefits someone? What could they possibly do with a patient’s medical information? In an April 23, 2014 Reuters (online) article by Jim Finkle, the writer quotes a senior manager from EMC Corporation, a company specializing in data storage, “Some criminals use medical records to impersonate patients with diseases so they can obtain prescriptions for controlled substances.” On the black market, prescription medications can be valued in the thousands of dollars, depending on the drug being sold. This does not include the value of personal information on the black market which I have read in several articles can be valued from $20 to $50 per patient. The buyers can obtain information about patients from billing addresses to social security numbers. The impact can be more severe than the data breaches suffered by major retailers in the past few years. Alpha Thunder Tags keep the devices used in medical offices in the building and out of the hands of criminals and hackers. Any attempts to exit a building with a Thunder Tag protected device and has entry points/exits secured with EAS antennas will activate the alarms and allow office personnel to intervene.
Who can benefit by preventing i-pad theft and tablet theft? Any medical provider that deals with patient information can benefit. This may be the family dentist practice on the corner or the small medical research laboratory. A medical provider that can become a victim does not have to be the regional medical center or medical school it can be the smaller office serving a local town. Any facility that begins converting to the use of mobile medical devices needs to consider the security offered by Alpha Thunder Tags.
For more information on Alpha Thunder Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha Shark Tags-4 WC blog 32
Wardrobing-5
Wardrobing tags-3
Improve Inventory Results With Alpha Shark Tags
According to the 2014-2015 Global Theft Barometer Report, the major causes of Shortage were 39% employee theft, 38% shoplifting and 16% administrative/non-crime causes. According to a 2013 online BloombergBusiness article the retail industry estimated the cost of wardrobing to be about 8.8 billion dollars a year in return fraud. As stores prepare for the New Year and upcoming annual inventories, it is a great time to begin evaluating operational procedures and anti-theft and fraud strategies. Occasionally businesses want to try to fix everything at once and they try to roll out a laundry list of new strategies and plans that don’t always work as planned. I believe the best strategies focus on improving one or two things at a time (unless you have a really broken store) and build on those successes. If your store sells clothing, perhaps one area you could focus on for the New Year is return fraud prevention, specifically wardrobing. Alpha Shark Tags are a great way to prevent return fraud and improve inventory control.
It can be easy to forget that inventory is more than just counting what you have on hand and what your books say you should have on hand and determining the difference. Inventory takes into account damaged merchandise that has to be marked out of stock, mark down losses, vendor credits, and so much more. This is why I believe clothing retailers could significantly improve profitability by using Alpha Shark Tags. The customers who practice wardrobing are buying clothes, wearing them for an event and returning them. They have no intention of keeping the clothes and in many cases those clothes are returned in poor condition. Clothing may be returned with stains or odors from perfume, foods, deodorant, perhaps even body odor. The effect on you, the retailer is you have to try to resell the item at a price reduction losing profit margin or you are forced to mark it out of stock and toss it out altogether, losing all profit. The only recuperation you receive is in tax write offs.
When a store uses Alpha Shark Tags they can eliminate nearly all wardrobing fraud. The wardrobing tags are placed on a piece of merchandise in a visible location that cannot be covered up or concealed by the person intending to wear the item. A prime example would be placing a tag in the outer seam of a suit jacket lapel. There is no way to hide this tag from view if worn to an event, such as a dinner party. When purchased the Alpha Shark Tag remains on the merchandise and is removed by the customer once it is taken home. It is only used once and has to be cut off to be removed. A warning label can be pinned with the wardrobing tags to let the buyer be aware that once the tag removed the garment cannot be returned to the store.
Inventory results often put retailers into a reactive mode as managers see their results and begin to try to create plans for addressing their top shrink departments. I do agree that results need to be analyzed and action plans are important to address problems, but why be reactive when it is just as easy to be proactive? Using Wardrobing tags can be an immediate action that your store takes to prevent fraud you may not have paid much attention to in the past. If wardrobing has not been a significant problem it could become one if other retailers are addressing the issue and they send their problems to your location.
I once had a store manager who told me, “Focus on what YOU can control, not on what you can’t.” You can’t control the economy, and you can’t make people buy from you. You can encourage customers to shop in your store and you can provide outstanding customer service that makes people want to buy from you. You can control much of your clothing return fraud by using Alpha Shark Tags.
For more information on Alpha Shark Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
According to the 2014-2015 Global Theft Barometer Report, the major causes of Shortage were 39% employee theft, 38% shoplifting and 16% administrative/non-crime causes. According to a 2013 online BloombergBusiness article the retail industry estimated the cost of wardrobing to be about 8.8 billion dollars a year in return fraud. As stores prepare for the New Year and upcoming annual inventories, it is a great time to begin evaluating operational procedures and anti-theft and fraud strategies. Occasionally businesses want to try to fix everything at once and they try to roll out a laundry list of new strategies and plans that don’t always work as planned. I believe the best strategies focus on improving one or two things at a time (unless you have a really broken store) and build on those successes. If your store sells clothing, perhaps one area you could focus on for the New Year is return fraud prevention, specifically wardrobing. Alpha Shark Tags are a great way to prevent return fraud and improve inventory control.
It can be easy to forget that inventory is more than just counting what you have on hand and what your books say you should have on hand and determining the difference. Inventory takes into account damaged merchandise that has to be marked out of stock, mark down losses, vendor credits, and so much more. This is why I believe clothing retailers could significantly improve profitability by using Alpha Shark Tags. The customers who practice wardrobing are buying clothes, wearing them for an event and returning them. They have no intention of keeping the clothes and in many cases those clothes are returned in poor condition. Clothing may be returned with stains or odors from perfume, foods, deodorant, perhaps even body odor. The effect on you, the retailer is you have to try to resell the item at a price reduction losing profit margin or you are forced to mark it out of stock and toss it out altogether, losing all profit. The only recuperation you receive is in tax write offs.
When a store uses Alpha Shark Tags they can eliminate nearly all wardrobing fraud. The wardrobing tags are placed on a piece of merchandise in a visible location that cannot be covered up or concealed by the person intending to wear the item. A prime example would be placing a tag in the outer seam of a suit jacket lapel. There is no way to hide this tag from view if worn to an event, such as a dinner party. When purchased the Alpha Shark Tag remains on the merchandise and is removed by the customer once it is taken home. It is only used once and has to be cut off to be removed. A warning label can be pinned with the wardrobing tags to let the buyer be aware that once the tag removed the garment cannot be returned to the store.
Inventory results often put retailers into a reactive mode as managers see their results and begin to try to create plans for addressing their top shrink departments. I do agree that results need to be analyzed and action plans are important to address problems, but why be reactive when it is just as easy to be proactive? Using Wardrobing tags can be an immediate action that your store takes to prevent fraud you may not have paid much attention to in the past. If wardrobing has not been a significant problem it could become one if other retailers are addressing the issue and they send their problems to your location.
I once had a store manager who told me, “Focus on what YOU can control, not on what you can’t.” You can’t control the economy, and you can’t make people buy from you. You can encourage customers to shop in your store and you can provide outstanding customer service that makes people want to buy from you. You can control much of your clothing return fraud by using Alpha Shark Tags.
For more information on Alpha Shark Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
