Alpha Security – 3 WC blog 10
Retail anti-theft devices-4
Alpha Cable Locks -3
Alpha Security Products Can Lock Out Thieves And Lock In Profits
Theft comes in all forms and businesses have to constantly be on guard to protect against it. It can be the grandmotherly shopper who steals from you or an employee pilfering from your stockroom. Since theft can hit you from any number of directions, the best decision you can make is to use retail anti-theft devices to protect your merchandise. Alpha Security products offer stores the ability to deter theft, whether it is an internal or an external threat.
Because of the versatility of Alpha Security devices, they can be used by retailers of any size to protect product. Do you sell sporting goods? Alpha cable locks can be wrapped through the webbing of a baseball glove without restricting a customer from trying it on or walking through your store with the item in their cart. Do you specialize in selling purses or wallets? Alpha cable locks can benefit your business as well, being strung through a zipper ring or around a purse strap. The customer can try on the purse, open pouches and compartments of wallets and see all the selling points but the security device remains on the product and deters theft. The Alpha cable lock comes in a 2 alarm or 3 alarm model so the retailer can choose the level of security they want to enjoy. The 2 alarm device will sound an audible alarm from the device if a customer attempts to tamper with and remove it from the product. The second protection is that it will activate the alarm antenna at the front of the store if someone attempts to shoplift the merchandise with the device on it. The added level of security with a 3 alarm device is that if a thief finds a way to get the retail anti-theft device out of the store without the door alarm sounding, once they get a certain distance from the store, the alarm self- activates!
I mentioned earlier that thieves can come into your store and you never know who it may be, and sometimes it will surprise you. I once had a woman in our store with her young daughter and they were walking through our handbag department. We were experiencing a lot of theft in this department at that particular time and it became a focus for our Loss Prevention team. Since the mother and daughter were in the area, I began watching them on our closed circuit television system. It didn’t take long for the mother to begin removing the paper stuffing from the purse and pulling off the price tags. I expected the woman to put the purse on her shoulder and walk out of the store. To my shock (and anger I might add) the mother walked with the young girl towards the exit. As they neared the door, the mother placed the purse on her daughter’s shoulder and began to leave the store! When I stopped the woman and confronted her she began admonishing her daughter for “trying to steal the purse”. Well, the incident didn’t result well for the mother as I recall and the police were called. There are two points to this story. First, you can’t profile who will and won’t steal from your business. Second, this situation might not have even taken place if we had access to a retail anti-theft device such as the Alpha cable locks, which were not available at that time.
Today, if the same scenario took place and the store was using a 2 alarm or 3 alarm Alpha cable lock, the flashing red light of the device would have alerted the woman that the purse was protected. Even if she had decided to walk out the door, the alarm activation would have alerted an associate that something was amiss. She might not have even considered attempting to shoplift and saved herself a lot of grief in the process.
What is theft and pilferage costing your company? Have you taken all the steps you can to protect your assets? Do you think you have merchandise that can’t be protected do to design or size? Consider looking into what Alpha Security products may be able to do for your company. There may be retail anti-theft devices available that you never considered before, investigate all the options available to increase your profits.
For more information about Alpha Security contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Theft comes in all forms and businesses have to constantly be on guard to protect against it. It can be the grandmotherly shopper who steals from you or an employee pilfering from your stockroom. ince theft can hit you from any number of directions, the best decision you can make is to use retail anti-theft devices to protect your merchandise. Alpha Security products offer stores the ability to deter theft, whether it is an internal or an external threat.
Because of the versatility of Alpha Security devices, they can be used by retailers of any size to protect product. Do you sell sporting goods? Alpha cable locks can be wrapped through the webbing of a baseball glove without restricting a customer from trying it on or walking through your store with the item in their cart. Do you specialize in selling purses or wallets? Alpha cable locks can benefit your business as well, being strung through a zipper ring or around a purse strap. The customer can try on the purse, open pouches and compartments of wallets and see all the selling points but the security device remains on the product and deters theft. The Alpha cable lock comes in a 2 alarm or 3 alarm model so the retailer can choose the level of security they want to enjoy. The 2 alarm device will sound an audible alarm from the device if a customer attempts to tamper with and remove it from the product. The second protection is that it will activate the alarm antenna at the front of the store if someone attempts to shoplift the merchandise with the device on it. The added level of security with a 3 alarm device is that if a thief finds a way to get the retail anti-theft device out of the store without the door alarm sounding, once they get a certain distance from the store, the alarm self- activates!
I mentioned earlier that thieves can come into your store and you never know who it may be, and sometimes it will surprise you. I once had a woman in our store with her young daughter and they were walking through our handbag department. We were experiencing a lot of theft in this department at that particular time and it became a focus for our Loss Prevention team. Since the mother and daughter were in the area, I began watching them on our closed circuit television system. It didn’t take long for the mother to begin removing the paper stuffing from the purse and pulling off the price tags. I expected the woman to put the purse on her shoulder and walk out of the store. To my shock (and anger I might add) the mother walked with the young girl towards the exit. As they neared the door, the mother placed the purse on her daughter’s shoulder and began to leave the store! When I stopped the woman and confronted her she began admonishing her daughter for “trying to steal the purse”. Well, the incident didn’t result well for the mother as I recall and the police were called. There are two points to this story. First, you can’t profile who will and won’t steal from your business. Second, this situation might not have even taken place if we had access to a retail anti-theft device such as the Alpha cable locks, which were not available at that time.
Today, if the same scenario took place and the store was using a 2 alarm or 3 alarm Alpha cable lock, the flashing red light of the device would have alerted the woman that the purse was protected. Even if she had decided to walk out the door, the alarm activation would have alerted an associate that something was amiss. She might not have even considered attempting to shoplift and saved herself a lot of grief in the process.
What is theft and pilferage costing your company? Have you taken all the steps you can to protect your assets? Do you think you have merchandise that can’t be protected do to design or size? Consider looking into what Alpha Security products may be able to do for your company. There may be retail anti-theft devices available that you never considered before, investigate all the options available to increase your profits.
For more information about Alpha Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha Thunder Tags-5 WC blog 40
N10-3
Tablet Theft-3
Tablet Theft Can Lead To Patient Data Breaches – Protect Your Client Information With Classic N10 Antennas And Thunder Tags.
In a September 2014 online article in Reuters, “Your medical record is worth more to hackers than your credit card” Caroline Humer and Jim Finkle report, “Your medical information is worth 10 times more than your credit card on the black market”. The report goes on to mention that “stolen health credentials can go for $10 each, about 10 to 20 times the value of a U.S. credit card number, according to Don Jackson at Phishlabs, a cyber crime protection company.” A recent headline in a “HIPAA Journal” September 7, 2015 article, “Recent Cases Of Portable Device Theft Highlight Need For Healthcare Data Encryption”, should be a warning to healthcare providers that mobile devices are vulnerable to theft. Data breaches can be due to remote hacking or they can be the result of mobile devices that are stolen and then the information contained in the device is accessed by criminals. Prevention of tablet theft, i-pad theft and even the theft of laptops from a medical provider facility is more important now than ever before. There are protections available in addition to ensuring encryption is in place, such as using Alpha Thunder Tags to deter the theft of mobile devices.
To prevent theft, medical research offices, medical providers, or any office that has access to patient information and uses laptops, i-pads, tablets or other mobile technology can install an electronic article surveillance system. Connecting Alpha Thunder Tags to their devices creates a defense to limit opportunities for loss or theft. In order to work, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) antennas must be installed at ALL points of entry and exit. If space is limited at some points, the Checkpoint Classic N10 antenna can be installed. This particular antenna is a compact design, originally created for use in small retail stores where every inch of floor space is valuable. The versatility of the N10 clearly makes it a smart choice for any location that may be limited space, particularly a service type entrance for employees. Antennas at entrances will alert staff with an audible tone and flashing LED lights if someone attempts to leave with a device that has been tagged with an Alpha Thunder Tag.
Keeping equipment tagged is important, but so is accountability. There must be training for employees so they understand the reasons why mobile device security is important for the office. People are more likely to take security seriously when they understand the reasons behind actions. I have seen sign out lists for keys, scanning devices, and radios. The consistency for using sign out sheets varied depending on how or if employees were held accountable for failing to sign out equipment. When we took the time to explain why signing for equipment was important, there tended to be more cooperative compliance. This is especially important in a busy work environment where people are rushing to take care of patients and emergencies. If someone knows they are going to be held responsible if they lose a device they are generally more careful in how they handle the equipment. This is not to say things won’t be misplaced if they are signed out, but the knowledge that others will know who lost or misplaced a laptop or tablet will create a sense of urgency in people to look for that item with a greater vigor. Alpha Thunder Tags should be looked at as a backup security measure to equipment security. To prevent tablet theft and i-pad theft, the primary security measure is control and accountability.
The Classic N10 and other Checkpoint EAS antennas along with the Alpha Thunder tag can assist you in preventing tablet theft and i-pad theft. Protect confidential client data from theft, and protect your company from potentially thousands of dollars in fines and penalties. Look into the benefits of electronic article surveillance; it isn’t just for retail stores anymore.
For more information on Checkpoint Classic N10 Antenna contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
In a September 2014 online article in Reuters, “Your medical record is worth more to hackers than your credit card” Caroline Humer and Jim Finkle report, “Your medical information is worth 10 times more than your credit card on the black market”. The report goes on to mention that “stolen health credentials can go for $10 each, about 10 to 20 times the value of a U.S. credit card number, according to Don Jackson at Phishlabs, a cyber crime protection company.” A recent headline in a “HIPAA Journal” September 7, 2015 article, “Recent Cases Of Portable Device Theft Highlight Need For Healthcare Data Encryption”, should be a warning to healthcare providers that mobile devices are vulnerable to theft. Data breaches can be due to remote hacking or they can be the result of mobile devices that are stolen and then the information contained in the device is accessed by criminals. Prevention of tablet theft, i-pad theft and even the theft of laptops from a medical provider facility is more important now than ever before. There are protections available in addition to ensuring encryption is in place, such as using Alpha Thunder Tags to deter the theft of mobile devices.
To prevent theft, medical research offices, medical providers, or any office that has access to patient information and uses laptops, i-pads, tablets or other mobile technology can install an electronic article surveillance system. Connecting Alpha Thunder Tags to their devices creates a defense to limit opportunities for loss or theft. In order to work, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) antennas must be installed at ALL points of entry and exit. If space is limited at some points, the Checkpoint Classic N10 antenna can be installed. This particular antenna is a compact design, originally created for use in small retail stores where every inch of floor space is valuable. The versatility of the N10 clearly makes it a smart choice for any location that may be limited space, particularly a service type entrance for employees. Antennas at entrances will alert staff with an audible tone and flashing LED lights if someone attempts to leave with a device that has been tagged with an Alpha Thunder Tag.
Keeping equipment tagged is important, but so is accountability. There must be training for employees so they understand the reasons why mobile device security is important for the office. People are more likely to take security seriously when they understand the reasons behind actions. I have seen sign out lists for keys, scanning devices, and radios. The consistency for using sign out sheets varied depending on how or if employees were held accountable for failing to sign out equipment. When we took the time to explain why signing for equipment was important, there tended to be more cooperative compliance. This is especially important in a busy work environment where people are rushing to take care of patients and emergencies. If someone knows they are going to be held responsible if they lose a device they are generally more careful in how they handle the equipment. This is not to say things won’t be misplaced if they are signed out, but the knowledge that others will know who lost or misplaced a laptop or tablet will create a sense of urgency in people to look for that item with a greater vigor. Alpha Thunder Tags should be looked at as an esstial part of your security plan. To prevent tablet theft and i-pad theft, the primary security measure is control and accountability.
The Classic N10 and other Checkpoint EAS antennas along with the Alpha Thunder tag can assist you in preventing tablet theft and i-pad theft. Protect confidential client data from theft, and protect your company from potentially thousands of dollars in fines and penalties. Look into the benefits of electronic article surveillance; it isn’t just for retail stores anymore.
For more information on Checkpoint Classic N10 Antenna contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
If you are in the retail business of selling wines and liquors, you are probably running a constant defense to protect your inventory. If you think about it, it really just takes losing a bottle or two on a regular basis to start adding up to a major loss. Really, the same goes for bars and nightclubs. If you have someone taking a little at a time, it will start to accrue into a much larger problem. There are many good reasons to utilize bottle locks in either of these types of businesses, but a top one is the chance of an employee with a substance abuse problem. You can put your head in the sand and convince yourself that none of your staff would do such a thing. By the time you figure out you need bottle security; it could already be too late. A proactive approach could save you and your employees a lot of problems in the future.
Let me tell you a short story about a problem I am facing as I write this. I work for a small retail pharmacy. No, my problem has nothing to do with liquor bottle security, but you’ll soon see the relevance. I have recently transferred to a new location, and it has been nothing but bad on top of worse. Then the nightmare happened last week. I was sitting in my office, eating my lunch, and just browsing the cameras. That’s when I saw it: a technician took a pill bottle off the shelf and went into a corner with it. He bent down with the bottle out of view, then stood up and returned it to the shelf. I immediately had a sick feeling. After he left for the day, I went back and performed a cycle count on the bottle, and my fears were confirmed. This is a 500 count bottle, and it was missing 124 pills. We don’t use bottle locks on our pill bottles because most of the strong stuff is secured in safes, but this particular pain medication is not. I made some calls, and I’ve been monitoring this guy (and the bottle) on a daily basis since this happened. Two days after I discovered his crime he worked again and 14 more pills disappeared. The following day he pocketed 7 more, so that’s now 145 stolen I don’t know if he or someone close to him has an addiction, if he’s selling them. It doesn’t matter. The only question in my mind at this point is whether he will go out in handcuffs quietly or kicking and screaming after we interview tomorrow morning. When it’s all over, installing bottle security tools will be my new priority.
The point here is that when an employee starts stealing from you, whether it’s money, pills, or liquor, a little at a time starts adding up. My guy hasn’t just stolen the whole bottle at once because we would catch on to that. If he was opening a vodka bottle and taking drinks from it every day, that would be just as bad though. When you have a business that sells items that have the potential for abuse like that, bottle locks are paramount. If you have a bar, you need to have a plan for liquor bottle security for your storage room and open stock. You need to be doing comparisons of what you are purchasing vs what you are selling. Internal theft makes up the biggest piece of the pie for all business losses. Making the investment into bottle security will pay you back over and over. Take away the temptation and keep your peace of mind and your profits.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Checkpoint Labels -4 WC blog 21
Stop Shoplifting-4
Prevent Meat And Fresh Food Theft; Use Checkpoint Food Labels
The grocery store business, in my opinion, is an interesting market where shortage is concerned. The profit margins are not very high, I have seen numbers range as low as 1% and as high as 3%. Whether it is the high or low end, this is not a lot of room for profit and it means that shortage control is critical in keeping the profits as high as possible. Grocery stores have to be concerned with shortage in several forms, expiration dates, vendor shortage, internal theft and shoplifting. Checkpoint labels can be an effective tool for any grocery store or supermarket to use to stop shoplifting and deter employee theft.
I will admit, I am limited in my experience in the grocery industry. As a teenager I bagged groceries, mopped the floors, stocked shelves and occasionally I priced canned goods. In my years as a retail store executive I had a little more exposure to the food industry. We did have food in our store, but it was somewhat limited when compared to even a small, corner grocery store and it did not include fresh meats. We had the frozen fish, frozen burgers in boxes, frozen pizzas, etcetera, but nothing that was really a major concern as far as theft goes. Also, having spent years in retail loss prevention, I was aware that grocery stores have smaller profit margins and need to stop shoplifting and other shortage to protect what profits they do make. I was NOT aware that theft from the meat department is one of the highest theft areas for grocery stores and can be a difficult area to control.
In order to help prevent food theft, the 4210 EP RF Checkpoint labels were designed to be safe for meat or other fresh foods and it can be placed on plastic wrap or under a meat soaker pad. Depending on how a merchant has the meat packaged the tagging can be done at the source or in store, so it is perfect for any food market. By having a Checkpoint system in place including antennas at the doors and using the Checkpoint labels, a store can stop shoplifting through deterrence or merchandise recovery.
I was in a grocery store a few years ago and happened to be looking in the fresh meat section when I noticed a customer standing near me. I noticed the “customer” quickly select several steaks and then make eye contact with me. He walked away and a few minutes later we happened to pass each other and the steaks weren’t in his hand any longer, but I noticed his shirt was untucked, he had no other items in his hands at that point and he seemed to be checking his waist band. I was curious at this point (I confess, I am nosey) and I followed the guy to the checkout lane where he picked up a pack of gum and stood in line. I don’t like shoplifters and I could not say for sure he had taken anything, but I wanted to make him uncomfortable if he had stolen the meat so I stood in line behind him. He was clearly uncomfortable, possibly from me being behind him or more likely from the cold he was experiencing from his hidden merchandise. Well, the “customer” bought his gum and left but his shifting from leg to leg and pants adjustments while he was in line gave me some entertainment and satisfaction that IF he had stolen the meat, it was not an easy theft.
I tell this story because it is a prime example of how the theft of meat and other food items are a very real problem for grocers. Stop shoplifting from happening in your store, invest in Checkpoint labels for your fresh food department and savor the savings you will see in increased profit margin.
For more information about Checkpoint labels contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
The grocery store business, in my opinion, is an interesting market where shortage is concerned. The profit margins are not very high, I have seen numbers range as low as 1% and as high as 3%. Whether it is the high or low end, this is not a lot of room for profit and it means that shortage control is critical in keeping the profits as high as possible. Grocery stores have to be concerned with shortage in several forms, expiration dates, vendor shortage, internal theft and shoplifting. Checkpoint labels can be an effective tool for any grocery store or supermarket to use to stop shoplifting and deter employee theft.
I will admit, I am limited in my experience in the grocery industry. As a teenager I bagged groceries, mopped the floors, stocked shelves and occasionally I priced canned goods. In my years as a retail store executive I had a little more exposure to the food industry. We did have food in our store, but it was somewhat limited when compared to even a small, corner grocery store and it did not include fresh meats. We had the frozen fish, frozen burgers in boxes, frozen pizzas, etcetera, but nothing that was really a major concern as far as theft goes. Also, having spent years in retail loss prevention, I was aware that grocery stores have smaller profit margins and need to stop shoplifting and other shortage to protect what profits they do make. I was NOT aware that theft from the meat department is one of the highest theft areas for grocery stores and can be a difficult area to control.
In order to help prevent food theft, the 4210 EP RF Checkpoint labels were designed to be safe for meat or other fresh foods and it can be placed on plastic wrap or under a meat soaker pad. Depending on how a merchant has the meat packaged the tagging can be done at the source or in store, so it is perfect for any food market. By having a Checkpoint system in place including antennas at the doors and using the Checkpoint labels, a store can stop shoplifting through deterrence or merchandise recovery.
I was in a grocery store a few years ago and happened to be looking in the fresh meat section when I noticed a customer standing near me. I noticed the “customer” quickly select several steaks and then make eye contact with me. He walked away and a few minutes later we happened to pass each other and the steaks weren’t in his hand any longer, but I noticed his shirt was untucked, he had no other items in his hands at that point and he seemed to be checking his waist band. I was curious at this point (I confess, I am nosey) and I followed the guy to the checkout lane where he picked up a pack of gum and stood in line. I don’t like shoplifters and I could not say for sure he had taken anything, but I wanted to make him uncomfortable if he had stolen the meat so I stood in line behind him. He was clearly uncomfortable, possibly from me being behind him or more likely from the cold he was experiencing from his hidden merchandise. Well, the “customer” bought his gum and left but his shifting from leg to leg and pants adjustments while he was in line gave me some entertainment and satisfaction that IF he had stolen the meat, it was not an easy theft.
I tell this story because it is a prime example of how the theft of meat and other food items are a very real problem for grocers. Stop shoplifting from happening in your store, invest in Checkpoint labels for your fresh food department and savor the savings you will see in increased profit margin.
For more information about Checkpoint labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Would you leave your lawnmower out in your driveway overnight? Would you leave your cash drawer and safe open during the day? Then one needs to ask why you would leave your easily concealable and highly trafficable expensive merchandise with nothing but a peg hook to protect it. There is no doubt that you want to have it visible and highly accessible to your customers or they won’t know it is there and it will not get sold. However, if it is made too accessible it will also be readily available to the shoplifter or the organized retail criminal. During my career I have tried to ensure that loss prevention did not become sales prevention by partnering closely with operations and merchandising and recommending solutions such as Alpha Keepers to help protect merchandise without making it unavailable to the consumer.
A recent report by the National Retail Federation reported that shoplifting overtook internal theft as the number one loss source for the first time in 24 years. It was also disclosed that the items responsible for most of those losses are easily concealable, high-dollar merchandise such as razor blades, health and beauty products, and small electronics. Alpha Keepers makes the “Protect” line to help secure this highly sought after merchandise from the random shoplifter and even more importantly from the criminal enterprise who is targeting your merchandise for resale. Protect razor blades will secure and alarm your razor blades, which are easy to remove from your store otherwise, and once removed become easily resold. Protect electronics is a line of Alpha keepers design to do just that: protect electronics. Your small electronics such as high dollar flash drives are easily concealed on the person unless they are in a secure keeper that has its own alarm and must be opened by your cashiers once sold.
I remember opening up a new big box electronics store and shortly after opening begin experiencing a rash of shopliftings of camera SD cards and video games. We had a strong closed-circuit television system of over 400 cameras and were able to do video history reviews to identify what was occurring and when. We finally apprehended him with 20 SD cards in his pocket and four video games secreted in his cargo pants—the haul from one day only! He had hit us on 10 prior occasions and we were fortunate to do a historical investigation and go to his home and serve a search warrant to recover our merchandise. The point of my story is that we did not have Alpha keepers such as protect electronics on our merchandise and our merchandise walked out right in front of our 400 eyes. Needless to say, if you go in that store today, you will find Protect electronics Alpha keepers on all the high-end easily concealable merchandise.
It is up to you now. Are you going to let your merchandise sit out in the open so you make it easy for your customers but also make your store an attractive spot for shoplifters and organized crime or are you going to use protect electronics or protect razor blades from Alpha Keepers to secure your merchandise while making it attractively presented to your customers? If you do the former, your numbers will be included in the new numbers being reported by the National Retail Federation next year. If you do the latter, you will be sending the shoplifter and organized criminals out the door and away from your store. If it was my lawnmower it would be in the garage and if it was my merchandise it would be in Alpha keepers.
For more information on Alpha Keepers contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
