BOTTLE LOCKS FOR ALL ALCOHOL PRODUCTS NOT JUST THE EXPENSIVE ONES

Having worked both the retail market and grocery market in regards to loss prevention, I’ve seen my fair share of incidents involving the direct theft of liquor, wine and other alcoholic goods. One case in particular however happened before bottle security had evolved but in hindsight, I can see how it could have changed the outcome. 

One afternoon before work, I received an urgent phone call from my DLPM (District Loss Prevention Manager). He asked me to deviate from my normally scheduled store for that day and head directly to a different store instead. It was a store that our loss prevention personnel rarely had to staff for shoplifter surveillance. He explained to me that for the past couple of days, store management reported that the wine section of the store was getting ‘hit’ significantly hard with theft. It’s something that would have never happened if the bottle locks were being used.

The bottle lock, introduced to the market in 2002 by Alpha Security, is an ingenious device that prevents liquor bottles from being opened without destroying the bottle itself. A definite highly effective theft prevention tool. Anyhow, after rerouting myself to the problem store and speaking with management, I thought it might be best to ask if anyone had reviewed the CCTV footage of the wine department to try and identify the problem. Of course no one had thought of reviewing the footage so I thought I’d start there. Seemed to me that they should have been more attentive to overall bottle security!

Scanning through the video footage, I observed a male subject enter into the wine department and proceed to act suspiciously. I was alerted to him due to his excessive clothing (winter coat, even though it was June) and obvious glances up towards the surveillance cameras. He proceeded to the section of the wine department that housed the most expensive brands.

I thought for sure that I’d see him select the $100+ bottles of wine. He would look through the shelves, pretending to read the labels. However I could tell that he was actually examining the tops of the bottles. I assumed to see which bottles he could get into quickest. The store had most recently tried using a less sophisticated version of today’s bottle locks and it appeared that he was avoiding the ones that had those bottle lock devices on top. As it turned out, he stayed clear of the more expensive wine that we had in stock and proceeded to the cheaper product. I noticed that he began to select bottles off the shelves that didn’t have bottle locks installed on them. They were actually void of any bottle security whatsoever because those cheaper wines weren’t in the view of our CCTV camera placements. 

This guy loaded up on five cheap bottles of wine and stuffed them all into a makeshift girdle sling that was situated underneath of his winter coat. After realizing that the coast was clear, he made a B line for the front of the store, passed all points of sale and exited. At the time I was thinking to myself that it was a normal, run of the mill case of a hobo wanting some alcohol to drown his sorrows in.  Boy was I wrong!

I don’t know what made me think of it but I decided to take a look at the exterior parking lot camera. From there I could see the guy climb into a minivan parked along the far perimeter of lot. It was sort of difficult to make out but I could tell that there were other people in the minivan with him. The more I looked at the footage, it looked like there were at least 4 other people in the vehicle with him. I could tell from the shadows casting through the glass that they were passing around the wine bottles he had just stolen. 

To make a long story short, I was able to uncover additional footage of this guy (and his drinking buddies) coming into the store and boosting around 10-15 bottles of wine each night for at least the past few nights.  What they were doing was coming into the store, loading up on bottles and getting drunk outside in the parking lot. With no bottle lock security in place, it was easy pickings. Management decided to place the bottle lock devices on all alcoholic products thereafter. The guys never came back and loss was averted from thereon! No matter cheap or expensive; this is the way to go when bumping up your bottle security! 

For more information about bottle locks contact us at 1-770-426-0547.

FLYING HIGH WITH CHECKPOINT LABELS

I’ve been an LP manager for years and years now. One thing that has evolved over time is the prevalence of social media and how it correlates with theft. Open up a new tab and go to Facebook. It’s ok, I’ll wait. Within a few seconds, you can find “online garage sales” for just about anywhere in the country. While mostly this is great if you want to try and clear out some of that junk in the attic or in the closets, some people are using these pages as an easy and often anonymous way to fence stolen goods. Sometimes it’s not enough to simply stop shoplifting, but you have to stop/shutdown/dismantle the avenues in which the stolen property is being resold. Only then will you truly put a stop to the losses. Sometimes, this can be done with a little research and something as small and simple as a Checkpoint Label.  

Just a few weeks ago I was conducting a floor walk and I came to the outdoor game section of the store. This is where we stock yard games, toys, etc. A new and popular category for us is disc golf. The sport is really sweeping the country right now. Chances are if you looked it up in your area, you’d find several courses in your community. I’m also an avid, albeit amateur player, myself. So I’m always drawn to this area of the store. I make it a part of my day to ensure that the shelves are stocked and everything is in its place. It is a new category for my store, so I want to capture as many sales as possible. 

I came in one morning a few weeks back and at some point during the day, I walked over to the discs and noticed that the entire aisle was empty. There was not a single disc left. Surely, we had to be re-working the aisle, or perhaps even a large sale had happened over the weekend. After checking with the other managers and looking at the sales over the weekend, it became abundantly clear that they had been stolen. I never thought I’d have to take measures to stop shoplifting on these items! 

We reported the theft to local police and corrected our inventory. It was a nearly $5,000 loss. Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I had a trick up my sleeve. Well, not really up my sleeve; just a roll of Checkpoint Labels in my office. When we were finally replenished on the stolen goods, I made it a point to tag every single disc with a soft tag. These had my store’s logo and number on it, so I could identify the product should it turn up somewhere it shouldn’t be. I really thought I would stop shoplifting with such a simple solution. I was wrong. 

A few more weeks had gone by and again I walk into to my store and see half the aisle of discs missing. Where did they go? How did they beat the Checkpoint Label? I began investigating the most recent theft, but I couldn’t find any video from the store (mainly since we didn’t have a camera over that aisle). So I then began researching online sites, and that’s when I found one of those online garage sale pages. 

There they were. I had simply stumbled onto the thieves who were targeting my disc golf product. I could even see the tags with my company logo in the photos! A quick call to a detective friend of mine and a staged purchase lead to 4 felony arrests and the recovery of about $4k in product. All due to a simple, yet effective Checkpoint Label 

For more information about Checkpoint Labels contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Adapting to Theft Trends – Clothing Security

Clothing can provide high profit margins, but it can also provide you with headaches if you don’t make sure you protect it from all forms of loss with a good clothing security plan. Traditional shoplifting isn’t the only way that you can lose your merchandise or profits. Thieves are constantly thinking of new ways to steal from you, so you have to keep up with the trends and safeguard your assets. Using clothing security tags and other merchandise protection devices can really make a difference in your bottom line.

Over the years, I’ve observed many clothing thefts taking place, and sometimes it’s only one or two items that are stolen at a time.  Other times, its more than one person loading up shopping carts full of clothes and other merchandise and rolling it right out of the store. Can you imagine how much that would cost your business, or how many more items you will need to sell just to make up for the loss from a large theft of that kind. Needless to say, this is not something you want happening in your establishment. At very least, you should invest in a good EAS system that will work with all types of clothing security tags, like standard hard or soft tags, and even Alpha shark tags. Things have changed over time, and there are many methods that are being used today to steal or cause you a loss, but some of them are not typical shoplifting incidents.

One emerging trend that can put a real dent in your earnings is called wardrobing, which is a form of return or refund fraud. This is a little more complicated than a shoplifter shoving a pair of pants in a bag and walking out of the store. Wardrobing occurs when someone buys an article of clothing, wears it, and then returns the merchandise. This is becoming a huge problem in retail clothing stores, because it is harder to combat that standard everyday shoplifting. How can you know who is intending on returning the clothing after they wear it? There is no real way to be able to tell, that’s why you need to have a strategy in place for all purchases, or at least for higher priced merchandise. Usually it’s the more expensive items that are targeted, because the sneaky thieves want to look good for a big event, and want to make you pay for it.  

A good way to stop this kind of activity from happening in your store is to use Alpha shark tags. These are a type of clothing security tags that are attached directly to the clothing items. The big difference between Shark Tags and other clothing security devices is that you don’t remove them from the clothing at purchase. They are made to be left on the clothing so that the customer can try on the garment at home and see how they like the items. If they try it on and like it, all they have to do is easily remove the tag. It’s not meant to be hard to remove.

All you need is a pair of scissors. If they don’t like the garment, all they have to do is leave on the tag and return it. Alpha shark tags are an essential part of the fight to stop wardrobing. This is an especially good device for online purchases. The tags are noticeable and highly visible so that people won’t wear the garments out, damage them, and then return them to get their money back and leave you with a used item that no one will want to purchase.  

For more information contact us: clothing security or call 1.770.426.0547

The Sum Of Its Parts- Retail Theft Prevention

There was a recent court ruling regarding employer vs. employee rights surrounding end of shift security training/ checks. It has been an ongoing battle between employers and employees as to who needs to pay for the time an employee spends having their bags checked as they leave the store. This could be a check at the end of an employees work shift, or as they leave the store for meal breaks.

Employees have long since contended that since they are required by their employer to have their bags (packages, purchases, etc) checked before they leave the store, then it is the employer’s responsibility to pay them for that time.

Employers, generally state that the check should take a very minimal quantity of time (often less than a minute to perform) under normal circumstances. They also maintain that if an employee is leaving the store with unpaid for merchandise in their possession, and they are no longer working/ clocked in, there is a stronger case against the employee for employee theft. If an employee is still clocked in, they could potentially state they have the product for a work related situation. It could then be argued that the employee is merely violating policy and procedure, but has no intent of theft.

The courts have now ruled with the employers that they do have a right to hold these security stops while the employee is off the clock. Employees will have to comply with these checks without being paid for their time.
Employers will now have official court rulings in their favor. This does not mean that employers can abuse this ruling and make employees wait for extended periods of time (off the clock) before they are checked out. Maintaining a certain level of respect for the employees will make for longer-term retail theft prevention.

Employees, who know they are being held accountable for their actions, and are shown that theft prevention is taken very seriously by management and owners, are less likely to steal. They are also more likely to remain vigilant about other employee theft situations, and are quicker to point out potential shoplifters. As we all know, vigilant employees who give excellent customer service are by far the most effective and valuable anti shoplifting deterrent available.

The best way to create a positive workplace for employees, who will be subjected to security check after the employee is off the clock, is to ensure that the expectation is clear from the literal Day One. This means during new hire on boarding programs the security checks should be explained in detail. These details should include what the employer’s role will be, what their limitations are, why they are doing this, and what the employee’s role will be. 

By first explaining what the expectation is, employees are well aware of what their new job will be like. Next is ensuring that the checks are performed consistently and professionally. If the checks are sporadic, employees may feel like they are being targeted. They will also feel inconvenienced if they are only occasionally asked to stop, compared to feeling like it is all part of the routine if done consistently on every shift.

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