Over the years I have worked for different retailers, and I’ve learned that all companies have different views on loss prevention and how to handle shoplifting in their stores. Most stores will adapt to the activity they are experiencing at the time and adjust their retail theft prevention plan accordingly, but some just stick to the way they have always done things. In regard to shoplifters, the main question debated is which types of shoplifting cases should they focus on to have the most impact on the bottom line. Should loss prevention staff concentrate on quality of apprehensions, and only apprehend high dollar shoplifters, or should they focus on quantity and catch every shoplifter possible?
In my experience, the idea of quantity was the more popular in the past, but lately there has been more focus on the quality of the apprehension. With quantity, the idea is that the more shoplifters you catch, the less you will lose. With quality, the idea is that you should only be focused on shoplifter apprehensions that are of a higher dollar amount or will make the most impact on the bottom line. My personal opinion is that your focus should be a mixture of both. Of course you want stop shoplifting suspects that are walking out the door with $500 worth of merchandise in their cart, but if you think about it, these shoplifters probably didn’t start out taking that much merchandise all at once. They likely started off small and built up to that level of theft.
I have been in a situation in the past where my employer didn’t want us making shoplifter apprehensions on merchandise that was under a specified dollar amount. Their reason for this was mainly return on investment. For example, say the employee stopping the shoplifter made $10 an hour, they wouldn’t want them to stop shoplifting suspects for a $5 item because the amount of money the employee was making wouldn’t justify the time spent on the apprehension. Another thing is that while you are processing a low dollar shoplifting case, you could be missing out on another shoplifter in the store taking more at the same time.
I understand the point, but I have never totally agreed with this point of view. Yes, quality shoplifter apprehensions make the most sense immediately for that particular case, but I don’t believe that low dollar cases should be ignored. My reasoning for this is you don’t know the impact that stopping that $5 case could have made on the store in the long run. That shoplifter could come back next time with more confidence and take $100 worth of merchandise, or they may have already stolen from you store in the past many times without you knowing about it. They also may tell several friends that they got away with stealing at your store, and the word will spread, inviting many more shoplifters to your store.
The best course of action to take is to consider both sides of the argument. It’s always good to catch the shoplifters that are stealing large amounts of merchandise, but don’t let that focus turn into ignorance of lower dollar thefts that could be a real problem in the long run if they are not addressed. In addition, you will want to develop a comprehensive retail theft prevention strategy that incorporates methods for deterring theft by the use of anti-shoplifting devices to reduce the overall amount of shoplifting incidents and also increase customer service to anyone that is in your store.
For more information contact us: (retail theft prevention) or call 1.770.426.0547
Over the years I have worked for different retailers, and I’ve learned that all companies have different views on loss prevention and how to handle shoplifting in their stores. Most stores will adapt to the activity they are experiencing at the time and adjust their retail theft prevention plan accordingly, but some just stick to the way they have always done things. In regard to shoplifters, the main question debated is which types of shoplifting cases should they focus on to have the most impact on the bottom line. Should loss prevention staff concentrate on quality of apprehensions, and only apprehend high dollar shoplifters, or should they focus on quantity and catch every shoplifter possible?
In my experience, the idea of quantity was the more popular in the past, but lately there has been more focus on the quality of the apprehension. With quantity, the idea is that the more shoplifters you catch, the less you will lose. With quality, the idea is that you should only be focused on shoplifter apprehensions that are of a higher dollar amount or will make the most impact on the bottom line. My personal opinion is that your focus should be a mixture of both. Of course you want stop shoplifting suspects that are walking out the door with $500 worth of merchandise in their cart, but if you think about it, these shoplifters probably didn’t start out taking that much merchandise all at once. They likely started off small and built up to that level of theft.
I have been in a situation in the past where my employer didn’t want us making shoplifter apprehensions on merchandise that was under a specified dollar amount. Their reason for this was mainly return on investment. For example, say the employee stopping the shoplifter made $10 an hour, they wouldn’t want them to stop shoplifting suspects for a $5 item because the amount of money the employee was making wouldn’t justify the time spent on the apprehension. Another thing is that while you are processing a low dollar shoplifting case, you could be missing out on another shoplifter in the store taking more at the same time.
I understand the point, but I have never totally agreed with this point of view. Yes, quality shoplifter apprehensions make the most sense immediately for that particular case, but I don’t believe that low dollar cases should be ignored. My reasoning for this is you don’t know the impact that stopping that $5 case could have made on the store in the long run. That shoplifter could come back next time with more confidence and take $100 worth of merchandise, or they may have already stolen from you store in the past many times without you knowing about it. They also may tell several friends that they got away with stealing at your store, and the word will spread, inviting many more shoplifters to your store.
The best course of action to take is to consider both sides of the argument. It’s always good to catch the shoplifters that are stealing large amounts of merchandise, but don’t let that focus turn into ignorance of lower dollar thefts that could be a real problem in the long run if they are not addressed. In addition, you will want to develop a comprehensive retail theft prevention strategy that incorporates methods for deterring theft by the use of anti-shoplifting devices to reduce the overall amount of shoplifting incidents and also increase customer service to anyone that is in your store.
For more information contact us: retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547
JL04
Alpha Jewel Lok-4
Take a peek at Alpha Jewel Loks
When you’ve been in the loss prevention business long enough, you tend to develop a sixth sense about the people around you. Of course, despite that sixth sense, nothing can be done without solid proof that there is actually a problem. For me, the Alpha Jewel Lok was that solid proof when nothing else could be found.
I once had an associate in my handbag department. She was, really, a great associate. She was personable, professional, productive and extremely knowledgeable about the merchandise she was selling. She moved up from a part time sales associate to a full time specialist very quickly. She was a manager’s dream. I can’t really explain what it was about her that put me on edge and, for the longest time, I had convinced myself that I was wrong about her and that she really was just as great as she seemed.
Eventually we began having excessive shortages in costume jewelry. We used Alpha Jewel Loks (small Alpha tags made specifically for small items such as jewelry and watches that activate an alarm when tampered with or taken through a checkpoint) on anything over $50 but, despite that, merchandise just kept disappearing. I spent hours upon days, upon weeks, sitting at the cameras, watching the customer activity in the department, never once seeing anything concerning. I decided to make the department my spring focus. I wrote out an extensive internal game plan and began investigating the only other venue I could think of. Part of that game plan was to conduct “fact finding” interviews with the associates in that department. The interviews were fairly basic and non-accusatory. The tone of the conversation was simply “you’re trending very high on the shortage spectrum. Do you know why?” No one in that particular department seemed to know. Many answered external theft but I had already ruled that out. A few pointed to shipping/receiving errors. I had ruled that out as well. One associate pointed out that, being the holiday season, a lot of departments were working short and had to have associates from other departments cover lunches. This made the overall business difficult to control. “Too many hands in the pot.” So, I moved my investigation to the next department over and the first name on my list was that of the handbag associate I had been unsure of. Her interview went well. She did not give any indication that she was being dishonest. She, also, seemed to genuinely not know where the merchandise was disappearing to.
Feeling defeated, I wondered back to my office, shut the door, and stared at the cameras. What had I missed? I focused on the costume jewelry and watched a lady try on a couple of different necklaces. She seemed to be searching for something to match a pair of earrings that she had brought in with her. Apparently there was no one in the department to help her so she wandered over to the handbag register and approached the associate I had just interviewed not ten minutes earlier. I zoomed in to watch the interaction and that’s when it caught my eye. It was an Alpha Jewel Lok, peeking out from under the associate’s hair. The small, hard, white tag was in obvious contrast to her dark, auburn hair. It was attached to a crystal necklace wrapped around the associate’s neck. I continued to observe the associate throughout her shift. She went on through the rest of the evening acting like nothing was going on and, at quitting time, she clocked out, grabbed her purse and her coat and headed straight towards the associate exit. The associate exit did not have a checkpoint. There would be no alarms activated upon exit. My heart began to race as she walked down the dark hallway that, luckily, my office was right at the end of. She could turn left to visit me or she could turn right to leave the building. She turned right and put her hand on the door. I stopped her from leaving, of course, and conducted a second, on the spot, interview. She admitted to taking multiple items over a one month period. Each time she wore the jewelry out as it was and removed the anti-theft device when she got home. Alpha Jewel Loks are great external theft deterrents, but who would have thought they would be so great at deterring internal theft as well?
For more information about Alpha Jewel Loks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
When you’ve been in the loss prevention business long enough, you tend to develop a sixth sense about the people around you. Of course, despite that sixth sense, nothing can be done without solid proof that there is actually a problem. For me, the Alpha Jewel Lok was that solid proof when nothing else could be found.
I once had an associate in my handbag department. She was, really, a great associate. She was personable, professional, productive and extremely knowledgeable about the merchandise she was selling. She moved up from a part time sales associate to a full time specialist very quickly. She was a manager’s dream. I can’t really explain what it was about her that put me on edge and, for the longest time, I had convinced myself that I was wrong about her and that she really was just as great as she seemed.
Eventually we began having excessive shortages in costume jewelry. We used Alpha Jewel Loks (small Alpha tags made specifically for small items such as jewelry and watches that activate an alarm when tampered with or taken through a checkpoint) on anything over $50 but, despite that, merchandise just kept disappearing. I spent hours upon days, upon weeks, sitting at the cameras, watching the customer activity in the department, never once seeing anything concerning. I decided to make the department my spring focus. I wrote out an extensive internal game plan and began investigating the only other venue I could think of. Part of that game plan was to conduct “fact finding” interviews with the associates in that department. The interviews were fairly basic and non-accusatory. The tone of the conversation was simply “you’re trending very high on the shortage spectrum. Do you know why?” No one in that particular department seemed to know. Many answered external theft but I had already ruled that out. A few pointed to shipping/receiving errors. I had ruled that out as well. One associate pointed out that, being the holiday season, a lot of departments were working short and had to have associates from other departments cover lunches. This made the overall business difficult to control. “Too many hands in the pot.” So, I moved my investigation to the next department over and the first name on my list was that of the handbag associate I had been unsure of. Her interview went well. She did not give any indication that she was being dishonest. She, also, seemed to genuinely not know where the merchandise was disappearing to.
Feeling defeated, I wondered back to my office, shut the door, and stared at the cameras. What had I missed? I focused on the costume jewelry and watched a lady try on a couple of different necklaces. She seemed to be searching for something to match a pair of earrings that she had brought in with her. Apparently there was no one in the department to help her so she wandered over to the handbag register and approached the associate I had just interviewed not ten minutes earlier. I zoomed in to watch the interaction and that’s when it caught my eye. It was an Alpha Jewel Lok, peeking out from under the associate’s hair. The small, hard, white tag was in obvious contrast to her dark, auburn hair. It was attached to a crystal necklace wrapped around the associate’s neck. I continued to observe the associate throughout her shift. She went on through the rest of the evening acting like nothing was going on and, at quitting time, she clocked out, grabbed her purse and her coat and headed straight towards the associate exit. The associate exit did not have a checkpoint. There would be no alarms activated upon exit. My heart began to race as she walked down the dark hallway that, luckily, my office was right at the end of. She could turn left to visit me or she could turn right to leave the building. She turned right and put her hand on the door. I stopped her from leaving, of course, and conducted a second, on the spot, interview. She admitted to taking multiple items over a one month period. Each time she wore the jewelry out as it was and removed the anti-theft device when she got home. Alpha Jewel Loks are great external theft deterrents, but who would have thought they would be so great at deterring internal theft as well?
For more information about Alpha Jewel Loks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Flea market are big business. Many people have taken the plunge and tried their luck at owning their own business, starting with a simple booth at one of these giant yard sales. Flea markets can also be a major pain for many retailers. In my company’s particular case, they were the driving force behind our initial investment in Alpha Keepers. These clear display boxes that secure almost any package we can find a reason to protect are a fantastic solution and they absolutely help Prevent Shoplifting. Big 500 count boxes of pain relievers, razor cartridges, fragrances, and even those new popular deodorant sprays… in my store, you can bet you will find all of those safely encased in Alpha Keepers at this very moment.
When I was first hired into the retail pharmacy I work for, as an assistant manager, I had no idea of what kind of rampant theft I was up against. The occasional empty package was nothing in comparison to the losses we experienced from boosters. Boosters are the ones that actually come into the stores, load up bags, baskets, and even specially made clothing and wipe out entire sections. They are sent in with shopping lists by the “fence” operation. The “fence” is the seller or operator of the booth or stand that sells the stolen products. The boosters are paid for the items they bring back to the fence, depending on the condition of the packaging. If there are EAS tags on the items, or if they are encased in Alpha Keepers, the booster receives less money. If they ripped of the tags and left marks on the packaging they also lose money. The “fence” needs the items to appear as new and undamaged as possible or they may face doubt by the customers of the quality of the merchandise, or they may face questioning by the flea market owners. (At the one closest to our location, the sellers must have receipts for the purchase of the items they are selling. Unfortunately, this can be as simple as a hand written sales ticket for the booster.) The “fence” will also have to have a cleaning operation. They have to have tools to remove the products from Alpha Keepers, and they also have to employ people to remove any store identifier tags from the packages. They usually store all of the stolen goods, and conduct the cleaning operations at a remote small warehouse.
Trends have come and gone, as far as what has been targeted by boosters. The “fence” sends them in based on what people are asking for at the flea market, as well as the time of year or season. First of the year, they send the boosters in for the diet pills. Next comes spring, so all the name brand allergy medications are put on the shopping list. Throughout the year, they also like to get big packs of batteries, any name brand body wash, and they have an affinity for our salon hair care products. For some odd reason, toothpaste for sensitive teeth is a hot item. We’ve had one group hit our stores multiple times in the last month or so, and they have wiped out entire sections of this stuff. That was also the same group that got all my deodorant sprays. Generally, once we have identified a new target and lock it up, the boosters leave it alone. They are too bulky to try and take multiples, and they make a lot of noise clacking against one another. Plus they will cause the Checkpoint System to alarm if they are taken too close to the pedestals.
Don’t get me wrong. I love a bargain, and when I was a kid I looked forward to visiting the very same flea market that drives me crazy today. (More for the pony ride guy than the shopping, but whatever…)
If you think your store is getting hit by boosters, take a look at what Alpha Keepers can do to help.
For more information on Alpha Keepers contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net
Flea markets are big business. Many people have taken the plunge and tried their luck at owning their own business, starting with a simple booth at one of these giant yard sales. Flea markets can also be a major pain for many retailers. In my company’s particular case, they were the driving force behind our initial investment in Alpha Keepers. These clear display boxes that secure almost any package we can find a reason to protect are a fantastic solution and they absolutely help Prevent Shoplifting. Big 500 count boxes of pain relievers, razor cartridges, fragrances, and even those new popular deodorant sprays… in my store, you can bet you will find all of those safely encased in Alpha Keepers at this very moment.
When I was first hired into the retail pharmacy I work for, as an assistant manager, I had no idea of what kind of rampant theft I was up against. The occasional empty package was nothing in comparison to the losses we experienced from boosters. Boosters are the ones that actually come into the stores, load up bags, baskets, and even specially made clothing and wipe out entire sections. They are sent in with shopping lists by the “fence” operation. The “fence” is the seller or operator of the booth or stand that sells the stolen products. The boosters are paid for the items they bring back to the fence, depending on the condition of the packaging. If there are EAS tags on the items, or if they are encased in Alpha Keepers, the booster receives less money. If they ripped of the tags and left marks on the packaging they also lose money. The “fence” needs the items to appear as new and undamaged as possible or they may face doubt by the customers of the quality of the merchandise, or they may face questioning by the flea market owners. (At the one closest to our location, the sellers must have receipts for the purchase of the items they are selling. Unfortunately, this can be as simple as a hand written sales ticket for the booster.) The “fence” will also have to have a cleaning operation. They have to have tools to remove the products from Alpha Keepers, and they also have to employ people to remove any store identifier tags from the packages. They usually store all of the stolen goods, and conduct the cleaning operations at a remote small warehouse.
Trends have come and gone, as far as what has been targeted by boosters. The “fence” sends them in based on what people are asking for at the flea market, as well as the time of year or season. First of the year, they send the boosters in for the diet pills. Next comes spring, so all the name brand allergy medications are put on the shopping list. Throughout the year, they also like to get big packs of batteries, any name brand body wash, and they have an affinity for our salon hair care products. For some odd reason, toothpaste for sensitive teeth is a hot item. We’ve had one group hit our stores multiple times in the last month or so, and they have wiped out entire sections of this stuff. That was also the same group that got all my deodorant sprays. Generally, once we have identified a new target and lock it up, the boosters leave it alone. They are too bulky to try and take multiples, and they make a lot of noise clacking against one another. Plus they will cause the Checkpoint System to alarm if they are taken too close to the pedestals.
Don’t get me wrong. I love a bargain, and when I was a kid I looked forward to visiting the very same flea market that drives me crazy today. (More for the pony ride guy than the shopping, but whatever…)If you think your store is getting hit by boosters, take a look at what Alpha Keepers can do to help.
For more information on Alpha Keepers contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net
EAS Labels-4
EAS Labels Will Stop A Shoplifter
When the average shopper walks in a store, and walks past the pedestals, they don’t really think about the electronic article surveillance that is being utilized. When a professional shoplifter, or booster as we usually call them, walks in that is the first thing they scope out. Even a petty thief takes note whether there is a system present in most cases. Websites have been developed to promote shoplifting and they usually warn their members to avoid stores that have this type of security.
EAS labels are very versatile, and can be placed almost anywhere on an item. First of all, they can be put right in plain sight on the front of the package, or on the back side of the hanging price label of a clothing item. The labels are available in different colors, shapes and sizes. They can even be clear, or have the store’s name and address printed on them. Even grocery stores can get in the fun, and label their steaks and other expensive meats. New advances with those labels have even made most of those microwave safe.
Many manufacturers now participate in source tagging, meaning they adhere the EAS label inside the sealed package, so you don’t have to worry about it. The items arrive in your store already protected. Inquire with your suppliers to see whether that is an option for your purchases. That is a perk, but it is not the end of the world if they can’t do it for you. Once you and your staff have a plan developed on what items you need to add product protection to, the task of adhering those is well worth the incentive you get to help stop shoplifting. Whether you decide to place your EAS labels on the outside of the packages or hide them down inside, the benefits are the same. The Checkpoint System will sound the alarm if a person brings merchandise too close that has not yet been purchased and had the labels deactivated.
We had a guy in one of our stores, walking around and acting really suspicious. He was looking up constantly to see where we were, and he had put a magazine against the side of the shopping basket he was carrying. (For those that don’t know already, this is a tell tale sign of a booster. They will “line” the basket with either a magazine or sales ad so you can’t see all the items they are stuffing in there.) I walked right up to him and offered to help him, and he said he was fine and just looking. Of course, I was “just looking” at a bunch of name brand pain relievers in his basket, knowing they all had EAS labels placed down inside the boxes. He could tell that I had seen all the stuff in his basket, and he appeared to have a sudden epiphany. I stood down toward the end of the aisle, concealed behind a display, and watched this brainiac start stuffing the boxes down his pants. He actually pulled rubber bands out of his pockets and secured them around the bottom of his pant legs! I just silently shook my head, and called the police on my cell phone. The guy got all he could down his pants and made a run for it. The police were not even a block away, caught him red-handed, and escorted him right back to the store. Even better, when they searched his car, they found two garbage bags full of other similar and obviously stolen items. Some of the products had the EAS labels I mentioned earlier- the kind with store identifier information printed on them. Those stores got their stuff back too. Who knows what happened to the rest of it? It’s all probably sitting in some evidence room.
For more information on EAS labels, contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Antishoplifting.net
When the average shopper walks in a store, and walks past the pedestals, they don’t really think about the electronic article surveillance that is being utilized. When a professional shoplifter, or booster as we usually call them, walks in that is the first thing they scope out. Even a petty thief takes note whether there is a system present in most cases. Websites have been developed to promote shoplifting and they usually warn their members to avoid stores that have this type of security.
EAS labels are very versatile, and can be placed almost anywhere on an item. First of all, they can be put right in plain sight on the front of the package, or on the back side of the hanging price label of a clothing item. The labels are available in different colors, shapes and sizes. They can even be clear, or have the store’s name and address printed on them. Even grocery stores can get in the fun, and label their steaks and other expensive meats. New advances with those labels have even made most of those microwave safe.
Many manufacturers now participate in source tagging, meaning they adhere the EAS label inside the sealed package, so you don’t have to worry about it. The items arrive in your store already protected. Inquire with your suppliers to see whether that is an option for your purchases. That is a perk, but it is not the end of the world if they can’t do it for you. Once you and your staff have a plan developed on what items you need to add product protection to, the task of adhering those is well worth the incentive you get to help stop shoplifting. Whether you decide to place your EAS labels on the outside of the packages or hide them down inside, the benefits are the same. The Checkpoint System will sound the alarm if a person brings merchandise too close that has not yet been purchased and had the labels deactivated.
We had a guy in one of our stores, walking around and acting really suspicious. He was looking up constantly to see where we were, and he had put a magazine against the side of the shopping basket he was carrying. (For those that don’t know already, this is a tell tale sign of a booster. They will “line” the basket with either a magazine or sales ad so you can’t see all the items they are stuffing in there.) I walked right up to him and offered to help him, and he said he was fine and just looking. Of course, I was “just looking” at a bunch of name brand pain relievers in his basket, knowing they all had EAS labels placed down inside the boxes. He could tell that I had seen all the stuff in his basket, and he appeared to have a sudden epiphany. I stood down toward the end of the aisle, concealed behind a display, and watched this brainiac start stuffing the boxes down his pants. He actually pulled rubber bands out of his pockets and secured them around the bottom of his pant legs! I just silently shook my head, and called the police on my cell phone. The guy got all he could down his pants and made a run for it. The police were not even a block away, caught him red-handed, and escorted him right back to the store. Even better, when they searched his car, they found two garbage bags full of other similar and obviously stolen items. Some of the products had the EAS labels I mentioned earlier- the kind with store identifier information printed on them. Those stores got their stuff back too. Who knows what happened to the rest of it? It’s all probably sitting in some evidence room.
For more information on EAS labels contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Antishoplifting.net
If you already operate, or are considering opening a shop to sell apparel and accessories, you will want to take a long serious look at what type of clothing security measures you need to have in place. Let me list some facts found in a recent study of retail theft and shoplifting, and you can decide whether or not you are going to need to invest in a clothing alarm system.
This study was conducted by loss prevention professionals throughout the country, compiled together, and all the data averaged out.
96% of retail establishments, regardless of size, suffered losses due to shoplifting. That was up from 94.5%.
This is obviously not just clothing establishments, but also grocery, drug and electronics stores, among others. However, this information comes only from thefts that were reported. Imagine what went out the doors of businesses that had no idea it was even happening. If your store is not utilizing some type of clothing alarm to help you deter and detect theft, you could be losing big.
1 in every 11 people will steal something from a retailer today.
Only 3% of those will be committed by professional shoplifters and members of organized crime rings. More than 74% will be committed by adults, and most of them have jobs. So that means if you do have a clothing alarm and you’re only putting security tags on clothes that are appealing to kids and teens, you may be targeting the wrong audience. Working adults will steal because they want expensive name brand clothing just like anyone else, but they don’t want to pay for them, even if they can afford it. Many times these thefts are strictly on impulse, with zero pre-planning. They walk in just to look around, and then find themselves with a golden opportunity to get that hot item out the door without anyone noticing. Most often, name brand denim jeans and handbags are the top pilfered items for any clothing retailer. The good news is those items can be easily protected with clothing security tags. There are hard tags that can be pinned on in conspicuous places, soft tags that can be adhered or sewn into hidden pockets and seams, and even tags that can be attached via lanyard. When there is a visible means of deterrence present, impulse shoplifters that were “just looking” will decide it’s not worth the risk of being caught.
Clothing theft is up 30% from just last year.
Last month, a small popular clothing and accessory store made the headlines for a very brazen theft attempt. (My daughter loves to shop here, and I know for a fact they have no type of clothing alarm in place.) Two middle age women shopping around in the store, just looking, laughing, and acting normal, like they are out for a shopping day without the kids. They have very large bags, but they are not acting suspicious, and neither employee working feels they are a threat. One employee leaves the sales floor and the women apparently decide they are finished browsing. Temptation gets the better of one of the women, because just as they are walking out the door, she grabs one more item and stuffs it into her bag. She does this just as the employee that had walked away returns. The employee yells for the women to stop, but of course they make a run for it. Lucky for the store staff, the police were close enough to catch them down the street. They discovered 67 pieces of stolen merchandise packed down in those two bags, worth almost $1,300.
Will that store’s managers or owners choose to look into adding some sort of clothing security tools or will they take a chance on being victimized again? Only they can decide whether or not the cost is worth the benefits from investing in a clothing alarm system. I would say after that kind of close call, they can’t afford not to.
For more information about clothing alarms, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Clothingsecurity.net
If you already operate, or are considering opening a shop to sell apparel and accessories, you will want to take a long serious look at what type of clothing security measures you need to have in place. Let me list some facts found in a recent study of retail theft and shoplifting, and you can decide whether or not you are going to need to invest in a EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) System.
This study was conducted by loss prevention professionals throughout the country, compiled together, and all the data averaged out.
- 96% of retail establishments, regardless of size, suffered losses due to shoplifting. That was up from 94.5%.
This is obviously not just clothing establishments, but also grocery, drug and electronics stores, among others. However, this information comes only from thefts that were reported. Imagine what went out the doors of businesses that had no idea it was even happening. If your store is not utilizing some type of clothing alarm to help you deter and detect theft, you could be losing big.
- 1 in every 11 people will steal something from a retailer today.Only 3% of those will be committed by professional shoplifters and members of organized crime rings. More than 74% will be committed by adults, and most of them have jobs. So that means if you do have a clothing alarm and you’re only putting Checkpoint Tags on clothes that are appealing to kids and teens, you may be targeting the wrong audience. Working adults will steal because they want expensive name brand clothing just like anyone else, but they don’t want to pay for them, even if they can afford it. Many times these thefts are strictly on impulse, with zero pre-planning. They walk in just to look around, and then find themselves with a golden opportunity to get that hot item out the door without anyone noticing. Most often, name brand denim jeans and handbags are the top pilfered items for any clothing retailer. The good news is those items can be easily protected with Checkpoint Tags. There are hard tags that can be pinned on in conspicuous places, soft tags that can be adhered or sewn into hidden pockets and seams, and even tags that can be attached via lanyard. When there is a visible means of deterrence present, impulse shoplifters that were “just looking” will decide it’s not worth the risk of being caught.
- Clothing theft is up 30% from just last year. Last month, a small popular clothing and accessory store made the headlines for a very brazen theft attempt. (My daughter loves to shop here, and I know for a fact they have no type of clothing alarm in place.) Two middle age women shopping around in the store, just looking, laughing, and acting normal, like they are out for a shopping day without the kids. They have very large bags, but they are not acting suspicious, and neither employee working feels they are a threat. One employee leaves the sales floor and the women apparently decide they are finished browsing. Temptation gets the better of one of the women, because just as they are walking out the door, she grabs one more item and stuffs it into her bag. She does this just as the employee that had walked away returns. The employee yells for the women to stop, but of course they make a run for it. Luckily for the store staff, the police were close enough to catch them down the street. They discovered 67 pieces of stolen merchandise packed down in those two bags, worth almost $1,300. Will that store’s managers or owners choose to look into adding some sort of clothing security tools or will they take a chance on being victimized again? Only they can decide whether or not the cost is worth the benefits from investing in a clothing alarm system. I would say after that kind of close call, they can’t afford not to.
For more information about Clothing Security, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Clothingsecurity.net
