There is a fine line between keeping your merchandise secure, and inconveniencing your customer. You want to keep the customers happy, but also prevent shoplifting from occurring at the same time. There is a good balance you can attain, and it starts with policy and training. If you have a policy regarding lock up merchandise, make sure that every member of your team knows and understands the reasons behind the policy, so there are no exceptions.
You may want to keep your some of your merchandise locked up, but not all of it. Start with the most valuable merchandise, and consider locking it in a display cabinet, so your customers can still see the item. If this doesn’t work for your business or merchandise, there are several products from Alpha Security that will fit your needs, such as the Alpha Spider Wrap. This is a versatile device that can fit many different types of merchandise. It allows you to keep your products out on the shelf, while still securing the item to prevent shoplifting.
I recall a shopping trip I took to a major retailer a few years ago, when the employees didn’t quite understand the concept of lockup security. I walked into the store looking to purchase a new video game, so I went straight toward the electronics department. When I got to the electronics department, no one was around anywhere. I finally found an employee and I asked them for a game that was in a lockup cabinet. The employee responded by telling me that they didn’t have the keys, and they would have to call someone else to help me get the game. So the employee called for help, and about fifteen minutes later someone finally arrived to the department. I told the employee which game I wanted, and they retrieved the game out of the showcase. The next thing that happened was almost unbelievable. After waiting all that time for the employee to get the game out of the showcase, they just handed me the game and said, “Here you go,” and began walking away. I then asked the employee if I had to pay for this in the electronics department, and they said that I could pay for it up front.
I don’t think the employees in this store understood the reasons for locking up expensive and high theft items. If merchandise is locked up in some way, the employee shouldn’t just be handing it to the customer to walk around the store. That defeats the entire purpose of having the items locked in the showcase. The merchandise should have been rung up right in the electronics department, or held for me until I was finished with my other shopping, and then walked to a register. If I was a dishonest person, I may have seized the opportunity that the employee created for me, by not following company policies.
The only inconvenience that I experienced in this situation was not from the merchandise being locked up, but instead it was a customer service issue. Making your customers wait a long time to make a purchase is never a good idea. If merchandise is locked up, your team should be responding immediately for any requests. You can achieve the balance you are seeking with lockup security and keeping your customers happy. All you have to do is ensure they are fully trained on policy and how to properly use any retail anti-theft devices that your store. Fast customer service should be priority one, regardless of whether or not the merchandise is secured.
For more information contact us: (prevent shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547
There is a fine line between keeping your merchandise secure, and inconveniencing your customer. You want to keep the customers happy, but also prevent shoplifting from occurring at the same time. There is a good balance you can attain, and it starts with policy and training. If you have a policy regarding lock up merchandise, make sure that every member of your team knows and understands the reasons behind the policy, so there are no exceptions.
You may want to keep your some of your merchandise locked up, but not all of it. Start with the most valuable merchandise, and consider locking it in a display cabinet, so your customers can still see the item. If this doesn’t work for your business or merchandise, there are several products from Alpha Security that will fit your needs, such as the Alpha Spider Wrap. This is a versatile device that can fit many different types of merchandise. It allows you to keep your products out on the shelf, while still securing the item to prevent shoplifting.
I recall a shopping trip I took to a major retailer a few years ago, when the employees didn’t quite understand the concept of lockup security. I walked into the store looking to purchase a new video game, so I went straight toward the electronics department. When I got to the electronics department, no one was around anywhere. I finally found an employee and I asked them for a game that was in a lockup cabinet. The employee responded by telling me that they didn’t have the keys, and they would have to call someone else to help me get the game. So the employee called for help, and about fifteen minutes later someone finally arrived to the department. I told the employee which game I wanted, and they retrieved the game out of the showcase. The next thing that happened was almost unbelievable. After waiting all that time for the employee to get the game out of the showcase, they just handed me the game and said, “Here you go,” and began walking away. I then asked the employee if I had to pay for this in the electronics department, and they said that I could pay for it up front.
I don’t think the employees in this store understood the reasons for locking up expensive and high theft items. If merchandise is locked up in some way, the employee shouldn’t just be handing it to the customer to walk around the store. That defeats the entire purpose of having the items locked in the showcase. The merchandise should have been rung up right in the electronics department, or held for me until I was finished with my other shopping, and then walked to a register. If I was a dishonest person, I may have seized the opportunity that the employee created for me, by not following company policies.
The only inconvenience that I experienced in this situation was not from the merchandise being locked up, but instead it was a customer service issue. Making your customers wait a long time to make a purchase is never a good idea. If merchandise is locked up, your team should be responding immediately for any requests. You can achieve the balance you are seeking with lockup security and keeping your customers happy. All you have to do is ensure they are fully trained on policy and how to properly use any retail anti-theft devices that your store. Fast customer service should be priority one, regardless of whether or not the merchandise is secured.
For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
Sometimes I don’t quite understand the thought process of a shoplifter. While most bug out pretty quickly once they realize they are being observed, I’ve encountered quite a few that will stick around and argue right up until police show up. This happened not too long ago and it had to be the most entertaining 30 minutes of my career. It all started with a shoplifter breaking off the checkpoint tags on some football jerseys and realizing he was about to get caught.
It was finally here. After several months of clearing land, building the four walls, stocking and merchandising, we were set to grand open another new store. It was a great time for the company I worked for. Retail sales in general were down, but we were experiencing tremendous growth. This would be our 20th new store opened this year. It was a beautiful store with an impeccable management staff. The team was well trained, the leadership was seasoned and the store looked as close to perfect as I had ever seen a new store look. Customers were lining up the night before to be first in line, and when 7am came around, there was a line 300 deep to get in! This was a new market for us, so as far as shrink, we didn’t quite know what to expect, and so we didn’t skimp on our clothing security tags in our apparel department. It was a good call as we would eventually find out as the months rolled by.
As the day wore on, the store never had down time it seemed. All 20 registers were open all day long with 5 customers deep at any given time. My LP team and I were monitoring the store, but there wasn’t much going on to our surprise. We took physical security measures seriously and our store was very customer friendly, but we also took the steps needed to secure our inventory. It wasn’t until midafternoon that it looked like we’d have our first bite. There, in the jersey section, there was a shoplifter breaking the clothing security tags from 5 jerseys, all worth $100 each. It was go time.
I had several new agents working the weekend along with some of my tenured staff. I figured this would be an easy stop, so I let one of the rookies take the lead. She was on the floor and we were communicating via walkie. She was relaying his moves to me while I stood by the door awaiting his exit. My agent informed me that she had witnessed him break several more clothing alarms, and that he had concealed the shirts. It didn’t take long for our shoplifter to realize he was being watched by the new agent, so he removed the product from his pants and confronted her. She didn’t know what to do, so I intervened. I told this guy that he needed to leave the store for attempting to shoplift the product.
Here’s where it got pretty funny. He told me he didn’t have to go anywhere and he could stay in the store as long as he wanted. No problem. Five minutes later a Sherriff’s deputy arrived and found our shoplifter sitting in the middle of the walkway at the front of the store. Needless to say, he spent the weekend in jail.
For more information, contact us: Clothing Security, or call 1.770.426.0547
Sometimes I don’t quite understand the thought process of a shoplifter. While most bug out pretty quickly once they realize they are being observed, I’ve encountered quite a few that will stick around and argue right up until police show up. This happened not too long ago and it had to be the most entertaining 30 minutes of my career. It all started with a shoplifter breaking off the Checkpoint Tags on some football jerseys and realizing he was about to get caught.
It was finally here. After several months of clearing land, building the four walls, stocking and merchandising, we were set to grand open another new store. It was a great time for the company I worked for. Retail sales in general were down, but we were experiencing tremendous growth. This would be our 20th new store opened this year. It was a beautiful store with an impeccable management staff. The team was well trained, the leadership was seasoned and the store looked as close to perfect as I had ever seen a new store look. Customers were lining up the night before to be first in line, and when 7am came around, there was a line 300 deep to get in! This was a new market for us, so as far as shrink, we didn’t quite know what to expect, and so we didn’t skimp on our clothing security tags in our apparel department. It was a good call as we would eventually find out as the months rolled by.
As the day wore on, the store never had down time it seemed. All 20 registers were open all day long with 5 customers deep at any given time. My LP team and I were monitoring the store, but there wasn’t much going on to our surprise. We took physical security measures seriously and our store was very customer friendly, but we also took the steps needed to secure our inventory. It wasn’t until midafternoon that it looked like we’d have our first bite. There, in the jersey section, there was a shoplifter breaking the clothing security tags from 5 jerseys, all worth $100 each. It was go time.
I had several new agents working the weekend along with some of my tenured staff. I figured this would be an easy stop, so I let one of the rookies take the lead. She was on the floor and we were communicating via walkie talkie. She was relaying his moves to me while I stood by the door awaiting his exit. My agent informed me that she had witnessed him break several more clothing alarms, and that he had concealed the shirts. It didn’t take long for our shoplifter to realize he was being watched by the new agent, so he removed the product from his pants and confronted her. She didn’t know what to do, so I intervened. I told this guy that he needed to leave the store for attempting to shoplift the product.
Here’s where it got pretty funny. He told me he didn’t have to go anywhere and he could stay in the store as long as he wanted. No problem. Five minutes later a Sherriff’s deputy arrived and found our shoplifter sitting in the middle of the walkway at the front of the store. Needless to say, he spent the weekend in jail.
For more information, contact us: Clothing Security, or call 1.770.426.0547
Do you provide a bottle service in your nightclub? If you don’t, you may want to reconsider. It can be a great source of extra income. When patrons request a bottle service, they are paying for much more than the bottle, though the cost of the bottle is usually marked up dramatically. In addition to the obvious glamourous side of bottle service that is for the attention getters with the “look at me!” mentality, another reason for your customers to request this service is to guarantee a good area that their group will be able to be seated for the night. It is sometimes difficult to go back and forth to the bar in a nightclub, so providing a VIP personal drink server for the night is very appealing to many people, and they don’t mind paying the extra money for the service.
These services are almost always booked in advance, and not usually a walk in and request type of situation. Not all of your guests will want this service, but the ones that do will bring in a huge amount of profit. For example, if you have a bottle of liquor that normally sells for $50, can now be worth hundreds of dollars for those looking for the VIP experience. Bottle service is becoming more and more prevalent in the nightclub scene, and is not just for superstars anymore. Some of your customers could be bachelor or bachelorette parties, birthday parties, business groups, or just a bunch of friends wanting to have a good night on the town.
If you are offering bottle service in your club, you will definitely want to make sure you order protection for the bottles. The EASy bottle is a great solution for your liquor or wine bottles, which are a types of bottle locks that fit on the top of your liquor bottles. Although your VIP attendants should be keeping track of all of the liquor for the groups, these devices allow you to ensure that your staff are the only ones with access to the bottles, because you don’t want your guests illegally pouring their own alcohol by themselves. The last thing you want is to be responsible for one of your customers gaining access to one of the bottles and helping themselves.
Using bottle locks will ensure that your team are the only ones with access for two reasons. The lock on the top of the bottle doesn’t allow it to be removed without a special key that is made to open the bottle. If patrons were brave enough to take a chance at trying to remove the lock themselves, that’s where the benefit denial would stop them in their tracks. Benefit denial is built into the device, so it will damage the bottle if tampered with, and leave the patron with nothing to enjoy even if they did give it their best try. Most people wouldn’t even attempt to follow through with the bad idea of tampering with the bottle, but keep in mind that these people will most likely be intoxicated and not thinking correctly, but just the sight of the device on the bottle is enough to scare the average person out of trying something they may regret later.
For more information contact us: (bottle service) or call 1.770.426.0547
Do you provide bottle service in your nightclub? If you don’t, you may want to reconsider. It can be a great source of extra income. When patrons request a bottle service, they are paying for much more than the bottle, though the cost of the bottle is usually marked up dramatically. In addition to the obvious glamourous side of bottle service that is for the attention getters with the “look at me!” mentality, another reason for your customers to request this service is to guarantee a good area that their group will be able to be seated for the night. It is sometimes difficult to go back and forth to the bar in a nightclub, so providing a VIP personal drink server for the night is very appealing to many people, and they don’t mind paying the extra money for the service.
These services are almost always booked in advance, and not usually a walk in and request type of situation. Not all of your guests will want this service, but the ones that do will bring in a huge amount of profit. For example, if you have a bottle of liquor that normally sells for $50, can now be worth hundreds of dollars for those looking for the VIP experience. Bottle service is becoming more and more prevalent in the nightclub scene, and is not just for superstars anymore. Some of your customers could be bachelor or bachelorette parties, birthday parties, business groups, or just a bunch of friends wanting to have a good night on the town.
If you are offering bottle service in your club, you will definitely want to make sure you order protection for the bottles. The EASy bottle is a great solution for your liquor or wine bottles, which are a types of bottle locks that fit on the top of your liquor bottles. Although your VIP attendants should be keeping track of all of the liquor for the groups, these devices allow you to ensure that your staff are the only ones with access to the bottles, because you don’t want your guests illegally pouring their own alcohol by themselves. The last thing you want is to be responsible for one of your customers gaining access to one of the bottles and helping themselves.
Using EASy Bottle will ensure that your team are the only ones with access for two reasons. The lock on the top of the bottle doesn’t allow it to be removed without a special key that is made to open the bottle. If patrons were brave enough to take a chance at trying to remove the lock themselves, that’s where the benefit denial would stop them in their tracks. Benefit denial is built into the device, so it will damage the bottle if tampered with, and leave the patron with nothing to enjoy even if they did give it their best try. Most people wouldn’t even attempt to follow through with the bad idea of tampering with the bottle, but keep in mind that these people will most likely be intoxicated and not thinking correctly, but just the sight of the device on the bottle is enough to scare the average person out of trying something they may regret later.
For more information contact us: Bottle Service or call 1.770.426.0547
Most of your customers understand that liquor stores experience theft, and you have to take measures to protect your merchandise. Just be sure that the by taking steps to secure your merchandise, you are not seriously inconveniencing the customer. There are easy solutions that provide both bottle security and convenience. You don’t want to have your customers confusing your store with some kind of liquor museum full of merchandise they can’t touch, but you also want to ensure they are paying for the merchandise when they leave the store.
I have had shoplifters that literally fill a shopping cart full of alcoholic beverages, and push it right out of the store without paying. While not every shoplifting incident causes that much loss all at once, one or two bottles here and there will start to add up to a lot of money. This is why it is so important that you take steps to ensure that your merchandise is secured, and to reduce the chances that people will feel comfortable stealing in your store. You’ll want to use a combination of bottle security and customer service to bring this feeling into your store.
With bottle locks, it’s easy to secure any of your bottle products. If putting a device on a bottle and cranking it can help reduce your loss of products and lift your profits, it would just be illogical not to take full advantage of them to ensure your inventory is protected. The amount of loss you can incur by leaving your inventory unprotected drastically outweighs the cost of protection. If a potential thief sees that your bottles are secured, they are going to have to ask themselves if the merchandise is even worth taking. Not only would they have to steal the stuff, but they also have to hope that by some miracle, they figure out a way to get the bottle locks off the items without causing any damage to the bottle, which is not likely.
You want to create an environment of comfort for the paying customer, and one of discomfort for the shoplifters. You can achieve this balance by using devices like the EASy bottle, which protects your merchandise, but that is also easy for you to remove from the product at the register. This way the customers aren’t waiting around for long periods of time at the register, because it only takes a second to remove the bottle locks.
By the time the customer is checking out at the register, they have already spent time shopping in your store, and waiting in line. The last thing you want them to do is become upset about having to wait on someone to remove a security device. I know that when I am waiting in line at a store, a couple minutes can feel like an eternity. You want to get them through the lines quick, and keep them as happy, loyal customers. Bottle security devices typically only take a second or two to remove for someone that is trained to use them. Make sure that your team is properly trained to remove the devices as quickly as possible, so your customers don’t have to wait for someone trying to figure out how to remove something from their purchase at the register.
For more information contact us: (bottle security) or call 1.770.426.0547
Most of your customers understand that liquor stores experience theft, and you have to take measures to protect your merchandise. Just be sure that the by taking steps to secure your merchandise, you are not seriously inconveniencing the customer. There are easy solutions that provide both bottle security and convenience. You don’t want to have your customers confusing your store with some kind of liquor museum full of merchandise they can’t touch, but you also want to ensure they are paying for the merchandise when they leave the store.
I have had shoplifters that literally fill a shopping cart full of alcoholic beverages, and push it right out of the store without paying. While not every shoplifting incident causes that much loss all at once, one or two bottles here and there will start to add up to a lot of money. This is why it is so important that you take steps to ensure that your merchandise is secured, and to reduce the chances that people will feel comfortable stealing in your store. You’ll want to use a combination of bottle security and customer service to bring this feeling into your store.
With Bottle Locks, it’s easy to secure any of your bottle products. If putting a device on a bottle and cranking it can help reduce your loss of products and lift your profits, it would just be illogical not to take full advantage of them to ensure your inventory is protected. The amount of loss you can incur by leaving your inventory unprotected drastically outweighs the cost of protection. If a potential thief sees that your bottles are secured, they are going to have to ask themselves if the merchandise is even worth taking. Not only would they have to steal the stuff, but they also have to hope that by some miracle, they figure out a way to get the bottle locks off the items without causing any damage to the bottle, which is not likely.
You want to create an environment of comfort for the paying customer, and one of discomfort for the shoplifters. You can achieve this balance by using devices like the EASy bottle, which protects your merchandise, but that is also easy for you to remove from the product at the register. This way the customers aren’t waiting around for long periods of time at the register, because it only takes a second to remove the bottle locks.
By the time the customer is checking out at the register, they have already spent time shopping in your store, and waiting in line. The last thing you want them to do is become upset about having to wait on someone to remove a security device. I know that when I am waiting in line at a store, a couple minutes can feel like an eternity. You want to get them through the lines quick, and keep them as happy, loyal customers. Bottle security devices typically only take a second or two to remove for someone that is trained to use them. Make sure that your team is properly trained to remove the devices as quickly as possible, so your customers don’t have to wait for someone trying to figure out how to remove something from their purchase at the register.
For more information contact us: (bottle security) or call 1.770.426.0547
In order to help stop shoplifting in your store, you should know who you are dealing with and why they are stealing from you. Although there are several different types of shoplifters, I’ll try to narrow it down to two main categories. Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate which group a shoplifter should be placed, but I’ll make it easy and group them as either amateur or professional. The main difference is that an amateur shoplifter usually steals for personal use, while a professional shoplifter typically steals to sell the merchandise after the theft.
The amateur and opportunist are your typical everyday shoplifters. They are usually stealing items for themselves. Some you could classify as opportunists, because they don’t always come into the store planning to steal, but while they are shopping, an opportunity presents itself and they take full advantage. An example of this could be a lack of employees in an area, or even a showcase left unlocked. Many shoplifters in this group will be deterred by anti-shoplifting devices placed on merchandise. Just because this group is categorized as amateurs, doesn’t mean that they won’t cause a good amount of loss.
The booster or professional is a whole different species of shoplifter. They come into the store well prepared, and typically know what they are after before coming into the store. They sometimes have an actual list of what they need to take, which is provide to them by a fence, which is basically a person or location that will buy the stolen product. In my experience, the majority of shoplifters that fall into this category are either involved in highly organized retail crime (ORC) or they are drug users stealing to support their habit. With the internet, it is also much easier to sell stolen merchandise than it was in the past. They don’t need to find a third party to sell the stuff they just took from the stores, all they need to do is just put it up for sale themselves online.
Boosters usually steal high dollar products, or large quantities of smaller items. It’s not every day that you see someone come in and select 5 of the same electric toothbrush or grab a $600 television within a few seconds. These are the kinds of things you need to be able to recognize when looking for shoplifters. Most of the time, they work very fast because they want to limit exposure. Though they are not always this quick, I have personal witnessed some professional shoplifters in and out of a store in less than a minute. Timing depends on where the product is located, and whether or not there are other customers or employees in the area. Some shoplifters are so determined that they don’t even stop shoplifting when other customers walk into the aisle.
Both of these groups can cause you to lose out on major profits. Whether you are dealing with professional or amateur shoplifters in your store, a good way to slow them down is to attach anti-shoplifting devices to the merchandise. Even if this doesn’t stop them from stealing the item, trying to remove the device will attract attention, and give you a chance to catch them in the act.
For more information contact us: (stop shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547
In order to help stop shoplifting in your store, you should know who you are dealing with and why they are stealing from you. Although there are several different types of shoplifters, I’ll try to narrow it down to two main categories. Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate which group a shoplifter should be placed, but I’ll make it easy and group them as either amateur or professional. The main difference is that an amateur shoplifter usually steals for personal use, while a professional shoplifter typically steals to sell the merchandise after the theft.
The amateur and opportunist are your typical everyday shoplifters. They are usually stealing items for themselves. Some you could classify as opportunists, because they don’t always come into the store planning to steal, but while they are shopping, an opportunity presents itself and they take full advantage. An example of this could be a lack of employees in an area, or even a showcase left unlocked. Many shoplifters in this group will be deterred by anti-shoplifting devices placed on merchandise. Just because this group is categorized as amateurs, doesn’t mean that they won’t cause a good amount of loss.
The booster or professional is a whole different species of shoplifter. They come into the store well prepared, and typically know what they are after before coming into the store. They sometimes have an actual list of what they need to take, which is provided to them by a fence, which is basically a person or location that will buy the stolen product. In my experience, the majority of shoplifters that fall into this category are either involved in highly organized retail crime (ORC) or they are drug users stealing to support their habit. With the internet, it is also much easier to sell stolen merchandise than it was in the past. They don’t need to find a third party to sell the stuff they just took from the stores, all they need to do is just put it up for sale themselves online.
Boosters usually steal high dollar products, or large quantities of smaller items. It’s not every day that you see someone come in and select 5 of the same electric toothbrush or grab a $600 television within a few seconds. These are the kinds of things you need to be able to recognize when looking for shoplifters. Most of the time, they work very fast because they want to limit exposure. Though they are not always this quick, I have personally witnessed some professional shoplifters in and out of a store in less than a minute. Timing depends on where the product is located, and whether or not there are other customers or employees in the area. Some shoplifters are so determined that they don’t even stop shoplifting when other customers walk into the aisle.
Both of these groups can cause you to lose out on major profits. Whether you are dealing with professional or amateur shoplifters in your store, a good way to slow them down is to attach anti-shoplifting devices to the merchandise. Even if this doesn’t stop them from stealing the item, trying to remove the device will attract attention, and give you a chance to catch them in the act.
For more information contact us: Stop Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
