Door counting sensor-4 WC blog 295
Retail Traffic Counting system-3
Customer Counting Systems-3
Special Events And Helping Charitable Causes Can Create Increases In Customers; Customer Counting Systems Aid In Future Planning
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Checkpoint Security System-3 WC Blog 373
Stop Shoplifting-3
Checkpoint Tags-3
Weather Emergencies And Other Crisis; How Do You Prepare, Respond, Recover and Do You Still Stop Shoplifting? Part 2
I had several tornado watches and warnings I had to respond to while working as a Retail Loss Prevention Manager. Usually these took place when we were under severe thunderstorm warnings which happen regularly here during the summer. We couldn’t shut down computers, registers to protect against power surge damage because we still operated the store during the storms. We also had to stop shoplifting since customers were still shopping at those times so we continued to operate our Checkpoint Security System as well. If the wind was picking up we locked the automatic doors which had a tendency to fly open. Otherwise we monitored our weather radio and a portable radio I had in my office until we had to act. In Part 1 of this series I shared a story about a category 1 hurricane which hit our area and our store remained open. In this article I will share a couple of other crisis our store went through and how we responded.
Before I continue I do want to briefly tell readers about Checkpoint Security Systems, what they are and why I include them in a discussion on severe weather. The systems are anti-theft tools called electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems because they are a system of electrically powered detection towers, deactivation pads designed to de-tune soft Checkpoint tags and the Checkpoint tags themselves, which may be soft labels or hard tags that attach to clothes and other products. When power goes out due to a storm the towers become inoperable and cannot detect tags and therefore no longer stop shoplifting. Being aware of this means addressing it should be included in emergency action plans.
Living in a beach, resort area we get quite a few waterspouts just offshore. Generally they stay over the ocean without doing any damage. During one storm, a water spout actually came on land and became a full-blown tornado, less than a mile from our store. I got people to move to the center of our building when we got the tornado warning but to this day I still have to shake my head thinking about what one of our store managers did that day. The Manager On Duty went outside to see if she could see the tornado! I had to yell at her to get back in the building. We don’t see many tornados around here, so I guess she got caught up in the excitement. Ultimately the twister turned away and died out shortly afterwards but no damage was done to the store or any of our customers…or managers!
In a different emergency, a fuel truck overturned on the highway in front of our store. Aside from the obvious concern about the leaking contents, we had a different problem. Police had to divert traffic through our parking lot, directly in front of our front doors. There was no written plan for this but my team improvised in my absence. Customers wanting to enter and leave were having a terrible time as the line of cars would not stop to let people pass. It took them away from monitoring the Checkpoint security system towers but my team partnered with the manager on duty to have someone monitor for alarms set off by Checkpoint tags. They then stepped outside and began directing traffic. The Loss Prevention team helped customers enter the store and get out to their cars. Their efforts allowed the store to stay open and operate as normal.
One crisis that impacted our area for nearly a week, a small brush fire turned into a major fire emergency. There had been extremely dry conditions here and a resident decided to burn leaves, ignoring a burn ban. Fire fighters from all over the state and neighboring states came in to assist. In order to help in some way I partnered with our store manager and district Loss Prevention Manager to provide bottled water for firefighters and the company made a donation to The American Red Cross to assist families displaced by the fires. Though it was not a threat to the store, the impact on the community was real and some of our employees had homes in the threatened areas.
Emergency response can be difficult and the emergency itself can seem to grow exponentially when a plan is not in place. Training and review of emergency procedures can give a level of confidence to managers even when a situation cannot be foreseen, like an overturned truck. Plan now and don’t forget that Loss Prevention and the need to stop shoplifting should be a part of those plans. In Part 3 I will discuss some ideas on how to make an emergency plan.
Checkpoint Security Systems are important and we can help you with them. Call at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
I had several tornado watches and warnings I had to respond to while working as a Retail Loss Prevention Manager. Usually these took place when we were under severe thunderstorm warnings which happen regularly here during the summer. We couldn’t shut down computers, registers to protect against power surge damage because we still operated the store during the storms. We also had to stop shoplifting since customers were still shopping at those times so we continued to operate our Checkpoint Security System as well. If the wind was picking up we locked the automatic doors which had a tendency to fly open. Otherwise we monitored our weather radio and a portable radio I had in my office until we had to act. In Part 1 of this series I shared a story about a category 1 hurricane which hit our area and our store remained open. In this article I will share a couple of other crisis our store went through and how we responded.
Before I continue I do want to briefly tell readers about Checkpoint Security Systems, what they are and why I include them in a discussion on severe weather. The systems are anti-theft tools called electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems because they are a system of electrically powered detection towers, deactivation pads designed to de-tune soft Checkpoint tags and the Checkpoint tags themselves, which may be soft labels or hard tags that attach to clothes and other products. When power goes out due to a storm the towers become inoperable and cannot detect tags and therefore no longer stop shoplifting. Being aware of this means addressing it should be included in emergency action plans.
Living in a beach, resort area we get quite a few waterspouts just offshore. Generally they stay over the ocean without doing any damage. During one storm, a water spout actually came on land and became a full-blown tornado, less than a mile from our store. I got people to move to the center of our building when we got the tornado warning but to this day I still have to shake my head thinking about what one of our store managers did that day. The Manager On Duty went outside to see if she could see the tornado! I had to yell at her to get back in the building. We don’t see many tornados around here, so I guess she got caught up in the excitement. Ultimately the twister turned away and died out shortly afterwards but no damage was done to the store or any of our customers…or managers!
In a different emergency, a fuel truck overturned on the highway in front of our store. Aside from the obvious concern about the leaking contents, we had a different problem. Police had to divert traffic through our parking lot, directly in front of our front doors. There was no written plan for this but my team improvised in my absence. Customers wanting to enter and leave were having a terrible time as the line of cars would not stop to let people pass. It took them away from monitoring the Checkpoint security system towers but my team partnered with the manager on duty to have someone monitor for alarms set off by Checkpoint tags. They then stepped outside and began directing traffic. The Loss Prevention team helped customers enter the store and get out to their cars. Their efforts allowed the store to stay open and operate as normal.
One crisis that impacted our area for nearly a week, a small brush fire turned into a major fire emergency. There had been extremely dry conditions here and a resident decided to burn leaves, ignoring a burn ban. Fire fighters from all over the state and neighboring states came in to assist. In order to help in some way I partnered with our store manager and district Loss Prevention Manager to provide bottled water for firefighters and the company made a donation to The American Red Cross to assist families displaced by the fires. Though it was not a threat to the store, the impact on the community was real and some of our employees had homes in the threatened areas.
Emergency response can be difficult and the emergency itself can seem to grow exponentially when a plan is not in place. Training and review of emergency procedures can give a level of confidence to managers even when a situation cannot be foreseen, like an overturned truck. Plan now and don’t forget that Loss Prevention and the need to stop shoplifting should be a part of those plans. In Part 3 I will discuss some ideas on how to make an emergency plan.
Checkpoint Security Systems are important and we can help you with them. Call at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Checkpoint Security System- 3 WC Blog 372
Stop Shoplifting-3
Checkpoint Tags-3
Weather Emergencies And Other Crisis; How Do You Prepare, Respond, Recover and Do You Still Stop Shoplifting? Part 1
Severe weather is a threat every business owner must be prepared for be it hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, earthquakes or any other crisis you can think of. In some cases there is some sort of advance warning that makes it a little easier to keep customers and employees safe. Other times the event occurs without warning. What are some of the weather situations I have contended with as a manager in retail and even working in a college library and what steps did we have to take to recover and get back to normal operations? As a Loss Prevention Manager I had to ensure building safety and ensure our Checkpoint Security System and other retail theft prevention tools were working properly.
Why would I mention a Checkpoint Security System when discussing severe weather and recovery afterwards? The anti-theft systems in the store stop shoplifting and if you and your team are in recovery mode, you may have enough systems up and running to open your doors to sell merchandise and still be less than 100% fully back to normal. This means if there are customers in the store and they are attempting to steal, Checkpoint tags are not going to prevent pilferage if the electronic article surveillance pedestals aren’t working. Checkpoint tags emit a radio frequency signal that is picked up by pedestals and activate an alarm built into the pedestals. The pedestals do require an active power source and if the power is out, or a power surge has damaged the unit, the ability for tags to be detected is disrupted. Obviously many types of storms can result in power issues affecting a store.
I recall one time as a Loss Prevention Manager our store was in the path of a category 1 hurricane. Being in a beach location we are familiar with hurricanes and though they should never be taken lightly, this particular one was just barely above tropical storm strength and most of the locals were not too concerned about it. During a conference call with our district office I was asked my thoughts on whether we should close or stay open. I recommended we stay open. There were several factors I considered but this storm popped up unusually quickly and gave little time to prepare. We kept the store open through the storm and though power went out quite a few customers stopped in and waited out the storm. Some browsed and others hung out in the food court area chatting and making new friends. After the storm passed we were the only store in the area open for business as we ran on partial electricity with our emergency generator. I stood at the front doors conducting receipt checks since our Checkpoint Security System was not operating and I need to try to stop shoplifting to the best of my ability (partial power was reserved for registers and some lighting and while the ability to detect Checkpoint tags was important it was not critical for operations). I also made a point of letting people know the store was open since the store was pretty dark even with partial lights and all the other stores in our block were closed. People were driving by slowly trying to find somewhere that was open. I remember multiple customers telling me how much they appreciated us being open because they needed water, flashlights, batteries and other essentials.
As a store manager/owner, be aware of severe weather. Have an action plan in place even for unusual events and have a recovery plan in place to go back to business as usual. Don’t forget it is still important to stop shoplifting but making sure everyone is safe and the store is up and running are the priorities. In part 2 I will continue with a few more crises I encountered and some tip for preparing your own store. As a former Eagle Scout, I will remind you of the Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared.
Get more information on Checkpoint Security Systems, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 today.
Severe weather is a threat every business owner must be prepared for be it hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, earthquakes or any other crisis you can think of. In some cases there is some sort of advance warning that makes it a little easier to keep customers and employees safe. Other times the event occurs without warning. What are some of the weather situations I have contended with as a manager in retail and even working in a college library and what steps did we have to take to recover and get back to normal operations? As a Loss Prevention Manager I had to ensure building safety and ensure our Checkpoint Security System and other retail theft prevention tools were working properly.
Why would I mention a Checkpoint Security System when discussing severe weather and recovery afterwards? The anti-theft systems in the store stop shoplifting and if you and your team are in recovery mode, you may have enough systems up and running to open your doors to sell merchandise and still be less than 100% fully back to normal. This means if there are customers in the store and they are attempting to steal, Checkpoint tags are not going to prevent pilferage if the electronic article surveillance pedestals aren’t working. Checkpoint tags emit a radio frequency signal that is picked up by pedestals and activate an alarm built into the pedestals. The pedestals do require an active power source and if the power is out, or a power surge has damaged the unit, the ability for tags to be detected is disrupted. Obviously many types of storms can result in power issues affecting a store.
I recall one time as a Loss Prevention Manager our store was in the path of a category 1 hurricane. Being in a beach location we are familiar with hurricanes and though they should never be taken lightly, this particular one was just barely above tropical storm strength and most of the locals were not too concerned about it. During a conference call with our district office I was asked my thoughts on whether we should close or stay open. I recommended we stay open. There were several factors I considered but this storm popped up unusually quickly and gave little time to prepare. We kept the store open through the storm and though power went out quite a few customers stopped in and waited out the storm. Some browsed and others hung out in the food court area chatting and making new friends. After the storm passed we were the only store in the area open for business as we ran on partial electricity with our emergency generator. I stood at the front doors conducting receipt checks since our Checkpoint Security System was not operating and I need to try to stop shoplifting to the best of my ability (partial power was reserved for registers and some lighting and while the ability to detect Checkpoint tags was important it was not critical for operations). I also made a point of letting people know the store was open since the store was pretty dark even with partial lights and all the other stores in our block were closed. People were driving by slowly trying to find somewhere that was open. I remember multiple customers telling me how much they appreciated us being open because they needed water, flashlights, batteries and other essentials.
As a store manager/owner, be aware of severe weather. Have an action plan in place even for unusual events and have a recovery plan in place to go back to business as usual. Don’t forget it is still important to stop shoplifting but making sure everyone is safe and the store is up and running are the priorities. In part 2 I will continue with a few more crises I encountered and some tip for preparing your own store. As a former Eagle Scout, I will remind you of the Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared.
Get more information on Checkpoint Security Systems, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 today.
