Customer Counting Systems-5 WC Blog 266
Retail Counting System-4
Door Counting System-5
Customer Counting Systems Can Help Convert Foot Traffic Into Improved Sales And Reduced Shrink Part 1
Door counts and customer counting systems sound so mundane. How do you get excited about the number of people who enter and leave your store? It only makes sense that your total sales receipts for the day tell you what happened in your business? If this is your perception of what a retail counting system can do, you are missing the bigger picture (and you may be missing sales as well). Of those people that entered your store and left, how many actually made purchases before exiting? How many electronic article surveillance alarms activate at the antennas during the day? This is not mundane information, this is data that can be used to improve your sales and drive up profitability. It can also help determine if there is a need for refresher training on EAS alarm response. Are employees reacting to EAS alarms properly and do alarm activations match the alarm response log? The VisiPlus customer counting system can provide you with useable activity report information that can assist you in a multitude of ways.
It is important to know what a retail counting system does before we can understand how it can impact our store operations and profit line. A basic customer counting system counts the number of people passing through a door counting sensor installed at an entrance and exit and provides the number of people counted. Along with sales data which includes the number of transactions through the course of a day, you can get your average sale/customer. I know that the store I currently work for measures the number of customers and the number of transactions in a day and it provides the number of potential missed sales resulting from the difference in customer counts versus the number of transactions that took place in a day. The VisiPlus customer counting can do all this and more. In addition to the door counting system, this retail counting system also has overhead sensors that can be used to monitor customer movement near specific points such as high profile displays.
Consider the opportunities that a door counting system with VisiPlus overhead sensors could provide you with. How many times do you set up a display of new merchandise and not look at what impact it has on your sales. You dress up a mannequin in a new suit, shirt, tie and shoes and leave it standing for a month. Is it making a difference in your sales? Is it generating traffic? If it isn’t boosting sales it may need to be changed out for something else but with no measurements in place you won’t know. Having a display up for the sake of a having a display is lost revenue. The same goes for an endcap display. The retail counting system can provide the information you need to get the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak. One final thought on this, what if an overhead counter could identify locations that are NOT drawing customers? You would have an opportunity to create a display that could be impactful and pull in those customers, especially if your customer counting system report indicates a high volume of traffic entering the store but not moving to that location.
It is also important to think about the data a door counting system can give in relation to transactions versus traffic flow. If your business is drawing in a lot of customers but your transactions per customer are low, you can evaluate the possibility you are not optimizing your staffing. Are people leaving without making a purchase because there are not enough employees to provide customer service assistance on the salesfloor? Are customers annoyed at long lines at the registers and abandoning merchandise out of frustration for having to wait in line? Visiplus can help you identify when and where you need to improve store staffing and even when you can reduce some of your staff for the slower periods of the day.
A door counting system is more than just a tool to tell you how many people walked in and out of your store. A VisiPlus system can give you the information edge you need over your competitors to improve efficiency, customer service and profits.
Need information on customer counting systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now
Door counts and customer counting systems sound so mundane. How do you get excited about the number of people who enter and leave your store? It only makes sense that your total sales receipts for the day tell you what happened in your business? If this is your perception of what a retail counting system can do, you are missing the bigger picture (and you may be missing sales as well). Of those people that entered your store and left, how many actually made purchases before exiting? How many electronic article surveillance alarms activate at the antennas during the day? This is not mundane information, this is data that can be used to improve your sales and drive up profitability. It can also help determine if there is a need for refresher training on EAS alarm response. Are employees reacting to EAS alarms properly and do alarm activations match the alarm response log? The VisiPlus customer counting system can provide you with useable activity report information that can assist you in a multitude of ways.
It is important to know what a retail counting system does before we can understand how it can impact our store operations and profit line. A basic customer counting system counts the number of people passing through a door counting sensor installed at an entrance and exit and provides the number of people counted. Along with sales data which includes the number of transactions through the course of a day, you can get your average sale/customer. I know that the store I currently work for measures the number of customers and the number of transactions in a day and it provides the number of potential missed sales resulting from the difference in customer counts versus the number of transactions that took place in a day. The VisiPlus customer counting can do all this and more. In addition to the door counting system, this retail counting system also has overhead sensors that can be used to monitor customer movement near specific points such as high profile displays.
Consider the opportunities that a door counting system with VisiPlus overhead sensors could provide you with. How many times do you set up a display of new merchandise and not look at what impact it has on your sales. You dress up a mannequin in a new suit, shirt, tie and shoes and leave it standing for a month. Is it making a difference in your sales? Is it generating traffic? If it isn’t boosting sales it may need to be changed out for something else but with no measurements in place you won’t know. Having a display up for the sake of a having a display is lost revenue. The same goes for an endcap display. The retail counting system can provide the information you need to get the biggest bang for the buck, so to speak. One final thought on this, what if an overhead counter could identify locations that are NOT drawing customers? You would have an opportunity to create a display that could be impactful and pull in those customers, especially if your customer counting system report indicates a high volume of traffic entering the store but not moving to that location.
It is also important to think about the data a door counting system can give in relation to transactions versus traffic flow. If your business is drawing in a lot of customers but your transactions per customer are low, you can evaluate the possibility you are not optimizing your staffing. Are people leaving without making a purchase because there are not enough employees to provide customer service assistance on the salesfloor? Are customers annoyed at long lines at the registers and abandoning merchandise out of frustration for having to wait in line? Visiplus can help you identify when and where you need to improve store staffing and even when you can reduce some of your staff for the slower periods of the day.
A door counting system is more than just a tool to tell you how many people walked in and out of your store. A VisiPlus system can give you the information edge you need over your competitors to improve efficiency, customer service and profits.
Need information on Customer Counting Systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now
Checkpoint tags- 4 WC Blog 282
Checkpoint security system-3
Stop shoplifting-3
Inventory Time Does Not Have To Be Intimidating; A Checkpoint Security System And A Few Tips Can Lead To Great Results – Part 1
I believe that this year will be my 26th inventory I have participated in for stores I work for or have worked for. If I include stores I supported as a Loss Prevention Manager, I would estimate it is about my 35th inventory to participate in. I have seen inventories that have gone very smoothly and I have participated in some that were just plain headaches. I would like to spend some time in this article helping store managers and owners ensure they have smooth inventories. I would also like to make suggestions on how using a Checkpoint security system and Checkpoint tags will improve shortage results for stores in future years.
Conducting inventory is all about accounting for merchandise, determining how much is missing, reconciling the two and coming up with the difference or store shortage. When a store is using a Checkpoint system it can stop shoplifting, deter employee and vendor theft and in doing so merchandise remains in the store and therefore improves store profitability. It also makes the reconciliation process easier since there are fewer discrepancies between what is on hand and what the books say should be on hand. The use of a Checkpoint security system includes the installation of electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas, using Checkpoint tags on merchandise and deactivation and detachment equipment at points of sale. If you don’t currently have a Checkpoint system in place, I recommend installing one to impact the next inventory. The next points I go over will be of value for helping prepare for the current inventory you are about to go through.
Managers should plan prep time for getting the store ready for inventory. If an outside agency is going to come in, a pre-inventory meeting should be conducted. This includes a walk-through with the inventory management supervisor to discuss how the flow of inventory should go, what time inventory should start, how many people will be coming in to do the inventory and how will SKU checks be completed? It is also the time to ask what could make the inventory process easier for both parties. Are there suggestions that the inventory supervisor can make based on their experiences to help the process go smoother? Discuss how break times will work, is the inventory crew going to be in the store long enough to require breaks? If so, will their crew members leave the building and if they do, are purses or bags checked before they go? Note: this is a good time to ensure employees will enter and exit through doors protected with EAS antennas so that if Checkpoint tags are detected the alarm will sound. I have seen employee entrances used that did not have EAS antennas and I felt this was a poor practice. In my opinion, all entrances and exit points should have electronic article surveillance protection in place to stop shoplifting as well as employee and vendor theft.
Prior to inventory, have employees spend time looking for stray merchandise under fixtures and on top of them as well. For example, one easy to overlook fixture is the sunglasses rack. I have found many pairs of glasses tossed on top and growing dusty. If the store has gondolas, lift up base decks and check underneath for stray merchandise. It can be surprising what can fall down into the cracks and in some cases be intentionally hidden. If the store sells furniture take time to look inside the drawers. Does the store sell trash cans? Look inside them for hidden merchandise. Be as thorough as possible, I always stressed to store employees that every dollar accounted for, even something as small as a package of gum impacts inventory. It doesn’t take long for the small items to add up to big losses.
In part two we will continue with some additional tips I have to make inventory preparations easier and improve overall results. Remember, prepping and being ready for inventory do not stop shoplifting that may have taken place during the year. Use the preparation time to look into the purchase of a Checkpoint security system and Checkpoint tags so you can have even better results and lower merchandise shrinkage next year.
Need information on a Checkpoint security system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I believe that this year will be my 26th inventory I have participated in for stores I work for or have worked for. If I include stores I supported as a Loss Prevention Manager, I would estimate it is about my 35th inventory to participate in. I have seen inventories that have gone very smoothly and I have participated in some that were just plain headaches. I would like to spend some time in this article helping store managers and owners ensure they have smooth inventories. I would also like to make suggestions on how using a Checkpoint security system and Checkpoint tags will improve shortage results for stores in future years.
Conducting inventory is all about accounting for merchandise, determining how much is missing, reconciling the two and coming up with the difference or store shortage. When a store is using a Checkpoint system it can stop shoplifting, deter employee and vendor theft and in doing so merchandise remains in the store and therefore improves store profitability. It also makes the reconciliation process easier since there are fewer discrepancies between what is on hand and what the books say should be on hand. The use of a Checkpoint security system includes the installation of electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas, using Checkpoint tags on merchandise and deactivation and detachment equipment at points of sale. If you don’t currently have a Checkpoint system in place, I recommend installing one to impact the next inventory. The next points I go over will be of value for helping prepare for the current inventory you are about to go through.
Managers should plan prep time for getting the store ready for inventory. If an outside agency is going to come in, a pre-inventory meeting should be conducted. This includes a walk-through with the inventory management supervisor to discuss how the flow of inventory should go, what time inventory should start, how many people will be coming in to do the inventory and how will SKU checks be completed? It is also the time to ask what could make the inventory process easier for both parties. Are there suggestions that the inventory supervisor can make based on their experiences to help the process go smoother? Discuss how break times will work, is the inventory crew going to be in the store long enough to require breaks? If so, will their crew members leave the building and if they do, are purses or bags checked before they go? Note: this is a good time to ensure employees will enter and exit through doors protected with EAS antennas so that if Checkpoint tags are detected the alarm will sound. I have seen employee entrances used that did not have EAS antennas and I felt this was a poor practice. In my opinion, all entrances and exit points should have electronic article surveillance protection in place to stop shoplifting as well as employee and vendor theft.
Prior to inventory, have employees spend time looking for stray merchandise under fixtures and on top of them as well. For example, one easy to overlook fixture is the sunglasses rack. I have found many pairs of glasses tossed on top and growing dusty. If the store has gondolas, lift up base decks and check underneath for stray merchandise. It can be surprising what can fall down into the cracks and in some cases be intentionally hidden. If the store sells furniture take time to look inside the drawers. Does the store sell trash cans? Look inside them for hidden merchandise. Be as thorough as possible, I always stressed to store employees that every dollar accounted for, even something as small as a package of gum impacts inventory. It doesn’t take long for the small items to add up to big losses.
In part two we will continue with some additional tips I have to make inventory preparations easier and improve overall results. Remember, prepping and being ready for inventory do not stop shoplifting that may have taken place during the year. Use the preparation time to look into the purchase of a Checkpoint security system and Checkpoint tags so you can have even better results and lower merchandise shrinkage next year.
Need information on a Checkpoint security system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Being in loss prevention and the retail industry, we tend to evaluate our risks and our weaknesses in order to determine how we can better protect our property. We routinely look at our inventory and shrinkage to try and determine how we reduce our loss and prevent shoplifting. We utilize various types of security in our stores, and continually educate ourselves on security products, so we can better manage our loss prevention program. Recently we were having an issue with theft of small hanger items. We tend to hang various products on peg boards, especially those that we have on sale or clearance, and are better displayed in that manner. We also tend to hang some of our more expensive items on displays for promotions, such as razor blade refills, makeup, batteries, small electronic items and various other products. We began to notice a high rate of loss for these types of items and wanted to find a way to protect these items efficiently. We initially moved these items towards the front of the store near the cashiers to help deter theft, but that only provided a minimal improvement. These items are small enough to conceal very easily, and unfortunately our employees can’t be watching 100% of the time. So we had to come up with a different method, which would not only deter, but would prevent shoplifting through detection. That is why we decided to use the Alpha hang tag to secure our peg board items.
The Alpha hang tag can secure any blister or clamshell packaged item, which provides a multi-faceted product for a wide range of products. These tags are made of a strong durable plastic that will hold heavier items, and provides two pin sizes to accommodate various package sizes. The Alpha hang tag is equipped with EAS technology which alarms when an item is removed from the store. This can alert staff to potential theft and illicit a response by staff to prevent shoplifting. These tags are re-useable and provide a cost-efficient means to protect your hanger type products. We have since placed these tags on a large portion of our hanger products, including items such as earphones, chargers, small tools and other electronics, which we had not contemplated in the past. These tags are removed at the time of sale and serve as both a deterrent and a source of monitoring for our high theft items. These are very versatile tags and allow for a wide range of product protection.
Since we have started using the Alpha hang tag, our shrinkage rates, for our blister and clamshell items are down 90%. I strongly believe that these tags have already paid for themselves and provide a significant return on investment for our stores. I believe that protecting your inventory also provides additional prevention, because it forces shoplifters to look at competitors, who are not equally protected and reduces shoplifting across the board. I only wish we would have known about this product sooner, so we could have prevented shoplifting without sustaining such a big loss. If you have a large clamshell and blister packaged inventory, I recommend you look at these tags as a means to protect your inventory. These tags provide a cost-efficient means to protect your property from theft, and add to your overall loss prevention program.
For more information about Alpha hang tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
