I don’t normally go into vision wear stores to shop but recently my wife had an eye checkup and the result was a new eyeglass prescription. Because she is not one to spend money on herself, she also was badly in need of a new pair of frames for her glasses. We went to three different stores shopping for frames and I was hit by sticker shock when I saw the prices on many of the frames, not including what it would cost to make the new lenses. On the low end there were glasses in the $40.00 range, but on the higher end frames were near $200.00! I was surprised that I saw no retail anti-theft devices in use to prevent shoplifting. In one store there were three employees but there were also quite a few shoppers and I had the impression that a knowledgeable thief could have gotten away with several pair of frames if they were so inclined. It seemed to me the store should have placed an Alpha Eyewear Tag on each pair of frames to ensure none would be stolen.
Alpha Eyewear tags are electronic article surveillance (EAS) protected retail anti-theft devices that attach to the arm of a pair of glasses. The tags are unobtrusive, allowing a shopper to try on a pair of glasses without the tag interfering with the function. The tags prevent shoplifting in two ways. First, they are almost impossible to remove without a detachment key and if someone were to attempt to force a tag off the arm of the frames the arm will break off. Second, if a store is set up with EAS antennas at the doors and a shoplifting is attempted, the tag on a protected pair of glasses will activate the antennas, sounding an alarm. In the event of an activation, store personnel are able to respond to the alarm and recover the merchandise being stolen. Tags also alarm on merchandise a customer may have inadvertently walked off with, still allowing the opportunity to recover the item.
If you have a business that sells eye wear, either glasses frames or sunglasses you may be wondering if there is really a need to protect your merchandise. In case you question whether or not you need to find a way to prevent shoplifting in your store, here are a couple of examples that may make you seriously consider using retail anti-theft devices.
- News4jax.com reporter Nicole Snyder posted a story on April 13, 2016, about a couple in Jacksonville who shoplifted $3,000 worth of merchandise from a vision store. The optical sales rep of the store was quoted as saying, “…And then you have to play a game of do we lock everything up and make it inaccessible to people or do we leave it open so people can try it on and come here and have a great experience?”
- April 18, 2016, wtvr.com reported on thieves who were repeatedly stealing from a Richmond, Virginia LensCrafters store. The thieves were stealing designer eyeglass frames. No dollar amount was reported.
- March 16, 2015 losangeles.cbslocal.com reported that a Glendale, California store owner reported the theft of $200,000 worth of designer eyewear.
Shoplifting occurs in nearly every retail business and eyeglass shops are not exempt. Protecting product is necessary to stay in business. A business cannot sustain significant losses over a prolonged period of time.
I would also point out that the optical sales rep in the Jacksonville story gave only two options for a store, lock up merchandise to prevent theft or leave it accessible and risk losing it. Alpha eyewear tags provide a third and better option. Using the tags on eyeglass frames and sunglasses can be accessible and still protected. Thieves are not going to want to risk setting off alarms or damaging merchandise they cannot resell. Provide great customer service and still protect your product. Use Alpha eyewear tags and prevent shoplifting while still giving shoppers the ability to try on and buy your products. And as for that pair of frames for my wife? We’re still looking.
Get more information on Alpha eyewear tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Security-3 WC blog 161
Bottle Locks-5
Bottle Security-4
Don’t Whine Over Wine Theft; Alpha Security Offers A Variety Of Bottle Security Options
I have worked in retail for many years now. I have been a Loss Prevention Associate, an Assets Protection Executive, a Logistics Manager and I currently work for a small box retailer as a sales specialist. I have seen stores implement new programs or new technologies to enhance customer experience, drive sales and reduce shrink or stock shortage. Because of my experience, I try to see the benefits to a store by using new strategies or technologies and I also try to see where there could be a problem that may have been overlooked and needs to be addressed. Regardless of my position in a store, I am passionate about theft prevention and theft prevention strategies. I try to consider how strategies will improve both customer service and shortage results. Let me give you an example of a merchandise protection strategy I have never personally used, but I have observed in use in a grocery store and that would be bottle locks on wine and champagne bottles. I had not realized there was such a thing, and had not thought about the need for bottle security but I was impressed when I saw it in a grocery store and recognized the potential for deterring shoplifting.
The bottle locks I saw in this store are the Alpha security S3 bottle locks. The locks cover the top of the wine bottle they , placed over the cap and locked in place. They are designed to prevent tampering and without a special hand key or detachment tool sold by Alpha security the lock cannot be removed. With electronic article surveillance antennas (EAS) in place, if a thief tries to walk out with a bottle protected with a bottle lock, the antenna alarm is activated.
In this day and age a lot of retailers have decided to start fighting theft by locking merchandise behind locked showcases. Sometimes it is only the expensive items, but nevertheless they lock it up thereby preventing customers from being able to pick up an item and examine it. What these businesses fail to understand is that customers get impatient and won’t wait for service. Patrons want something now, to get in and out quickly. Bottle locks provide protection from theft while making the product available to the customer.
I also mentioned previously that I try to anticipate problems when new strategies may cause unforeseen problems. There are two potential problems that arise when managers start to see that new security measures are making a positive impact on reducing shrink. First there is a tendency to start trimming payroll, with the mindset that not as many people are needed on the salesfloor since theft is reduced. Customer service is the number ONE deterrent to shoplifters. An effective shortage reduction strategy requires great customer service, the use of merchandise protection strategies and employee knowledge/education of high theft merchandise in the store. Reduce or remove one facet of the strategy and your program becomes ineffective. Improved in-stocks and reduced theft will pay for the use of merchandise protection devices such as the bottle locks in this case.
The second potential problem is not having a consistent merchandise protection program. One thing I have noticed in some stores, including the store where I saw the bottle locks in use, is the failure to keep up with protecting all the merchandise in a category being tagged or locked. Again, using the store where I saw using bottle security for the first time, they had a certain brand protected, but two of the bottles were not locked, the other three were. Not being consistent results in loss and an ineffective program.
For grocery stores and any other business that sells wine, stock shortage from theft is a real threat and can have a significant impact on profitability. Alpha security offers a number of bottle security options, including the S3 bottle cap. Make bottle security a part of your merchandise protection strategy and watch your profits grow.
Bottle Security is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
I have worked in retail for many years now. I have been a Loss Prevention Associate, an Assets Protection Executive, a Logistics Manager and I currently work for a small box retailer as a sales specialist. I have seen stores implement new programs or new technologies to enhance customer experience, drive sales and reduce shrink or stock shortage. Because of my experience, I try to see the benefits to a store by using new strategies or technologies and I also try to see where there could be a problem that may have been overlooked and needs to be addressed. Regardless of my position in a store, I am passionate about theft prevention and theft prevention strategies. I try to consider how strategies will improve both customer service and shortage results. Let me give you an example of a merchandise protection strategy I have never personally used, but I have observed in use in a grocery store and that would be bottle locks on wine and champagne bottles. I had not realized there was such a thing, and had not thought about the need for bottle security but I was impressed when I saw it in a grocery store and recognized the potential for deterring shoplifting.
The bottle locks I saw in this store are the Alpha security S3 bottle locks. The locks cover the top of the wine bottle they , placed over the cap and locked in place. They are designed to prevent tampering and without a special hand key or detachment tool sold by Alpha security the lock cannot be removed. With electronic article surveillance antennas (EAS) in place, if a thief tries to walk out with a bottle protected with a bottle lock, the antenna alarm is activated.
In this day and age a lot of retailers have decided to start fighting theft by locking merchandise behind locked showcases. Sometimes it is only the expensive items, but nevertheless they lock it up thereby preventing customers from being able to pick up an item and examine it. What these businesses fail to understand is that customers get impatient and won’t wait for service. Patrons want something now, to get in and out quickly. Bottle locks provide protection from theft while making the product available to the customer.
I also mentioned previously that I try to anticipate problems when new strategies may cause unforeseen problems. There are two potential problems that arise when managers start to see that new security measures are making a positive impact on reducing shrink. First there is a tendency to start trimming payroll, with the mindset that not as many people are needed on the salesfloor since theft is reduced. Customer service is the number ONE deterrent to shoplifters. An effective shortage reduction strategy requires great customer service, the use of merchandise protection strategies and employee knowledge/education of high theft merchandise in the store. Reduce or remove one facet of the strategy and your program becomes ineffective. Improved in-stocks and reduced theft will pay for the use of merchandise protection devices such as the bottle locks in this case.
The second potential problem is not having a consistent merchandise protection program. One thing I have noticed in some stores, including the store where I saw the bottle locks in use, is the failure to keep up with protecting all the merchandise in a category being tagged or locked. Again, using the store where I saw using bottle security for the first time, they had a certain brand protected, but two of the bottles were not locked, the other three were. Not being consistent results in loss and an ineffective program.
For grocery stores and any other business that sells wine, stock shortage from theft is a real threat and can have a significant impact on profitability. Alpha security offers a number of bottle security options, including the S3 bottle cap. Make bottle security a part of your merchandise protection strategy and watch your profits grow.
Bottle Security is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
IDENTIFYING CHECK FRAUD
People steal stuff. That’s why I, and thousands of people around the world have a job. That’s why you’re here, reading this very article. You want to know how you can stop people from stealing your stuff. You see the hundreds of cool gadgets and tags that you can use to protect your stuff. Great, but what about the people who steal your stuff but actually “pay for it”. You know, perhaps with a phony check? So how do you protect yourself from check fraud?
The more and more that time goes on, checks are becoming a less and less common form of payment. I actually have stores that have accepted less than 2 dozen checks in all of the last fiscal year. On the flip-side, check fraud continues to be big business for the criminals. Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners don’t have the luxury of a third party company to process their checks. So how are you supposed to spot a phony from a real check?
One of my most prolific check fraud cases happened a few years back. I had a very skilled and very organized group of about 10 that were printed and manufacturing their own checks and then using them to purchase large value pre-paid Visa gift cards. They were using actual account numbers from identity theft victims that were obtained by a dishonest person working in the billing department of a local hospital. So as customer’s were writing checks to pay their medical bills, the accountant would lift their information and give it to the printers, who would then print out the counterfeit checks with true account numbers attached. They would also create fake ID cards to shore up the act. Their one calling card, which ultimately led to their arrest, was the bank logo and name used on the phony checks.
A strong indicator of check fraud is the use of an out of state financial institution that the retailer is most likely not familiar with. It’s easier to assume the check is real when the obscure bank is across the country and not in your hometown. When we first identified this group, we immediately recognized that the bank listed on all of the checks was the “First Nation Bank of Arizona”. We immediately attempted to contact this bank to alert them of the potential security breach, but to our amazement, they did not exist! There was clearly a typo in the name, and a resulting investigation showed that the account numbers linked on the checks actually linked back to dozens of legitimate banks.
Law enforcement was able to determine that each victim had written a check to a local hospital and eventually, the scheme was uncovered and the ring broken up. A few people involved actually received some significant prison time. It also gave me a lesson in identifying check fraud that I still use and train to this day: If it looks suspicious, just Google the bank!
Get more information on Check Fraud, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
People steal stuff. That’s why I, and thousands of people around the world have a job. That’s why you’re here, reading this very article. You want to know how you can stop people from stealing your stuff. You see the hundreds of cool gadgets and tags that you can use to protect your stuff. Great, but what about the people who steal your stuff but actually “pay for it”. You know, perhaps with a phony check? So how do you protect yourself from check fraud?
The more and more that time goes on, checks are becoming a less and less common form of payment. I actually have stores that have accepted less than 2 dozen checks in all of the last fiscal year. On the flip-side, check fraud continues to be big business for the criminals. Unfortunately, a lot of small business owners don’t have the luxury of a third party company to process their checks. So how are you supposed to spot a phony from a real check?
One of my most prolific check fraud cases happened a few years back. I had a very skilled and very organized group of about 10 that were printed and manufacturing their own checks and then using them to purchase large value pre-paid Visa gift cards. They were using actual account numbers from identity theft victims that were obtained by a dishonest person working in the billing department of a local hospital. So as customer’s were writing checks to pay their medical bills, the accountant would lift their information and give it to the printers, who would then print out the counterfeit checks with true account numbers attached. They would also create fake ID cards to shore up the act. Their one calling card, which ultimately led to their arrest, was the bank logo and name used on the phony checks.
A strong indicator of check fraud is the use of an out of state financial institution that the retailer is most likely not familiar with. It’s easier to assume the check is real when the obscure bank is across the country and not in your hometown. When we first identified this group, we immediately recognized that the bank listed on all of the checks was the “First Nation Bank of Arizona”. We immediately attempted to contact this bank to alert them of the potential security breach, but to our amazement, they did not exist! There was clearly a typo in the name, and a resulting investigation showed that the account numbers linked on the checks actually linked back to dozens of legitimate banks.
Law enforcement was able to determine that each victim had written a check to a local hospital and eventually, the scheme was uncovered and the ring broken up. A few people involved actually received some significant prison time. It also gave me a lesson in identifying check fraud that I still use and train to this day: If it looks suspicious, just Google the bank!
Get more information on Check Fraud, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
