Alpha Hang Tags-5 WC blog 79
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-5
Prevent Shoplifting – 3
Boosters Won’t Hang Around When Alpha Hang Tags Are Used To Protect Merchandise
Professional shoplifters, or boosters, are a headache for all retailers. These are the shoplifters that go into stores and steal large quantities of merchandise at one time. They will take anything, but often their favorite items are small, higher dollar products that can be easily resold at flea markets or over the internet. Frequently the booster will steal peg hook displayed merchandise because it is easy to slide the items off. One sweep and an entire peg hook of merchandise can be concealed in a large tote, a purse or other types of bags. A few of the popular targets are razor blades, razors, toothbrushes, power tool accessories, and many electronics items. Consider the prices of a few of the items from a popular big box retail store; Norelco electric razor replacement heads $29.99/box, Schick Hydro 5 Men’s 12 pack blades $31.49/box, 4 count Brush Buddies toothbrushes $14.99/pack. Now imagine sweeping a peg hook worth of any one of these products into a bag, perhaps 10 seconds work? At five to ten items per peg hook, a booster can make a significant haul and a retailer can take a huge loss.
The problem becomes one of finding retail anti-theft devices that can prevent shoplifting of these items.
When I worked for one of these big box retailers, we were experiencing losses caused by boosters and someone came up with the anti-sweep peg hooks. The idea was to slow down the booster, by forcing the merchandise to stop at the end of the peg hook and be slipped over a curve or hook in the peg. This slowed the boosters down a little, but not enough to make a drastic impact on their activity. The next innovation was the locking peg hook. These retail anti-theft devices require a special key to open them. Today, many stores use locking peg hooks in their merchandise protection strategies but, not all of them are used effectively. Unfortunately, boosters work hard to find ways to defeat the next generation of merchandise protection strategy and with locking peg hooks, it was kind of obvious that merchandise is often held on to the peg with a flimsy plastic or cardboard hang tab. So, boosters started to cut away the tabs and the merchandise was off. The booster was slowed down even more, but still getting the product. Alpha Hang Tags complete the protection offered by locking peg hooks by stopping the booster from cutting the product tab.
Alpha hang tags are two piece retail anti-theft devices that clip together over the hang tab, whether it is cardboard or plastic. These tag reinforcers prevent shoplifting by interfering with the booster cutting through the tab and removing the merchandise from the peg hook. Alpha hang tags come in radio frequency or acoustic magnetic designs so they will activate any store Electronic Article Surveillance system. Should a thief attempt to walk out with merchandise protected by these retail anti-theft devices an EAS antenna will alarm and alert store personnel to a theft attempt. Even if a store did not choose to utilize the locking peg hooks, the Alpha hang tags will still add the benefit of EAS protection to the merchandise.
One additional benefit of these retail anti- theft devices is that they come with two different length pins. Some merchandise, such as video game headsets, comes in a very thick blister pack. The package tab is thick enough and designed so that a small pin would not be long enough to extend through the peg hole opening of the tab. The Alpha hang tag can use the longer pin backing for these items and once the item is sold and the hang tag is ready to be reused on another product, the smaller pin backing can be applied. The ability to interchange pieces makes this a great purchase for a retailer.
Boosters can wreak havoc on a store if strong measures are not taken to prevent shoplifting. Applying Alpha hang tags to peg holed merchandise can provide the protection of EAS and when used with locking peg hooks, they can prevent nearly all theft of peg hook product.
For more information on Alpha Hang Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Professional shoplifters, or boosters, are a headache for all retailers. These are the shoplifters that go into stores and steal large quantities of merchandise at one time. They will take anything, but often their favorite items are small, higher dollar products that can be easily resold at flea markets or over the internet. Frequently the booster will steal peg hook displayed merchandise because it is easy to slide the items off. One sweep and an entire peg hook of merchandise can be concealed in a large tote, a purse or other types of bags. A few of the popular targets are razor blades, razors, toothbrushes, power tool accessories, and many electronics items. Consider the prices of a few of the items from a popular big box retail store; Norelco electric razor replacement heads $29.99/box, Schick Hydro 5 Men’s 12 pack blades $31.49/box, 4 count Brush Buddies toothbrushes $14.99/pack. Now imagine sweeping a peg hook worth of any one of these products into a bag, perhaps 10 seconds work? At five to ten items per peg hook, a booster can make a significant haul and a retailer can take a huge loss. The problem becomes one of finding retail anti-theft devices that can prevent shoplifting of these items.
When I worked for one of these big box retailers, we were experiencing losses caused by boosters and someone came up with the anti-sweep peg hooks. The idea was to slow down the booster, by forcing the merchandise to stop at the end of the peg hook and be slipped over a curve or hook in the peg. This slowed the boosters down a little, but not enough to make a drastic impact on their activity. The next innovation was the locking peg hook. These retail anti-theft devices require a special key to open them. Today, many stores use locking peg hooks in their merchandise protection strategies but, not all of them are used effectively. Unfortunately, boosters work hard to find ways to defeat the next generation of merchandise protection strategy and with locking peg hooks, it was kind of obvious that merchandise is often held on to the peg with a flimsy plastic or cardboard hang tab. So, boosters started to cut away the tabs and the merchandise was off. The booster was slowed down even more, but still getting the product. Alpha Hang Tags complete the protection offered by locking peg hooks by stopping the booster from cutting the product tab.
Alpha hang tags are two piece retail anti-theft devices that clip together over the hang tab, whether it is cardboard or plastic. These tag reinforcers prevent shoplifting by interfering with the booster cutting through the tab and removing the merchandise from the peg hook. Alpha hang tags come in radio frequency or acoustic magnetic designs so they will activate any store Electronic Article Surveillance system. Should a thief attempt to walk out with merchandise protected by these retail anti-theft devices an EAS antenna will alarm and alert store personnel to a theft attempt. Even if a store did not choose to utilize the locking peg hooks, the Alpha hang tags will still add the benefit of EAS protection to the merchandise.
One additional benefit of these retail anti- theft devices is that they come with two different length pins. Some merchandise, such as video game headsets, comes in a very thick blister pack. The package tab is thick enough and designed so that a small pin would not be long enough to extend through the peg hole opening of the tab. The Alpha hang tag can use the longer pin backing for these items and once the item is sold and the hang tag is ready to be reused on another product, the smaller pin backing can be applied. The ability to interchange pieces makes this a great purchase for a retailer.
Boosters can wreak havoc on a store if strong measures are not taken to prevent shoplifting. Applying Alpha hang tags to peg holed merchandise can provide the protection of EAS and when used with locking peg hooks, they can prevent nearly all theft of peg hook product.
For more information on Alpha Hang Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
CP Hard Tags-3, Stop Shoplifting-1 , EAS-3, EAS Tags-1
The Lesson Never Learned
A few months ago I stopped a shoplifter at a store I don’t even work at. I wondered what they did when they discovered the pile of nail polishes in the floor after we left. The answer is: *drum roll please* nothing at all. To be clear, this store does not employ any product protection tools such as Checkpoint Systems. My daughter and I went to the same little beauty supply store yesterday and there were two employees there. When we walked in, they were both standing in an aisle chatting. When we were ready to check out, that’s where we found them still. So here is my summary of our shopping trip.
We walk in the front door, and neither of the ladies bothers to speak, much less even look away from their conversation with one another. My first observation is that they have no type of electronic article surveillance that I can see. You may not want your cameras in visible locations, but having some sort of deterrence system in plain sight is important. It sends the message that your business is serious about its plan to stop shoplifting. The next thing I noticed was some bags hanging right at the door. They weren’t shopping bags; they were free with the purchase of a hair appliance that was also being displayed beside the door. I wonder who thought “let’s put these $80 hair straighteners right here on a table next to the front door”. Since there was no type of EAS tags on those boxes, I imagine those bags come in pretty handy for shoplifters. As I kept walking around the store, it became clear that this place is the ultimate nightmare of every loss prevention employee I know. There are implements and accessories that retail upwards of $20 each, and are merely packaged in thin plastic. They are so small and thin, a person could easily clean off the entire peg in just a moment. If you keep walking down the aisles, you come to a huge selection of expensive nail polishes. I cannot even begin to imagine how many bottles of these they lose on a daily basis. Then you come to another big section of expensive air appliances. As if putting them right beside the front door isn’t a bad enough idea, putting them in the back of the store is so much worse. Your inventory can’t defend itself. It’s such a bad store layout, and not having any kind of product protection in place, like Checkpoint Hard Tags, is just beyond imagination to me.
The really bad thing about this visit was talking to my daughter about it. I said this place makes blogging too easy. She said “I’ll send you some links to all the lifting sites that write about it.” It turns out this little chain store is famous. They tell all the shoplifters-in-training that this is the place to start your new career. Practice at the beauty supply store because they have no EAS system, they don’t use any type of Check Hard Tags or labels, and the minimal staff on duty has better things to do than watch or interact with shoppers. No store can thrive or even survive with this type of business model. This type of store sells high margin merchandise, so not only are they losing the inventory they paid for, they are also losing all the profits they would be making from the sales. When businesses make the decision to not invest in an EAS system, or utilize tools such as Checkpoint Hard Tags and labels, they set themselves up for failure and huge shrink results. Don’t be that business.
For more information on Checkpoint Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
A few months ago I stopped a shoplifter at a store I don’t even work at. I wondered what they did when they discovered the pile of nail polishes in the floor after we left. The answer is: *drum roll please* nothing at all. To be clear, this store does not employ any product protection tools such as Checkpoint Systems. My daughter and I went to the same little beauty supply store yesterday and there were two employees there. When we walked in, they were both standing in an aisle chatting. When we were ready to check out, that’s where we found them still. So here is my summary of our shopping trip.
We walk in the front door, and neither of the ladies bothers to speak, much less even look away from their conversation with one another. My first observation is that they have no type of electronic article surveillance that I can see. You may not want your cameras in visible locations, but having some sort of deterrence system in plain sight is important. It sends the message that your business is serious about its plan to stop shoplifting. The next thing I noticed was some bags hanging right at the door. They weren’t shopping bags; they were free with the purchase of a hair appliance that was also being displayed beside the door. I wonder who thought “let’s put these $80 hair straighteners right here on a table next to the front door”. Since there was no type of EAS tags on those boxes, I imagine those bags come in pretty handy for shoplifters. As I kept walking around the store, it became clear that this place is the ultimate nightmare of every loss prevention employee I know. There are implements and accessories that retail upwards of $20 each, and are merely packaged in thin plastic. They are so small and thin, a person could easily clean off the entire peg in just a moment. If you keep walking down the aisles, you come to a huge selection of expensive nail polishes. I cannot even begin to imagine how many bottles of these they lose on a daily basis. Then you come to another big section of expensive air appliances. As if putting them right beside the front door isn’t a bad enough idea, putting them in the back of the store is so much worse. Your inventory can’t defend itself. It’s such a bad store layout, and not having any kind of product protection in place, like Checkpoint Hard Tags, is just beyond imagination to me.
The really bad thing about this visit was talking to my daughter about it. I said this place makes blogging too easy. She said “I’ll send you some links to all the lifting sites that write about it.” It turns out this little chain store is famous. They tell all the shoplifters-in-training that this is the place to start your new career. Practice at the beauty supply store because they have no EAS system, they don’t use any type of Checkpoint Hard Tags or labels, and the minimal staff on duty has better things to do than watch or interact with shoppers. No store can thrive or even survive with this type of business model. This type of store sells high margin merchandise, so not only are they losing the inventory they paid for, they are also losing all the profits they would be making from the sales. When businesses make the decision to not invest in an EAS system, or utilize tools such as Checkpoint Hard Tags and labels, they set themselves up for failure and huge shrink results. Don’t be that business.
For more information on Checkpoint Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha Thunder Tags-4 WC blog 74
Tablet Theft – 3
i-pad Theft – 3
Classic N10-3
Imposters Steal Medical Devices – Eliminate The Threat With Alpha Thunder Tags
In April 2015, Phoenix police arrested a man for stealing more than $150,000 in medical equipment from Valley hospitals according to an azcentral.com article dated April 24, 2015 by Jerod Macdonald-Evoy. The subject would dress in scrubs and pretend to be a doctor then steal IV pumps and resell them online. In 2015 a woman was arrested by Roanoke Rapids Police on fraud charges; however she had a criminal record dating back to 2010 which investigated her for the theft of ultrasound transducers and an ultrasound machine from two different hospitals. In at least one of the cases she was wearing hospital scrubs and carrying two black bags. She claimed to be there to repair equipment. The value of the transducers was $26,000 each and the value of the portable ultrasound machine stolen from the second facility was $90,000. According to a CBSNewYork report on June 2, 2015, a man put on scrubs and stole a master key and an ID then entered several offices and stole money and an Amazon Kindle e-reader from a St. Frances Hospital. In each of these instances, unauthorized persons used medical scrubs to gain access to equipment and offices that they had no business being able to get to. The point I want to make is, in each instance the perpetrator was wearing scrubs and appeared to belong in the building. In these cases expensive medical equipment was stolen or personal belongings were taken. If these items were stolen, it is easy to see how vulnerable the facilities would be for a medical i-pad theft or a tablet theft to have taken place. In fact, if you noticed, a Kindle e-reader was stolen, and this is no larger than an i-pad or tablet. While the theft of the medical equipment caused significant monetary losses, consider what the cost of a stolen mobile medical device would be. Aside from the cost of the tablet or i-pad, there is the stolen patient information that is more valuable than any of the equipment listed above. Preventing medical i-pad theft and tablet theft from criminals is possible with the use of Alpha Thunder Tags.
Alpha Thunder Tags work with electronic article surveillance systems, activating alarm antennas and sounding an internal built in alarm when they are brought into close proximity to the antenna. The tags are attached directly to the devices so the devices remain portable for medical staff to carry with them during their shifts. Should someone forget they have a device in their possession as they leave, the EAS system and the Thunder Tag will alarm giving the employee a reminder they have to return the device to its designated location. If a criminal attempts to pick up a device and steal it, they would be forced to try to remove the tag. Attempts to remove the tag will result in a tamper alarm sounding and staff would be alerted to the attempt to steal a mobile device.
As I mentioned, the Alpha Thunder works in conjunction with EAS systems such as the Checkpoint Classic N10 antenna. EAS antennas are available in different sizes and styles, but for office areas or buildings where patients may be wheeled around in wheelchairs or gurneys, the Classic N10 antenna is a perfect solution. This particular antenna does not take up much space, but it provides the frequency range necessary to detect if a tagged item were being removed from a building. Because it is a slim design, ample room in doorways remains for medical carts, gurneys, wheelchairs, etc. to be wheeled in without concern of space constriction.
Medical tablet theft and i-pad theft are very real risks for medical facilities, including doctor offices, medical schools, and any location that deals with patient information. Alpha Thunder Tags and Classic N10 antennas are one step you can take towards ensuring the security of mobile technology and patient data.
For more information on Alpha Thunder Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
In April 2015, Phoenix police arrested a man for stealing more than $150,000 in medical equipment from Valley hospitals according to an azcentral.com article dated April 24, 2015 by Jerod Macdonald-Evoy. The subject would dress in scrubs and pretend to be a doctor then steal IV pumps and resell them online. In 2015 a woman was arrested by Roanoke Rapids Police on fraud charges; however she had a criminal record dating back to 2010 which investigated her for the theft of ultrasound transducers and an ultrasound machine from two different hospitals. In at least one of the cases she was wearing hospital scrubs and carrying two black bags. She claimed to be there to repair equipment. The value of the transducers was $26,000 each and the value of the portable ultrasound machine stolen from the second facility was $90,000. According to a CBSNewYork report on June 2, 2015, a man put on scrubs and stole a master key and an ID then entered several offices and stole money and an Amazon Kindle e-reader from a St. Frances Hospital. In each of these instances, unauthorized persons used medical scrubs to gain access to equipment and offices that they had no business being able to get to. The point I want to make is, in each instance the perpetrator was wearing scrubs and appeared to belong in the building. In these cases expensive medical equipment was stolen or personal belongings were taken. If these items were stolen, it is easy to see how vulnerable the facilities would be for a medical i-pad theft or a tablet theft to have taken place. In fact, if you noticed, a Kindle e-reader was stolen, and this is no larger than an i-pad or tablet. While the theft of the medical equipment caused significant monetary losses, consider what the cost of a stolen mobile medical device would be. Aside from the cost of the tablet or i-pad, there is the stolen patient information that is more valuable than any of the equipment listed above. Preventing medical i-pad theft and tablet theft from criminals is possible with the use of Alpha Thunder Tags.
Alpha Thunder Tags work with electronic article surveillance systems, activating alarm antennas and sounding an internal built in alarm when they are brought into close proximity to the antenna. The tags are attached directly to the devices so the devices remain portable for medical staff to carry with them during their shifts. Should someone forget they have a device in their possession as they leave, the EAS system and the Alpha Thunder Tag will alarm giving the employee a reminder they have to return the device to its designated location. If a criminal attempts to pick up a device and steal it, they would be forced to try to remove the tag. Attempts to remove the tag will result in a tamper alarm sounding and staff would be alerted to the attempt to steal a mobile device.
As I mentioned, the Alpha Thunder works in conjunction with EAS systems such as the Checkpoint Classic N10 antenna. EAS antennas are available in different sizes and styles, but for office areas or buildings where patients may be wheeled around in wheelchairs or gurneys, the Classic N10 antenna is a perfect solution. This particular antenna does not take up much space, but it provides the frequency range necessary to detect if a tagged item were being removed from a building. Because it is a slim design, ample room in doorways remains for medical carts, gurneys, wheelchairs, etc. to be wheeled in without concern of space constriction.
Medical tablet theft and i-pad theft are very real risks for medical facilities, including doctor offices, medical schools, and any location that deals with patient information. Alpha Thunder Tags and Classic N10 antennas are one step you can take towards ensuring the security of mobile technology and patient data.
For more information on Alpha Thunder Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
