Retail anti-theft devices-5 WC blog 80
Prevent shoplifting-3
Are Your Alpha Hard Tags Used To Their Full Potential?
Retailers are constantly protecting their stores against theft and fraud by focusing much of their resources to prevent shoplifting. When I look back on my many years in the Loss Prevention field, I can reflect on how much of our retail anti-theft devices were geared to stop shoplifters. What I don’t see enough of is a focus on preventing internal theft. Here is what I mean; when you enter most national chain stores today you walk through electronic article surveillance antennas. You may look up and see yourself on a public view camera and monitor as you stop to pick up a shopping cart. It is possible you are greeted or at least acknowledged by some type of door greeter or security personnel. As you shop you find that many items are protected with anti-theft devices such as Alpha Spider Wrap and other Alpha hard tags. Even when an employee greets you in a department it is, in part, to make potential shoplifters aware that someone knows they are in the area. While retail anti-theft devices may prevent some internal theft, most retailers use them to prevent shoplifting. So, even if all of a store’s shoplifting prevention strategies work perfectly and all shoplifting is eliminated, only about 40 – 45 percent of losses are stopped. That store will still experience approximately 45 percent of the remaining shortage due to internal theft. My point is I don’t believe stores use their protection devices to their maximum effectiveness.
I cannot recall in my experiences ever seeing loading dock doors or vendor entrance doors protected with electronic article surveillance antennas. Rarely have I seen employee entrances protected with EAS antennas. I have also seen stores where complacency has set in and when an employee is exiting through the main doors where EAS antennas are located, if the alarm goes off, no one pays too much attention. My concern with backroom areas and vendor doors is that your vendors and employees go in and out and if someone is dishonest, it is the perfect location to take out merchandise that is protected with retail anti-theft devices. An employee can leave stolen merchandise outside and have it picked up by a friend. A vendor could be taking out boxes and have merchandise hidden. How thorough are your loading dock procedures in checking on vendors when they leave your store?
Alpha hard tags are available to protect nearly any type of merchandise. Alpha has retail anti-theft devices for clothing, electronics, health and beauty products, eyewear and even the hang tags for peg hook merchandise. Many of these devices are tamper proof and all will work with a store EAS system. They have little value to a store if there is no EAS antenna at a door to sound an alarm if a device is walked out through that door. This is where I believe stores do themselves a disservice by failing to protect even the backdoors and employee entrances with EAS antennas. If almost half of your store losses are due to employee theft, wouldn’t it make sense to protect those doors used primarily by employees?
You may be thinking to yourself, “Why do I need to spend money on antennas for my back doors? Only my managers can open it and we have policies that don’t allow the door to be left unattended.” I would point out that in my nearly 20 years of Loss Prevention experience I have seen countless violations of security procedures. There are always justifications such as, “We are supposed to keep the compactor locked, but a manager doesn’t have time to come back here every time someone needs to throw something out.” Or, “We don’t allow employees to use the vendor door to go outside for smoke breaks.” Yet during overnight surveillances of overnight teams I would see exactly these violations. It’s always easy to say a policy prevents dishonesty but oddly enough, I rarely found that dishonest employees were entirely concerned about following policies. You may think employee package checks are thorough or back doors are always monitored when opened but I can assure you a dishonest employee could be getting merchandise out and you would not know it. Alpha hard tags would activate antennas at those doors if employees or vendors were sneaking merchandise out, whether the merchandise is hidden or not.
Don’t allow your retail anti-theft devices to be used at only fifty percent of their potential. Prevent shoplifting AND employee theft at the same time. Secure ALL of your doors with EAS antennas and protect all of your products with Alpha products and watch your shrinkage shrink!
For more information on retail anti-theft devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Retailers are constantly protecting their stores against theft and fraud by focusing much of their resources to prevent shoplifting. When I look back on my many years in the Loss Prevention field, I can reflect on how much of our retail anti-theft devices were geared to stop shoplifters. What I don’t see enough of is a focus on preventing internal theft. Here is what I mean; when you enter most national chain stores today you walk through electronic article surveillance antennas. You may look up and see yourself on a public view camera and monitor as you stop to pick up a shopping cart. It is possible you are greeted or at least acknowledged by some type of door greeter or security personnel. As you shop you find that many items are protected with anti-theft devices such as Alpha Spider Wrap and other Alpha hard tags. Even when an employee greets you in a department it is, in part, to make potential shoplifters aware that someone knows they are in the area. While retail anti-theft devices may prevent some internal theft, most retailers use them to prevent shoplifting. So, even if all of a store’s shoplifting prevention strategies work perfectly and all shoplifting is eliminated, only about 40 – 45 percent of losses are stopped. That store will still experience approximately 45 percent of the remaining shortage due to internal theft. My point is I don’t believe stores use their protection devices to their maximum effectiveness.
I cannot recall in my experiences ever seeing loading dock doors or vendor entrance doors protected with electronic article surveillance antennas. Rarely have I seen employee entrances protected with EAS antennas. I have also seen stores where complacency has set in and when an employee is exiting through the main doors where EAS antennas are located, if the alarm goes off, no one pays too much attention. My concern with backroom areas and vendor doors is that your vendors and employees go in and out and if someone is dishonest, it is the perfect location to take out merchandise that is protected with retail anti-theft devices. An employee can leave stolen merchandise outside and have it picked up by a friend. A vendor could be taking out boxes and have merchandise hidden. How thorough are your loading dock procedures in checking on vendors when they leave your store?
Alpha hard tags are available to protect nearly any type of merchandise. Alpha has retail anti-theft devices for clothing, electronics, health and beauty products, eyewear and even the hang tags for peg hook merchandise. Many of these devices are tamper proof and all will work with a store EAS system. They have little value to a store if there is no EAS antenna at a door to sound an alarm if a device is walked out through that door. This is where I believe stores do themselves a disservice by failing to protect even the backdoors and employee entrances with EAS antennas. If almost half of your store losses are due to employee theft, wouldn’t it make sense to protect those doors used primarily by employees?
You may be thinking to yourself, “Why do I need to spend money on antennas for my back doors? Only my managers can open it and we have policies that don’t allow the door to be left unattended.” I would point out that in my nearly 20 years of Loss Prevention experience I have seen countless violations of security procedures. There are always justifications such as, “We are supposed to keep the compactor locked, but a manager doesn’t have time to come back here every time someone needs to throw something out.” Or, “We don’t allow employees to use the vendor door to go outside for smoke breaks.” Yet during overnight surveillances of overnight teams I would see exactly these violations. It’s always easy to say a policy prevents dishonesty but oddly enough, I rarely found that dishonest employees were entirely concerned about following policies. You may think employee package checks are thorough or back doors are always monitored when opened but I can assure you a dishonest employee could be getting merchandise out and you would not know it. Alpha hard tags would activate antennas at those doors if employees or vendors were sneaking merchandise out, whether the merchandise is hidden or not.
Don’t allow your retail anti-theft devices to be used at only fifty percent of their potential. Prevent shoplifting AND employee theft at the same time. Secure ALL of your doors with EAS antennas and protect all of your products with Alpha products and watch your shrinkage shrink!
For more information on retail anti-theft devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
THE GREAT DEBATE – CHECKPOINT SYSTEMS
I often hear the same questions from managers. “Should I used a hard tag, or label to secure product x?” Sometimes it is a no brainer depending on the item in question. The greatest debate I have internally is on securing apparel merchandise. What is more effective, a checkpoint tag, or a checkpoint label?
Remember that I am only speaking to apparel in this instance. For me, personally, I always go with the checkpoint tag. I can easily apply/remove the tag to whatever I want. I can recycle them in store and I can always “up” the level of security on certain high risk items by using something like an ink tag. It’s cost effective since I don’t have to keep re-ordering supplies, since we just reuse them in the store. I find that the hard tag is more visible, which provides a better deterrent to would-be thieves. The hard tags also come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, meaning I can always find a solution that blends in with the store merchandising plan.
Checkpoint labels are great in their own respect as well. One thing the tags can’t do is be priced and marked with a barcode. This ability, when paired with source tagging, really can help the store cut down on overhead costs. I can also covertly place labels on product, like inside the pockets of denim jeans, or under the brim of a hat.
The draw back on the Checkpoint tags is that if you’re not careful, you can wind up damaging the garment. If you have lazy employees who are careless, you will have some very unhappy customers. A thief with a descent set of pliers can easily defeat the tags if given enough opportunity. The tags are also very visible. While this has never been an issue for me, I know some retailers don’t like to have visible security measures, as they feel as it detracts from their branding and image.
Likewise, with Checkpoint labels, there are some points to consider as well. If a thief spots the tag, it can be removed rather easily. Unlike hard tags, they cannot be recycled in store. I’ve never had this be an issue for me, but for a smaller store it could be something to consider. The labels, however are a great “gateway” device into the world of physical security measures. For some stores, the labels alone will dry up most of their thefts. If they don’t, you can always look to upgrade to a different tool for any specific problems you may be having.
It is important for you, as a retailer to secure your apparel merchandise. Clothing is a magnet for thieves and if you’re un-protected, you will likely be seen as a soft target. While I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to the proper tagging of clothing, I think any good manager will see that a good product protection strategy would include both types of tags. You may get into a situation where a hard tag may not be appropriate, or won’t make sense. Likewise for a soft tag. That shouldn’t mean that the product goes unprotected, though. You have to do what makes sense in your store, for the specific merchandise that you carry. I hope you’ve found these points to be helpful as you continue to build your protection strategy and seek to eliminate losses caused by external theft.
For more information about Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
I often hear the same questions from managers. “Should I used a hard tag, or label to secure product x?” Sometimes it is a no brainer depending on the item in question. The greatest debate I have internally is on securing apparel merchandise. What is more effective, a checkpoint tag, or a checkpoint label?
Remember that I am only speaking to apparel in this instance. For me, personally, I always go with the checkpoint tag. I can easily apply/remove the tag to whatever I want. I can recycle them in store and I can always “up” the level of security on certain high risk items by using something like an ink tag. It’s cost effective since I don’t have to keep re-ordering supplies, since we just reuse them in the store. I find that the hard tag is more visible, which provides a better deterrent to would-be thieves. The hard tags also come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, meaning I can always find a solution that blends in with the store merchandising plan.
Checkpoint labels are great in their own respect as well. One thing the tags can’t do is be priced and marked with a barcode. This ability, when paired with source tagging, really can help the store cut down on overhead costs. I can also covertly place labels on product, like inside the pockets of denim jeans, or under the brim of a hat.
The draw back on the Checkpoint tags is that if you’re not careful, you can wind up damaging the garment. If you have lazy employees who are careless, you will have some very unhappy customers. A thief with a descent set of pliers can easily defeat the tags if given enough opportunity. The tags are also very visible. While this has never been an issue for me, I know some retailers don’t like to have visible security measures, as they feel as it detracts from their branding and image.
Likewise, with Checkpoint labels, there are some points to consider as well. If a thief spots the tag, it can be removed rather easily. Unlike hard tags, they cannot be recycled in store. I’ve never had this be an issue for me, but for a smaller store it could be something to consider. The labels, however are a great “gateway” device into the world of physical security measures. For some stores, the labels alone will dry up most of their thefts. If they don’t, you can always look to upgrade to a different tool for any specific problems you may be having.
It is important for you, as a retailer to secure your apparel merchandise. Clothing is a magnet for thieves and if you’re un-protected, you will likely be seen as a soft target. While I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to the proper tagging of clothing, I think any good manager will see that a good product protection strategy would include both types of tags. You may get into a situation where a hard tag may not be appropriate, or won’t make sense. Likewise for a soft tag. That shouldn’t mean that the product goes unprotected, though. You have to do what makes sense in your store, for the specific merchandise that you carry. I hope you’ve found these points to be helpful as you continue to build your protection strategy and seek to eliminate losses caused by external theft.
For more information about Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
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Shoplifting Overtakes Internal Theft: Leverage Alpha Keepers To Prevent Shoplifting
Shoplifting overtakes internal theft! Those are the headlines across loss prevention circles these days as it is the first time in many years that the greatest loss for retailers is attributed to shoplifting rather than internal theft. If that isn’t reason enough to make retailers stay up at night, one can always look at the loss prevention news sources and see how prevalent organized retail crime (ORC) has become. It was enough to worry about the kids in the neighborhood wanting to get their hands on the new game system release and selecting your store to do their shoplifting. Now you have to worry about an organized gang of criminals who do not just want one of your products, but want a large number of your products and will be fairly brazen and cunning to get their hands on them. To some extent we have always had ORC with the “Travelers” hitting stores across the country in large numbers for years. We have had criminal enterprises striving to get their hands on precursors for illicit drug manufacturing. Now we have to prevent shoplifting of all types of merchandise from razor blades to Microsoft Surface. We have to find new ways to prevent shoplifting through new retail anti-theft devices.
I can recall Travelers coming through town and going into stores in groups, keeping sales staff and clerks busy while the members of their family pushed racks of clothes out the door into a waiting van. More recently, I can recall a shoplifter coming into the store and taking 10 or 12 flash drives off the hooks and concealing them to go into the restroom and remove the EAS tags. We have also seen multiple shoplifters come into one of the stores in my area and remove the game from the game system case and leave the store with multiple games. The same thing has happened with music CDs more than once.
A company I worked for had a zero tolerance approach towards theft and fought back hard to protect their merchandise—much like we all should in light of those new statistics about shoplifting. To prevent shoplifting of their merchandise they partnered with a leader in the industry: Alpha Products, a division of Checkpoint Systems. Alpha keepers were used on merchandise that was determined to be high risk. These hardened alarmed polycarbonate cases provide the highest level of security in retail anti-theft devices. The cases require a special magnetic key to open and will activate EAS (electronic article surveillance) alarms when the shoplifter tries to leave with the merchandise without going through your checkout. These hardened Alpha keepers allow you to display your merchandise with no difficulty on hooks or on shelves with complete visibility of the product while still ensuring no one can tamper with the merchandise and open the packaging to remove the product. Basically, it also means that shoplifters can look but not touch!
Alpha keepers are available in a variety of sizes and different designs for specific products, including razor blades, infant formula, electronics, CDs, DVDs, games, fragrances, and health and beauty products to name a few. They are reusable with your cashier removing the keeper from the merchandise at checkout and recycling it back to place on other merchandise.
With shoplifting being our number one potential loss causing event, we need to ensure that we are not making it easy for shoplifters to leave with our merchandise. Utilize retail anti-theft devices to their maximum advantage and prevent shoplifting – be it by the neighborhood youth or by the professional organized retail criminal.
For more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Shoplifting overtakes internal theft! Those are the headlines across loss prevention circles these days as it is the first time in many years that the greatest loss for retailers is attributed to shoplifting rather than internal theft. If that isn’t reason enough to make retailers stay up at night, one can always look at the loss prevention news sources and see how prevalent organized retail crime (ORC) has become. It was enough to worry about the kids in the neighborhood wanting to get their hands on the new game system release and selecting your store to do their shoplifting. Now you have to worry about an organized gang of criminals who do not just want one of your products, but want a large number of your products and will be fairly brazen and cunning to get their hands on them. To some extent we have always had ORC with the “Travelers” hitting stores across the country in large numbers for years. We have had criminal enterprises striving to get their hands on precursors for illicit drug manufacturing. Now we have to prevent shoplifting of all types of merchandise from razor blades to Microsoft Surface. We have to find new ways to prevent shoplifting through new retail anti-theft devices.
I can recall Travelers coming through town and going into stores in groups, keeping sales staff and clerks busy while the members of their family pushed racks of clothes out the door into a waiting van. More recently, I can recall a shoplifter coming into the store and taking 10 or 12 flash drives off the hooks and concealing them to go into the restroom and remove the EAS tags. We have also seen multiple shoplifters come into one of the stores in my area and remove the game from the game system case and leave the store with multiple games. The same thing has happened with music CDs more than once.
A company I worked for had a zero tolerance approach towards theft and fought back hard to protect their merchandise—much like we all should in light of those new statistics about shoplifting. To prevent shoplifting of their merchandise they partnered with a leader in the industry: Alpha Products, a division of Checkpoint Systems. Alpha keepers were used on merchandise that was determined to be high risk. These hardened alarmed polycarbonate cases provide the highest level of security in retail anti-theft devices. The cases require a special magnetic key to open and will activate EAS (electronic article surveillance) alarms when the shoplifter tries to leave with the merchandise without going through your checkout. These hardened Alpha keepers allow you to display your merchandise with no difficulty on hooks or on shelves with complete visibility of the product while still ensuring no one can tamper with the merchandise and open the packaging to remove the product. Basically, it also means that shoplifters can look but not touch!
Alpha keepers are available in a variety of sizes and different designs for specific products, including razor blades, infant formula, electronics, CDs, DVDs, games, fragrances, and health and beauty products to name a few. They are reusable with your cashier removing the keeper from the merchandise at checkout and recycling it back to place on other merchandise.
With shoplifting being our number one potential loss causing event, we need to ensure that we are not making it easy for shoplifters to leave with our merchandise. Utilize retail anti-theft devices to their maximum advantage and prevent shoplifting – be it by the neighborhood youth or by the professional organized retail criminal.
For more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
