There is not a more terrible feeling in the world for a store owner or manager than to find an empty spot on a shelf where a very expensive item once sat. You just hope the item sold, but when you check your inventory numbers, you get that sick, sinking feeling when you see the item is still on the books. If you have no product protection tools in place, like Alpha Security, then really the only person to blame is the one you see in the mirror.
Liquor bottle security is no exception. If you don’t employ bottle locks, you are simply gambling with your inventory. Recently a major theft occurred in about eight minutes at a liquor store a few states away. Eight minutes is a short amount of time for the average person, but it is an eternity to a store owner watching video of a thief making off with $2,000 worth of liquor. First the man came in and browsed around, and then his female accomplice followed. The accomplice distracted a store employee, asking about the best wines to serve with various desserts. While she did this, he worked on his game plan. He walked around and chose three bottles. They averaged $300 each, and he shoved them all down his pants. While the accomplice chatted up the clerk, the man walked out the door. He went to the car and unloaded. Neither of the two employees ever had a clue. So the man came back inside. The female then went and found the other employee and used the same tactic on him, asking him mundane questions to keep him occupied. This time the man chose an $1,100 bottle of Cognac. He removed it from the store in the same manner. The lady wrapped up her charade, and they both left. It wasn’t until the following day when the owner came in to work that the empty spot where the Cognac was previously displayed was discovered. The video is good to have and may deter a future theft by the same couple, but it remains a reactive tool.
The thing is that bottle locks could have stopped the theft in the first place. As soon as the man entered the store, he would have seen that they take security seriously. Instead of seeing an open opportunity, his grandiose theft would have been shut down immediately. Bottle locks are the ultimate gadget for liquor bottle security. They have alarm capabilities that would have alerted the store staff as soon as he attempted to get out the door with those bottles. The entire staff can be quickly trained to easily attach and remove them. They do not impede the customer’s ability to shop and select any product they want. They can still pick up the merchandise, make comparisons, and bring it all to the checkout counter at their own convenience. If they attempt to remove or tamper with the bottle locks, they can self alarm. The bottle lock is almost impossible to remove without the proper key. The bottle will break, sending glass everywhere, before that thing comes off, rendering the item unusable.
Without bottle locks, your wines and spirits are just waiting to be stolen in the same manner. The investment in these tools will pay you back over and over. It will stop the petty thieves that just steal every once in a while just as well as it will stop the professional thief like the guy above. Unless your business can afford a $2,000 loss, I suggest you take a look at Alpha Security and what it can do for you.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us 1.770.426.0547 or Bottlelock.net
BF011
Alpha cable lock- 4
Alpha security- 3
Prevent shoplifting- 4
STOP JACKET AND COAT THEFT WITH ALPHA CABLE LOCK
The winter time might be a joy for people who like the snow, the cold and all of the Holiday shindigs they get to attend. However the colder months pose a different challenge to retailers like you that carry winter jackets and coats. Thieves know that they can count on high dollar leather coats to be on display in your store and they know they can grab them by the half dozen and run out the front door with them. Yes, that’s a problem but the Alpha cable lock can make it a whole lot harder for shoplifters to do it.
Alpha security has developed this enduring product to be extremely versatile and rugged. First, the Alpha Cable lock (properly branded CableLok) is made with two elements of protection in mind. One of the key elements is the actual cable itself. Available in varying sizes from 3.5 inches to 72 inches, the cable portion of the device is made from high strength commercial grade aircraft cable. It’s designed to stand up to shoplifters that try to cut through the cable using typical tools. Should a thief succeed in getting through the cable itself, it will trigger the loud 95dB alarm that’s the heart of the unit. Either way it goes, the Alpha cable lock is one of the best choices to prevent shoplifting of your expensive winter coats and jackets. If the innovative Alpha security cable doesn’t deter them, the extremely loud alarm should be enough of a ‘buzz kill’ not to shoplift.
Another way to prevent shoplifting of your coats and jackets this winter is be sure to merchandise them away from the front of the store. Sometimes, the more blatant thieves (more professional ones) will literally not care whether you have security measures in place of not on your garments. If your coats and jackets are too close to the front doors this winter, they won’t have a problem grabbing a half dozen and bolting out the front door with them. Again it won’t matter if you have an Alpha cable lock attached to each of them or not. So, merchandising them in the middle to rear of the store is an optimal deterrent to thieves as well.
I personally recall on time where a store manager actually decided to display her stock of $300 leather winter coats up front, right by the doors. It turns out to be a funny story actually. See, the manager decided that it would be okay for them to merchandise them by the doors because they were using the 72” long Alpha security cable locks. The coats were not only protected themselves but they were attached securely to the display rack themselves! While attaching high value coats and jackets to the displays themselves are a great way to prevent shoplifting, in this case it still didn’t deter a particular thief. One decided that since they didn’t have something strong enough to cut through each Alpha cable lock, they were just going to take the entire rack of coats!
So the entire rack of coats went trailing out the door behind the shoplifter. Yes, winter coats are that hot of an item to thieves. The resale value of a $300 leather coat can still be above the $100 range on the street. Imagine what the shoplifter who stole the entire rack of coats eventually got for their take? Likely over $1,000 depending on where they pawned them off at. When you think about how to merchandise your winter coats this season, just remember that you should consider them in your anti-shoplifting agenda. They are absolutely sought after, especially the leather and popular name brand ones. Place them away from the front of the store and without a doubt; secure them with a good Alpha security measure like an Alpha cable lock. This small investment can help you save thousands of dollars in loss this season. It’s an excellent way to not only prevent shoplifting but give would be thieves a nice head ache.
For more information in Alpha security please contact us at 1-770-426-0547.
The winter time might be a joy for people who like the snow, the cold and all of the Holiday shindigs they get to attend. However the colder months pose a different challenge to retailers like you that carry winter jackets and coats. Thieves know that they can count on high dollar leather coats to be on display in your store and they know they can grab them by the half dozen and run out the front door with them. Yes, that’s a problem but the Alpha cable lock can make it a whole lot harder for shoplifters to do it.
Alpha security has developed this enduring product to be extremely versatile and rugged. First, the Alpha Cable lock (properly branded CableLok) is made with two elements of protection in mind. One of the key elements is the actual cable itself. Available in varying sizes from 3.5 inches to 72 inches, the cable portion of the device is made from high strength commercial grade aircraft cable. It’s designed to stand up to shoplifters that try to cut through the cable using typical tools. Should a thief succeed in getting through the cable itself, it will trigger the loud 95dB alarm that’s the heart of the unit. Either way it goes, the Alpha cable lock is one of the best choices to prevent shoplifting of your expensive winter coats and jackets. If the innovative Alpha security cable doesn’t deter them, the extremely loud alarm should be enough of a ‘buzz kill’ not to shoplift.
Another way to prevent shoplifting of your coats and jackets this winter is be sure to merchandise them away from the front of the store. Sometimes, the more blatant thieves (more professional ones) will literally not care whether you have security measures in place of not. If your coats and jackets are too close to the front doors this winter, they won’t have a problem grabbing a half dozen and bolting out the front door with them. Again it won’t matter if you have an Alpha cable lock attached to each of them or not. So, merchandising them in the middle to rear of the store is an optimal deterrent to thieves as well.
I personally recall a time where a store manager actually decided to display her stock of $300 leather winter coats up front, right by the doors. It turns out to be a funny story actually. See, the manager decided that it would be okay for them to merchandise them by the doors because they were using the 72” long Alpha security cable locks. The coats were not only protected themselves but they were attached securely to the display rack themselves! While attaching high value coats and jackets to the displays themselves are a great way to prevent shoplifting, in this case it still didn’t deter a particular thief. One decided that since they didn’t have something strong enough to cut through each Alpha cable lock, they were just going to take the entire rack of coats!
So the entire rack of coats went trailing out the door behind the shoplifter. Yes, winter coats are that hot of an item to thieves. The resale value of a $300 leather coat can still be above the $100 range on the street. Imagine what the shoplifter who stole the entire rack of coats eventually got for their take? Likely over $1,000 depending on where they pawned them off at. When you think about how to merchandise your winter coats this season, just remember that you should consider them in your anti-shoplifting agenda. They are absolutely sought after, especially the leather and popular name brand ones. Place them away from the front of the store and without a doubt; secure them with a good Alpha security measure like an Alpha cable lock. This small investment can help you save thousands of dollars in loss this season. It’s an excellent way to not only prevent shoplifting but give would be thieves a nice head ache.
For more information in Alpha security please contact us at 1-770-426-0547.
JD Blog-006 AutoPeg Tag-4
Protecting Pegged Merchandise with the AutoPeg Tag
We struggled with finding the right solution for peg-hook merchandise and after a lot of experimentation (mostly trial and error), we settled on the AutoPeg Tag. The format of the stores was a dollar-plus channel, featuring a lot of high-shrink peg hook merchandise. Some examples are razors, batteries, consumer electronic accessories, and medications. These stores were typically only staffed with one to three people per shift, so merchandise protection was key.
Our first experiment was with locking peg hooks. While they seemed a natural solution to theft, it was way too manpower-intensive in our staffing model. We just couldn’t provide the level of service required to maintain the program, and the associates just decided to leave them unlocked. The next attempt was with standard anti-sweep peg hooks. While these showed a small shrink reduction, there were problems related to customer service issues and cleanliness. In our higher-risk locations, we experimented with the spiral anti-sweep hook, with mixed results. While shrink decreased dramatically, so did sales. The hassle of twisting a knob coupled with the loud noise the twisting caused (designed to draw attention) really turned off the honest customers.
Then, we heard about the AutoPeg Tag. It’s essentially a hard tag that serves a couple of purposes. In addition to being an EAS tag, it serves to reinforce the cardboard or blister pack that most pegged items are packaged in, defeating people who just rip them off the hook. The tags come off with standard detachers. Since we already had EAS in place, the tags were a natural fit. We had detachers already installed for higher risk items and our store staff was already trained in deactivation and alarm response. We had no negative feedback from customers about the AutoPeg Tag because it doesn’t interfere in any way with selecting the merchandise or reading the packaging. We didn’t want to resort to soft tags for that very reason; most associates would apply the tags haphazardly, interfering with the customer’s ability to read the package.
The tags are sturdy and re-usable; and they are not imposing at all to the honest customer and as a side benefit, we found that they kept our displays neater by keeping the product on the peg hook. They also didn’t make our store look like we had everything locked up, insulting and scaring honest customers by making the store look crime-ridden. They drastically reduced our shrink with no negative impact in the stores we tested it in and our next step was outfitting all of our stores with them in a phased roll-out.
The AutoPeg Tag was the best solution for our format to reduce shrink without compromising sales or customer service survey scores.
For more information about AutoPeg Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
We struggled with finding the right solution for peg-hook merchandise and after a lot of experimentation (mostly trial and error), we settled on the AutoPeg Tag. The format of the stores was a dollar-plus channel, featuring a lot of high-shrink peg hook merchandise. Some examples are razors, batteries, consumer electronic accessories, and medications. These stores were typically only staffed with one to three people per shift, so merchandise protection was key.
Our first experiment was with locking peg hooks. While they seemed a natural solution to theft, it was way too manpower-intensive in our staffing model. We just couldn’t provide the level of service required to maintain the program, and the associates just decided to leave them unlocked. The next attempt was with standard anti-sweep peg hooks. While these showed a small shrink reduction, there were problems related to customer service issues and cleanliness. In our higher-risk locations, we experimented with the spiral anti-sweep hook, with mixed results. While shrink decreased dramatically, so did sales. The hassle of twisting a knob coupled with the loud noise the twisting caused (designed to draw attention) really turned off the honest customers.
Then, we heard about the AutoPeg Tag. It’s essentially a hard tag that serves a couple of purposes. In addition to being an EAS tag, it serves to reinforce the cardboard or blister pack that most pegged items are packaged in, defeating people who just rip them off the hook. The tags come off with standard detachers. Since we already had EAS in place, the tags were a natural fit. We had detachers already installed for higher risk items and our store staff was already trained in deactivation and alarm response. We had no negative feedback from customers about the AutoPeg Tag because it doesn’t interfere in any way with selecting the merchandise or reading the packaging. We didn’t want to resort to soft tags for that very reason; most associates would apply the tags haphazardly, interfering with the customer’s ability to read the package.
The tags are sturdy and re-usable; and they are not imposing at all to the honest customer and as a side benefit, we found that they kept our displays neater by keeping the product on the peg hook. They also didn’t make our store look like we had everything locked up, insulting and scaring honest customers by making the store look crime-ridden. They drastically reduced our shrink with no negative impact in the stores we tested it in and our next step was outfitting all of our stores with them in a phased roll-out.
The AutoPeg Tag was the best solution for our format to reduce shrink without compromising sales or customer service survey scores.
For more information about AutoPeg Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
