Invest in The Tools, But Use Them Correctly

Owners and managers of small businesses, especially those in retail stores, must have an Anti-Shoplifting plan.  That includes customer service, awareness, inventory controls, and even product protection tools.  There are many types of these tools your business can invest in.  
One particular key player in this set of tools is the Checkpoint System.  The antennas monitor the foot traffic coming in and out of your doors.  They can maintain a customer count for you that is not based solely on sales so you know the actual number of people that entered your store.  There are also merchandise tags that work with the antennas.  When those tags are placed on the items, they are considered active.  When those items are brought to the register for purchase, the tags are deactivated at the counter.  If there is an attempt to remove merchandise from the store that still has active tags attached, the alarm will sound.
There are other types of tags sold by Checkpoint.  Our store utilizes one that can be very useful.  It is a small round clear label that has our logo, company name, and location printed on it.  This label has two Anti-Shoplifting benefits.  First of all, for the everyday petty thief, this tag is a deterrent because they are obviously placed on the front or top of the package.  These tags are not meant to be hidden.  The other benefit is that if you have an encounter with a professional shoplifting group wiping out your shelves, these labels give the authorities a better chance of determining exactly where the stolen merchandise came from and give your business a better chance of a recovery.  
Two important things you must do with any tools you buy to protect your inventory is keep track of them, and use them consistently.  Test your antennas on a regular basis, and make sure they are working properly.  Don’t place your rolls of tags near the deactivation pads at the checkout, or they will be rendered useless.  And pay attention to the items you have tagged.  
The following is an example of “what not to do”.  Please control your inevitable laughter at my expense.  A couple years ago, I was called to the front to assist a woman that had come in to refund a couple boxes of diet pills with no receipt.  They were expensive, so I questioned her about when and where she had purchased them.  She claimed she had bought them from one of our other locations about half an hour away about two weeks before.  I asked to see her license, and it indicated she lived in a completely different town from where we were and where she said she bought the pills.  I refused the return, and told her if she were to successfully refund them, she would need to take them back where she bought them.  She took the boxes of pills and exited the store.  A few minutes after she left, my cashier came up to me and said she knew the lady was lying anyway.  I asked her what gave her that feeling, and she said she saw the stickers on those boxes were ours.  
I never even saw them, right on the tops of the packages.  And, I am the very person that put the labels on them.  Reviewing the video revealed the cashier was absolutely correct.  The lady concealed them, walked out the door, and came back in to attempt the refund.  
I learned a valuable lesson and I have not made that simple, yet costly, mistake again.  Anti-Shoplifting tools can only do their job, not mine or yours.
For more information contact us: Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547 

Owners and managers of small businesses, especially those in retail stores, must have an Anti-Shoplifting plan.  That includes customer service, awareness, inventory controls, and even product protection tools.  There are many types of these tools your business can invest in.  One particular key player in this set of tools is the Checkpoint System.  The antennas monitor the foot traffic coming in and out of your doors.  They can maintain a customer count for you that is not based solely on sales so you know the actual number of people that entered your store.  There are also merchandise tags that work with the antennas.  When those tags are placed on the items, they are considered active.  When those items are brought to the register for purchase, the tags are deactivated at the counter.  If there is an attempt to remove merchandise from the store that still has active tags attached, the alarm will sound.

There are other types of tags sold by Checkpoint.  Our store utilizes one that can be very useful.  It is a small round clear label that has our logo, company name, and location printed on it.  This label has two Anti-Shoplifting benefits.  First of all, for the everyday petty thief, this tag is a deterrent because they are obviously placed on the front or top of the package.  These tags are not meant to be hidden.  The other benefit is that if you have an encounter with a professional shoplifting group wiping out your shelves, these labels give the authorities a better chance of determining exactly where the stolen merchandise came from and give your business a better chance of a recovery.  

Two important things you must do with any tools you buy to protect your inventory is keep track of them, and use them consistently.  Test your antennas on a regular basis, and make sure they are working properly.  Don’t place your rolls of tags near the deactivation pads at the checkout, or they will be rendered useless.  And pay attention to the items you have tagged.  

The following is an example of “what not to do”.  Please control your inevitable laughter at my expense.  A couple years ago, I was called to the front to assist a woman that had come in to refund a couple boxes of diet pills with no receipt.  They were expensive, so I questioned her about when and where she had purchased them.  She claimed she had bought them from one of our other locations about half an hour away about two weeks before.  I asked to see her license, and it indicated she lived in a completely different town from where we were and where she said she bought the pills.  I refused the return, and told her if she were to successfully refund them, she would need to take them back where she bought them.  She took the boxes of pills and exited the store.  A few minutes after she left, my cashier came up to me and said she knew the lady was lying anyway.  I asked her what gave her that feeling, and she said she saw the stickers on those boxes were ours.  

I never even saw them, right on the tops of the packages.  And, I am the very person that put the labels on them.  Reviewing the video revealed the cashier was absolutely correct.  The lady concealed them, walked out the door, and came back in to attempt the refund.  

I learned a valuable lesson and I have not made that simple, yet costly, mistake again.  Anti-Shoplifting tools can only do their job, not mine or yours.

For more information contact us: Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547 

 

Bottle Locks Are the Answer to Your Liquor Shoplifting Concerns

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Bottle Locks Are the Answer to Your Liquor Shoplifting Concerns
Convenience stores and independent liquor stores have been looking at how to curb shoplifting of their liquor and wine products for ever as they are a choice target of young shoplifters as well as the organized retail criminal.  Let’s examine some of the potential things that we can do and consider how we can use innovative products to help us. One of these innovative products, bottle locks, has proven to send the would-be thief out the door and down the street WITHOUT YOUR PRODUCT.
Other alternatives for us are varied but are also varied in their potential success.  The number one deterrent, as in any shoplifting, is a trained and attentive staff.  If you have staff that is demonstrating strong customer service by approaching all customers and watching them as they shop in the interest of providing them better customer service, you are also making shoplifters feel very uncomfortable and likely to skip your store.
An alternative to innovation of course is keeping your liquors behind the counter so anyone wishing to purchase your liquors and wines has to ask for them.  This was the tactic used by many state run licensed liquor stations in the past.  The liquor would have to be ordered and the clerk would have to go to the back room to retrieve it.  A variation of this is having locked display cases and coolers that have to be opened by the clerk.
A third alternative it to use the innovative technology I mentioned previously:  the bottle lock by Alpha Security.  The bottle lock is a very inexpensive approach to liquor bottle security.  It utilizes a bottle lock that fits over the cap and requires a special key to unlock.  The bottle lock keeps the appearance of the bottle virtually the same while offer the security only Alpha Security can provide.  The clear cap allows bottle labels to be read without difficulty and the clamshell design aids in quick application and removal.  The internal hinges of the cap make it resistant to attempts by the shoplifter to defeat it and it can only be opened with the special magnetic key that is similar to other Alpha security products that have been protecting products for years.
Bottle locks that improve your liquor bottle security will deter the opportunistic shoplifter and underage adventurer as well as the organized retail criminal who is trying to get your merchandise for resale.  If you combine a trained and attentive staff with liquor bottle security you will make it very difficult for anyone to shoplift from your store and even less likely that they would even want to try to do so.  Deterrence, rather than apprehension is your best solution to shoplifting.  If you can keep the shoplifter from victimizing you, you keep your costs down immensely.  An alarms on the bottle locks will also give you the opportunity to stop pilferage occurring right in your store if that is a concern however.
If you ask your fellow retailers what they intend to do about the rising incidence of shoplifting, which has now taken over the number one spot ahead of internal theft as the number one cause of losses in retail store, they will likely tell you that they need to find a way to protect their merchandise while still keeping it available to the consumer to compare and select.  You now have the solution at your fingertips so tell them about Alpha Security and their bottle locks and help all of us keep the losses down so the prices also stay down.
For more information on bottle locks contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or www.bottlelock.net.

Convenience stores and independent liquor stores have been looking at how to curb shoplifting of their liquor and wine products for ever as they are a choice target of young shoplifters as well as the organized retail criminal.  Let’s examine some of the potential things that we can do and consider how we can use innovative products to help us. One of these innovative products, bottle locks, has proven to send the would-be thief out the door and down the street WITHOUT YOUR PRODUCT.

Other alternatives for us are varied but are also varied in their potential success.  The number one deterrent, as in any shoplifting, is a trained and attentive staff.  If you have staff that is demonstrating strong customer service by approaching all customers and watching them as they shop in the interest of providing them better customer service, you are also making shoplifters feel very uncomfortable and likely to skip your store.

An alternative to innovation of course is keeping your liquors behind the counter so anyone wishing to purchase your liquors and wines has to ask for them.  This was the tactic used by many state run licensed liquor stations in the past.  The liquor would have to be ordered and the clerk would have to go to the back room to retrieve it.  A variation of this is having locked display cases and coolers that have to be opened by the clerk.

A third alternative it to use the innovative technology I mentioned previously:  the bottle lock by Alpha Security.  The bottle lock is a very inexpensive approach to liquor bottle security.  It utilizes a bottle lock that fits over the cap and requires a special key to unlock.  The bottle lock keeps the appearance of the bottle virtually the same while offer the security only Alpha Security can provide.  The clear cap allows bottle labels to be read without difficulty and the clamshell design aids in quick application and removal.  The internal hinges of the cap make it resistant to attempts by the shoplifter to defeat it and it can only be opened with the special magnetic key that is similar to other Alpha security products that have been protecting products for years.

Bottle locks that improve your liquor bottle security will deter the opportunistic shoplifter and underage adventurer as well as the organized retail criminal who is trying to get your merchandise for resale.  If you combine a trained and attentive staff with liquor bottle security you will make it very difficult for anyone to shoplift from your store and even less likely that they would even want to try to do so.  Deterrence, rather than apprehension is your best solution to shoplifting.  If you can keep the shoplifter from victimizing you, you keep your costs down immensely.  An alarms on the bottle locks will also give you the opportunity to stop pilferage occurring right in your store if that is a concern however.

If you ask your fellow retailers what they intend to do about the rising incidence of shoplifting, which has now taken over the number one spot ahead of internal theft as the number one cause of losses in retail store, they will likely tell you that they need to find a way to protect their merchandise while still keeping it available to the consumer to compare and select.  You now have the solution at your fingertips so tell them about Alpha Security and their bottle locks and help all of us keep the losses down so the prices also stay down.

For more information on bottle locks contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or www.bottlelock.net.

 

Alpha Keepers Can Reduce Baby Formula Theft and Prevent Shoplifting

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Prevent shoplifting-4, Alpha Keepers-3, retail anti-theft device-3, protect infant formula-3
Alpha Keepers Can Reduce Baby Formula Theft and Prevent Shoplifting
If you are wondering who steals baby formula, and how can stop it from happening in your store, it’s time to pay attention and save yourself some money. To prevent shoplifting of baby formula or any other merchandise, you have to take steps to protect the items.  This doesn’t always mean that you have to lock up or use some form of retail anti-theft device, but it is often the best option.  In addition to using your staff to deter theft by offering customer service to patrons in high theft areas of your store, Alpha Keepers are a great option when deciding to protect your merchandise, and yes, there are even have keepers that will protect infant formula.  Protecting merchandise is often a more cost-effective choice versus increasing staff in high theft areas, because the devices can be used over and over again.
So who is really stealing baby formula, and how can you stop it from happening? Although this would be incredibly interesting to see, your infant formula is probably not being stolen by an angry gang of hungry babies raiding your store. The truth is not that cute.  Though there is some baby formula theft associated with personal use, but a good portion of the thefts also come from organized retail crime theft rings targeting the merchandise.  Baby formula thefts are serious business. These thefts usually occur in large quantities of merchandise being taken at once, and the products are mostly resold for profit, or even used in the making of illegal drugs.  To stop this from happening to you, you have to do everything possible to protect infant formula in your store.
If you run a small business, chances are that you don’t have a lot of extra money sitting around for payroll.  That’s the beauty of using retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting.  You don’t have to have an employee sit there and constantly watch the merchandise.  Save your payroll and invest in the merchandise protection devices instead. The sight of the Alpha Keepers on your merchandise will be enough to stop some shoplifters in their tracks.  For those that aren’t deterred by the keepers will have a long, tough road ahead of them trying to remove them from the items.  The keepers not only provide a protective housing for the merchandise that is very difficult to defeat, but they also alert you if someone passes through your existing EAS system with the protected items.  You don’t have to worry about creating an inconvenience for your customers either, because the devices are quick and easy to remove for your staff.  This is because they will be able to keep a special key on them or secured at a register, that easily removes the devices.
You should already be checking the dates on the formula regularly, so it shouldn’t take you long to notice if you have products missing from the shelf.  The problem is the same as almost any other theft, that if you are not prepared by the time you notice the baby formula is missing, it’s too late.  If you don’t already have a camera in the area, it’s a good idea to have one installed.  The camera alone will help prevent shoplifting, but you should continue using Alpha Keepers and other retail anti-theft devices in order to make the most impact.  This can also help you identify shoplifters that are taking the items, aid in prosecution, and prepare you for the next time they come into the store.  This isn’t just to protect infant formula, but several other high theft items as well.  The small initial investment will help you save money over time, and keep your stock available for your loyal customers.  
For more information contact us: prevent shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547

If you are wondering who steals baby formula, and how can stop it from happening in your store, it’s time to pay attention and save yourself some money. To prevent shoplifting of baby formula or any other merchandise, you have to take steps to protect the items.  This doesn’t always mean that you have to lock up or use some form of retail anti-theft device, but it is often the best option.  In addition to using your staff to deter theft by offering customer service to patrons in high theft areas of your store, Alpha Keepers are a great option when deciding to protect your merchandise, and yes, there are even have keepers that will protect infant formula.  Protecting merchandise is often a more cost-effective choice versus increasing staff in high theft areas, because the devices can be used over and over again.

So who is really stealing baby formula, and how can you stop it from happening? Although this would be incredibly interesting to see, your infant formula is probably not being stolen by an angry gang of hungry babies raiding your store. The truth is not that cute.  Though there is some baby formula theft associated with personal use, but a good portion of the thefts also come from organized retail crime theft rings targeting the merchandise.  Baby formula thefts are serious business. These thefts usually occur in large quantities of merchandise being taken at once, and the products are mostly resold for profit, or even used in the making of illegal drugs.  To stop this from happening to you, you have to do everything possible to protect infant formula in your store.

If you run a small business, chances are that you don’t have a lot of extra money sitting around for payroll.  That’s the beauty of using retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting.  You don’t have to have an employee sit there and constantly watch the merchandise.  Save your payroll and invest in the merchandise protection devices instead. The sight of the Alpha Keepers on your merchandise will be enough to stop some shoplifters in their tracks.  For those that aren’t deterred by the keepers will have a long, tough road ahead of them trying to remove them from the items.  The keepers not only provide a protective housing for the merchandise that is very difficult to defeat, but they also alert you if someone passes through your existing EAS system with the protected items.  You don’t have to worry about creating an inconvenience for your customers either, because the devices are quick and easy to remove for your staff.  This is because they will be able to keep a special key on them or secured at a register, that easily removes the devices.

You should already be checking the dates on the formula regularly, so it shouldn’t take you long to notice if you have products missing from the shelf.  The problem is the same as almost any other theft, that if you are not prepared by the time you notice the baby formula is missing, it’s too late.  If you don’t already have a camera in the area, it’s a good idea to have one installed.  The camera alone will help prevent shoplifting, but you should continue using Alpha Keepers and other retail anti-theft devices in order to make the most impact.  This can also help you identify shoplifters that are taking the items, aid in prosecution, and prepare you for the next time they come into the store.  This isn’t just to protect infant formula, but several other high theft items as well.  The small initial investment will help you save money over time, and keep your stock available for your loyal customers.  

For more information contact us: prevent shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547