Security tags are generally placed on smaller boxes of merchandise in order to prevent shoplifting, but is there another alternative?  Don’t get me wrong, those tags are a great resource and do a great job protecting merchandise, but sometimes shoplifters are able to cut or rip the tags off of the boxes and take the merchandise.  There lies the problem, how do you stop that from happening?  The answer is to use keepers from Alpha Security, which are sturdy, solid, and totally encompass the product.  The keepers also are locked closed, but can be easily opened with a magnetic key once the product is purchased at the register.  At the same time, they are clear so the customers still have full view of the product inside the keeper.  

One of the biggest shoplifter apprehensions I have conducted to date involved a very large amount of movies and TV box sets, was just under $2,500, and the actual theft took less than thirty minutes to commit.  We noticed that our entertainment area had been looking light on inventory for the past couple of weeks, so I began reviewing sales, count changes and video of the area.  The only problem was that the camera wasn’t in the best position to view the area, so we couldn’t identify what was happening.  We moved a camera closer to the area and constantly monitored the aisle for activity.  At the time, we didn’t have any retail anti-theft devices on the movies.  The only measure to prevent shoplifting in the area was shelving that made it where you could only pick up movies one or two at a time, instead of the whole stack.  Unfortunately this shelving wasn’t consistent throughout the area, and only slowed down the theft.

While I was watching the aisle, I noticed a kid that picked up a few video games very quickly.  He then walked over to what appeared to be his mother and handed her the games, which she then dropped into a large open bag in her shopping cart.  She then went over to where the movies were, and began picking up multiple movies at once and throwing them into the bags.  If this weren’t enough, she was then met by a man that had two more shopping carts with large open bags.  Then both of them basically started clearing off the shelves of movies and TV boxed sets.  

By the time they were done picking up merchandise and bagging it, the bags were completely full.  They then all met up together and walked out of the store, where we stopped them and brought them back into the store.  Once I started talking to the shoplifters, they verified that they were a family, and that they had done the same thing previously to sell the merchandise to a store that buys, sells and trades movies.  The point of this story was to show how much impact one case can have on your profit in a short period of time, and that it may have been avoided if the movies were placed in keepers. If you’re trying to prevent shoplifting in your store, you’ll definitely want to give these devices a chance. You’ll be happy you found these keepers from Alpha Security.

For more information contact us: (prevent shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547

Whether you’re like myself (a busy LP professional), or like my father (a small business owner), I would recommend taking some time off every now and then. To go out and relax at the beach, or lake is not only good for your mental health, it’ll go a long way at helping you solve some of those pestering problems you’ve been having at your store. For the last 3 days I’ve found myself on the gulf coast. Mainly for work, but I took a few personal days to really relax. What I found was as I’m sitting there listening to waves crash against the shore, is my mind had time to wander. It was in the relaxed state that I began to think of all the clothing theft that I’ve seen over the past year in my stores and how we’ve battled in. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if someone would’ve given me these answers a long time ago. Maybe then, my stores wouldn’t have lost so much money. So I sat back tonight and penned something I hope you will find very useful. It’s my ultimate guide to clothing security. 

When you think of clothing security, your mind probably goes straight to those checkpoint tags and bulky systems that we are all too familiar with. What if I told you that’s not necessarily the case? Good clothing security measures can be as simple as changing the direction of the hangers on your face out bars. In my stores, any high end product is merchandised in this manner. The first hanger is positioned facing left, the second right and so forth down the line. This prevents a shoplifter from grabbing a handful in a hurry and bursting through the doors. This is common though. Most apparel retailers do this, and if you’ve been in the retail industry a few months, you most likely already are aware of this tactic. What about those lesser known tricks of the trade? 

The way I think about clothing security is not so much about the most effective checkpoint tag, but how can I merchandise my product in a way that helps me to boost sales all while keeping losses to a minimum. Another way that I’ve used in the past is what I call “upwards merchandising”. Basically, the walls of my fitting rooms are pretty tall, so every year I have my stores merchandise the football jerseys higher than eye level. This allows the customer to see them when they first enter the store and it keeps them away from a shoplifter. I’ve found that the customer that is coming into the store for that product will appreciate the one on one service my employees give them since they are spending well over $150. Guess what else? I also don’t have to inconvenience the customer with removing a checkpoint tag so they can try on the product. Another great idea to protect your merchandise all while still keeping it very visible!

What other clothing security methods do you use in your store? I’d love to know, so please feel free to post in the comments below. Maybe I’ll feature them in an upcoming segment. In closing, remember that it’s not always about a physical security measure that will stop a thief. Some clever merchandising and solid controls will go a long ways. In the next 3 parts to my series, we’ll talk about some of those controls like fitting rooms, the rise of organized shoplifting in addition to some new technology that’s on the horizon. 

For more information, contact us: clothing security, or call 1.770.426.0547

Alpha Keepers-

Lock It Up And Sales Go Down

I work for a small retail pharmacy.  We have a small fragrance section in most of our stores and they are set up in locked glass cases.  Fragrance sales are usually based around holidays like Christmas and Valentines Day for us, because let’s face it, we are not a typical destination store for that kind of purchase.  We actually run specials on them on a regular basis, but the sales in the category are stagnant.  When it comes to retail anti theft devices, fragrances are a bit difficult to protect.  They come in different size boxes, some skinny and tall, while others are short and wide.  The cost and retail associated with these items is too great to risk solely adhering Checkpoint Labels to the outside of the packages.  While most do come to us source tagged, most stores still have to go a step beyond that to ensure we are not letting these boxes walk out the door unpaid.  I am fortunate enough to manage a store in a fairly upscale area.  The shrink in this particular store is well known to be very low every year.   Any store has to take steps to protect fragrance inventory, but we decided to try something new and even unheard of in our business.

Our store’s fragrances are the first thing you see when you come in our front door.  One day as we were looking around the store, trying to get an “eye of the customer” view, my staff and I were talking about how uninviting the big glass case looks.  Customers come in and walk past the case, some may glance toward it, but for the most part, it may as well be invisible.  We had once tried running streamers from the ceiling, and adding sale signs to catch shoppers’ eyes.  Sales were not increasing though.  The thought processes we came up with were glass cases give the vibe that “We don’t trust you!” to the average shopper, or they add a barrier that is just too much trouble and people don’t want to have to ask for items.  How could we still protect fragrance boxes and get people to buy them from us instead of the big box store?  The answer was simple.  Remove the barrier.

We took down the glass case and packed it away safely in the back room.  Then we boxed up every one of our fragrance packages in Alpha Keepers.  These are strong plastic cases that lock up and secure almost any item you can think of.  They come in many different sizes and they were the perfect solution.  They keep the products inside completely visible and they allow the consumer to pick up their selection.  They still sit right on the shelves, and they take up the exact same space they did before.  The big difference now is that as customers walk in the door and see an item they like, they can walk right over and pick it up.  Before the change we implemented, they walked in the door and walked right past the section, sometimes thinking they may ask for something from the case on their way out.  But after they left the pharmacy, they were too distracted by their medication information or a line at the front had formed so they changed their minds.  

Sales have increased dramatically and no major losses have occurred.  We have had an occasional theft, but honestly, the added sales offsets that and makes it nothing to be too concerned about.  Alpha Keepers have been the answer to this problem and many more.  We even took down our glass case we used to keep the teeth whitening kits in as well.  

For more information about Alpha Keepers contact us 1.770.426.0547 or Preventshopliftingloss.net