If you’ve been in retail for 2 days, you know that a thief will take just about anything that’s not tied down… sometimes, they try to steal those items too! As retailers, that puts us in a very unique, and sometimes difficult position. How do we secure our merchandise in our stores, while trying to get honest, hardworking folks to buy them without feeling like a criminal themselves? We’ve all been in those stores where they take protective merchandising a little too far. Just recently, I was in a retailer and they had peg locks on just about every item in their store. That’s a bit overkill. It’s hard to blame the retailer when they are simply trying to keep their product available to purchase.
Recently, I was helping my father conduct some minor renovations at his restaurant. Halfway through cutting out a hole for a new window, his power tool stopped working. It was an old corded drill and I think the little motor had just given out. We needed a new one, so we drove down to the hardware store up the road. My dad owns a small business, so sometimes he will go out of his way, and spend a little more money to shop local instead of at the bigger, mass merchants. We get to the store and start looking for a new skill saw. After finding the displays, it was pretty clear that we would need assistance. Not only were the saws locked with a heavy cable to the display, they were secured with an in-effective hard tag in addition to a handwritten sign that warned of the use of CCTV.
The store owner was a friend of the family, so I asked if he’d been having a bit of a theft problem with the power tools. He told me that over the past month or so, he had lost thousands to theft and didn’t know what else to do. He also acknowledged that his sales were less when I inquired about the draconian display method. I told him what I did in my day job and he asked if I had any solutions. We talked for a few minutes and I told him I’d come back during the week with something for him to look at.
I went back to work on Monday and grabbed an O-Tag from the stock room. I used these on a plethora of product in my store and I’d seen bigger stores use these on electric tools, so I thought I’d show him how switching to one tag might be more effective. I went over on my lunch break and showed him how easily the tag could attach to the power cord. I’ve never seen anyone get more excited for an EAS device… and here I thought I was the only one. I suggested that he look into it since it would definitely help with his shrink and make his displays a little more appeasing to his customers.
I went and checked on him a few weeks later and found that he had started using the O-Tags just as I showed him how. Not surprising, he told me he hadn’t lost a single one since deploying the tags and customers had been commenting on the cleaner looking security solution.
If you’ve been in retail for 2 days, you know that a thief will take just about anything that’s not tied down… sometimes, they try to steal those items too! As retailers, that puts us in a very unique, and sometimes difficult position. How do we secure our merchandise in our stores, while trying to get honest, hardworking folks to buy them without feeling like a criminal themselves? We’ve all been in those stores where they take protective merchandising a little too far. Just recently, I was in a retailer and they had peg locks on just about every item in their store. That’s a bit overkill. It’s hard to blame the retailer when they are simply trying to keep their product available to purchase.
Recently, I was helping my father conduct some minor renovations at his restaurant. Halfway through cutting out a hole for a new window, his power tool stopped working. It was an old corded drill and I think the little motor had just given out. We needed a new one, so we drove down to the hardware store up the road. My dad owns a small business, so sometimes he will go out of his way, and spend a little more money to shop local instead of at the bigger, mass merchants. We get to the store and start looking for a new skill saw. After finding the displays, it was pretty clear that we would need assistance. Not only were the saws locked with a heavy cable to the display, they were secured with an in-effective hard tag in addition to a handwritten sign that warned of the use of CCTV.
The store owner was a friend of the family, so I asked if he’d been having a bit of a theft problem with the power tools. He told me that over the past month or so, he had lost thousands to theft and didn’t know what else to do. He also acknowledged that his sales were less when I inquired about the draconian display method. I told him what I did in my day job and he asked if I had any solutions. We talked for a few minutes and I told him I’d come back during the week with something for him to look at.
I went back to work on Monday and grabbed an O-Tag from the stock room. I used these on a plethora of product in my store and I’d seen bigger stores use these on electric tools, so I thought I’d show him how switching to one tag might be more effective. I went over on my lunch break and showed him how easily the tag could attach to the power cord. I’ve never seen anyone get more excited for an EAS device… and here I thought I was the only one. I suggested that he look into it since it would definitely help with his shrink and make his displays a little more appeasing to his customers.
I went and checked on him a few weeks later and found that he had started using the O-Tags just as I showed him how. Not surprising, he told me he hadn’t lost a single one since deploying the tags and customers had been commenting on the cleaner looking security solution.
For more information contact us at losspreventionsystems.com or call 1.770.426.0547
For more information contact us at losspreventionsystems.com or call 1.770.426.0547
On too many occasions, I have seen shoplifters take advantage of unsecured shopping bags and active, unattended EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) deactivation pads or tag detachers at registers. Shoplifters are already eating away at your profits without help from your team, so don’t make it any easier for them to steal from you. Clothing security only works as intended if all components of the system are used properly and your staff is following procedures to ensure the clothes sold and not stolen.
Every time a cashier leaves the register, they should switch off the EAS deactivation pad and secure the shopping bags and tag detacher. These are easy ways to reduce the amount of opportunity shoplifters have when they are looking for ways to steal in your store. You’ll have to train your team to do this every time, and it may take a while to get into the habit, but it will pay off in the end. If you’re not following, when you place the security tags on clothes, they need to either be removed with a tag detacher or be deactivated on a pad or other device at the register when they are purchased. If someone leaves with merchandise that is not deactivated, the EAS alarm at the door will go off, just as it should.
When clothing security is not properly followed, it creates opportunity for the shoplifters. If a shoplifter walks into the store sees a register without a cashier, they can grab shopping bags off of the register and put them in their pocket, or even load up all the bags into a purse or another bag. Sometimes they will even take the bags to use another day. This happens a lot more than you may think. I’ve watched several shoplifters that I wasn’t sure where they were going to conceal the merchandise, and then they removed a crumpled up bag from their pocket and put the merchandise inside the bag.
The same goes for hard tag detachers that are used to remove security tags on clothes. These should not be left unattended where anyone can detach tags from merchandise. Find a way to secure them, possibly in a locking drawer or cabinet. The shoplifter could take the tag detacher home for future attempts at theft, or just remove the tags from clothing right there at your register without paying.
Last, but not least is the EAS deactivation pads. What is the point of putting security tags on clothes and inside shoes, if you are going to give shoplifters an easy way to get around the security measures you have in place? Leaving the deactivation pads turned on and active will allow shoplifters to bring items with soft tags to the register and deactivate the items so they will not set off the EAS alarm at the door as they exit. The pads or devices are usually easy to turn off, and sometimes have a key that can be kept in a secured drawer or cabinet as well, if not kept by the cashier. These are easy ways to ensure the clothing security measures you have in place are working to their full capacity, and make it harder for the shoplifters to get your merchandise out of the store without being noticed.
For more information contact us: (clothing security) or call 1.770.426.0547
On too many occasions, I have seen shoplifters take advantage of unsecured shopping bags and active, unattended EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) deactivation pads or tag detachers at registers. Shoplifters are already eating away at your profits without help from your team, so don’t make it any easier for them to steal from you. Clothing security only works as intended if all components of the system are used properly and your staff is following procedures to ensure the clothes sold and not stolen.
Every time a cashier leaves the register, they should switch off the EAS deactivation pad and secure the shopping bags and tag detacher. These are easy ways to reduce the amount of opportunity shoplifters have when they are looking for ways to steal in your store. You’ll have to train your team to do this every time, and it may take a while to get into the habit, but it will pay off in the end. If you’re not following, when you place the security tags on clothes, they need to either be removed with a tag detacher or be deactivated on a pad or other device at the register when they are purchased. If someone leaves with merchandise that is not deactivated, the EAS alarm at the door will go off, just as it should.
When clothing security is not properly followed, it creates opportunity for the shoplifters. If a shoplifter walks into the store sees a register without a cashier, they can grab shopping bags off of the register and put them in their pocket, or even load up all the bags into a purse or another bag. Sometimes they will even take the bags to use another day. This happens a lot more than you may think. I’ve watched several shoplifters that I wasn’t sure where they were going to conceal the merchandise, and then they removed a crumpled up bag from their pocket and put the merchandise inside the bag.
The same goes for hard tag detachers that are used to remove security tags on clothes. These should not be left unattended where anyone can detach tags from merchandise. Find a way to secure them, possibly in a locking drawer or cabinet. The shoplifter could take the tag detacher home for future attempts at theft, or just remove the tags from clothing right there at your register without paying.
Last, but not least is the EAS deactivation pads. What is the point of putting security tags on clothes and inside shoes, if you are going to give shoplifters an easy way to get around the security measures you have in place? Leaving the deactivation pads turned on and active will allow shoplifters to bring items with soft tags to the register and deactivate the items so they will not set off the EAS alarm at the door as they exit. The pads or devices are usually easy to turn off, and sometimes have a key that can be kept in a secured drawer or cabinet as well, if not kept by the cashier. These are easy ways to ensure the clothing security measures you have in place are working to their full capacity, and make it harder for the shoplifters to get your merchandise out of the store without being noticed.
For more information contact us: Clothing Security or call 1.770.426.0547
When you take inventory, are you finding shortages on items where you have product protection in place? There are some tricky ways that shoplifters still get out your front door with unpaid merchandise. Let’s take a look at one of them, and what you can do to stop some of it. Prevent shoplifting with awareness and consistency in your operation.
The pedestals will alarm when an item is near them that has not been deactivated. If you don’t check the person’s purchase receipt or question them if they have no purchase, you may as well just give your merchandise away at the door. Some employees may be nervous about approaching someone that has caused the alarm to sound. They just need to be trained how to handle the situation, and what to say to the customer. Obviously they do not want to accuse the customer of theft. They just need to apologize to the customer for the inconvenience, and let them know something did not get deactivated. Just ask for the receipt and compare that to the items in their bag. If they match, take the whole bag and put it on the deactivation pad. If the customer still sets off the alarm when they exit again, walk the shopping bag through the pedestals yourself, and ask the customer to walk through without it. That should identify where the item is that is causing the issue. This tactic has helped me to prevent shoplifting in the first place by letting people know it will be checked, but can also encourage someone that was attempting to steal to give back the merchandise without causing a scene.
Be aware of people that set off the alarm when they enter your store as well. Most times it is just an item they have bought at another store that did not get deactivated. I usually ask if they are wearing something new, such as blue jeans or a thick coat where the tags can be hidden deep in pockets. This can also be a tactic for a shoplifter to use to get back out the door. They know if they caused the alarm to sound when they came in the door, your staff probably won’t be stop them when it goes off again. Just be aware that a couple of excuses a shoplifter will use for the system sounding is that their cell phone always causes it, or they will bend down and pull a tag off the bottom of their shoe. How convenient that they happened to know that tag was down there.
Just remember that you have made the investment in this product, and it cannot help you if you don’t react to the alarm. You can’t prevent shoplifting if you simply wave people through every time it sounds because you assume it is a mistake. Plus if you wave people through, your staff will do the same. You have to set the right example. I utilize a log for the Checkpoint system. Every time it alarms, the clerk records it and the results of the stop. I can compare that log to the times the system says it went off, and be aware if there is an issue. It will also help you identify if there is a mechanical problem with the system causing it to go off.
For more information contact us at Preventshopliftingloss.net or 1.770.426.0547
When you take inventory, are you finding shortages on items where you have product protection in place? There are some tricky ways that shoplifters still get out your front door with unpaid merchandise. Let’s take a look at one of them, and what you can do to stop some of it. Prevent shoplifting with awareness and consistency in your operation.
The pedestals will alarm when an item is near them that has not been deactivated. If you don’t check the person’s purchase receipt or question them if they have no purchase, you may as well just give your merchandise away at the door. Some employees may be nervous about approaching someone that has caused the alarm to sound. They just need to be trained how to handle the situation, and what to say to the customer. Obviously they do not want to accuse the customer of theft. They just need to apologize to the customer for the inconvenience, and let them know something did not get deactivated. Just ask for the receipt and compare that to the items in their bag. If they match, take the whole bag and put it on the deactivation pad. If the customer still sets off the alarm when they exit again, walk the shopping bag through the pedestals yourself, and ask the customer to walk through without it. That should identify where the item is that is causing the issue. This tactic has helped me to prevent shoplifting in the first place by letting people know it will be checked, but can also encourage someone that was attempting to steal to give back the merchandise without causing a scene.
Be aware of people that set off the alarm when they enter your store as well. Most times it is just an item they have bought at another store that did not get deactivated. I usually ask if they are wearing something new, such as blue jeans or a thick coat where the tags can be hidden deep in pockets. This can also be a tactic for a shoplifter to use to get back out the door. They know if they caused the alarm to sound when they came in the door, your staff probably won’t be stop them when it goes off again. Just be aware that a couple of excuses a shoplifter will use for the system sounding is that their cell phone always causes it, or they will bend down and pull a tag off the bottom of their shoe. How convenient that they happened to know that tag was down there.
Just remember that you have made the investment in this product, and it cannot help you if you don’t react to the alarm. You can’t prevent shoplifting if you simply wave people through every time it sounds because you assume it is a mistake. Plus if you wave people through, your staff will do the same. You have to set the right example. I utilize a log for the Checkpoint System. Every time it alarms, the clerk records it and the results of the stop. I can compare that log to the times the system says it went off, and be aware if there is an issue. It will also help you identify if there is a mechanical problem with the system causing it to go off.
For more information contact us at Preventshopliftingloss.net or 1.770.426.0547
