Alpha Hang Tags-5 WC blog 79
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-5
Prevent Shoplifting – 3
Boosters Won’t Hang Around When Alpha Hang Tags Are Used To Protect Merchandise
Professional shoplifters, or boosters, are a headache for all retailers. These are the shoplifters that go into stores and steal large quantities of merchandise at one time. They will take anything, but often their favorite items are small, higher dollar products that can be easily resold at flea markets or over the internet. Frequently the booster will steal peg hook displayed merchandise because it is easy to slide the items off. One sweep and an entire peg hook of merchandise can be concealed in a large tote, a purse or other types of bags. A few of the popular targets are razor blades, razors, toothbrushes, power tool accessories, and many electronics items. Consider the prices of a few of the items from a popular big box retail store; Norelco electric razor replacement heads $29.99/box, Schick Hydro 5 Men’s 12 pack blades $31.49/box, 4 count Brush Buddies toothbrushes $14.99/pack. Now imagine sweeping a peg hook worth of any one of these products into a bag, perhaps 10 seconds work? At five to ten items per peg hook, a booster can make a significant haul and a retailer can take a huge loss.
The problem becomes one of finding retail anti-theft devices that can prevent shoplifting of these items.
When I worked for one of these big box retailers, we were experiencing losses caused by boosters and someone came up with the anti-sweep peg hooks. The idea was to slow down the booster, by forcing the merchandise to stop at the end of the peg hook and be slipped over a curve or hook in the peg. This slowed the boosters down a little, but not enough to make a drastic impact on their activity. The next innovation was the locking peg hook. These retail anti-theft devices require a special key to open them. Today, many stores use locking peg hooks in their merchandise protection strategies but, not all of them are used effectively. Unfortunately, boosters work hard to find ways to defeat the next generation of merchandise protection strategy and with locking peg hooks, it was kind of obvious that merchandise is often held on to the peg with a flimsy plastic or cardboard hang tab. So, boosters started to cut away the tabs and the merchandise was off. The booster was slowed down even more, but still getting the product. Alpha Hang Tags complete the protection offered by locking peg hooks by stopping the booster from cutting the product tab.
Alpha hang tags are two piece retail anti-theft devices that clip together over the hang tab, whether it is cardboard or plastic. These tag reinforcers prevent shoplifting by interfering with the booster cutting through the tab and removing the merchandise from the peg hook. Alpha hang tags come in radio frequency or acoustic magnetic designs so they will activate any store Electronic Article Surveillance system. Should a thief attempt to walk out with merchandise protected by these retail anti-theft devices an EAS antenna will alarm and alert store personnel to a theft attempt. Even if a store did not choose to utilize the locking peg hooks, the Alpha hang tags will still add the benefit of EAS protection to the merchandise.
One additional benefit of these retail anti- theft devices is that they come with two different length pins. Some merchandise, such as video game headsets, comes in a very thick blister pack. The package tab is thick enough and designed so that a small pin would not be long enough to extend through the peg hole opening of the tab. The Alpha hang tag can use the longer pin backing for these items and once the item is sold and the hang tag is ready to be reused on another product, the smaller pin backing can be applied. The ability to interchange pieces makes this a great purchase for a retailer.
Boosters can wreak havoc on a store if strong measures are not taken to prevent shoplifting. Applying Alpha hang tags to peg holed merchandise can provide the protection of EAS and when used with locking peg hooks, they can prevent nearly all theft of peg hook product.
For more information on Alpha Hang Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Professional shoplifters, or boosters, are a headache for all retailers. These are the shoplifters that go into stores and steal large quantities of merchandise at one time. They will take anything, but often their favorite items are small, higher dollar products that can be easily resold at flea markets or over the internet. Frequently the booster will steal peg hook displayed merchandise because it is easy to slide the items off. One sweep and an entire peg hook of merchandise can be concealed in a large tote, a purse or other types of bags. A few of the popular targets are razor blades, razors, toothbrushes, power tool accessories, and many electronics items. Consider the prices of a few of the items from a popular big box retail store; Norelco electric razor replacement heads $29.99/box, Schick Hydro 5 Men’s 12 pack blades $31.49/box, 4 count Brush Buddies toothbrushes $14.99/pack. Now imagine sweeping a peg hook worth of any one of these products into a bag, perhaps 10 seconds work? At five to ten items per peg hook, a booster can make a significant haul and a retailer can take a huge loss. The problem becomes one of finding retail anti-theft devices that can prevent shoplifting of these items.
When I worked for one of these big box retailers, we were experiencing losses caused by boosters and someone came up with the anti-sweep peg hooks. The idea was to slow down the booster, by forcing the merchandise to stop at the end of the peg hook and be slipped over a curve or hook in the peg. This slowed the boosters down a little, but not enough to make a drastic impact on their activity. The next innovation was the locking peg hook. These retail anti-theft devices require a special key to open them. Today, many stores use locking peg hooks in their merchandise protection strategies but, not all of them are used effectively. Unfortunately, boosters work hard to find ways to defeat the next generation of merchandise protection strategy and with locking peg hooks, it was kind of obvious that merchandise is often held on to the peg with a flimsy plastic or cardboard hang tab. So, boosters started to cut away the tabs and the merchandise was off. The booster was slowed down even more, but still getting the product. Alpha Hang Tags complete the protection offered by locking peg hooks by stopping the booster from cutting the product tab.
Alpha hang tags are two piece retail anti-theft devices that clip together over the hang tab, whether it is cardboard or plastic. These tag reinforcers prevent shoplifting by interfering with the booster cutting through the tab and removing the merchandise from the peg hook. Alpha hang tags come in radio frequency or acoustic magnetic designs so they will activate any store Electronic Article Surveillance system. Should a thief attempt to walk out with merchandise protected by these retail anti-theft devices an EAS antenna will alarm and alert store personnel to a theft attempt. Even if a store did not choose to utilize the locking peg hooks, the Alpha hang tags will still add the benefit of EAS protection to the merchandise.
One additional benefit of these retail anti- theft devices is that they come with two different length pins. Some merchandise, such as video game headsets, comes in a very thick blister pack. The package tab is thick enough and designed so that a small pin would not be long enough to extend through the peg hole opening of the tab. The Alpha hang tag can use the longer pin backing for these items and once the item is sold and the hang tag is ready to be reused on another product, the smaller pin backing can be applied. The ability to interchange pieces makes this a great purchase for a retailer.
Boosters can wreak havoc on a store if strong measures are not taken to prevent shoplifting. Applying Alpha hang tags to peg holed merchandise can provide the protection of EAS and when used with locking peg hooks, they can prevent nearly all theft of peg hook product.
For more information on Alpha Hang Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
