Prevent Shoplifting -You Can’t Do It All Yourself

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were the only one that was passionate about their job duties, and completing all of their daily tasks?  Unfortunately, when working in the retail loss prevention field, sometimes this is a reality.  It’s something that you need to identify early, and move quickly to make changes.  The struggle to prevent shoplifting in your store will only be made worse by store employees that are not on board with what needs to be done. Having your whole team on the same page is the best way to ensure success. It’s extremely difficult to try to make an impact by yourself, so training your team on awareness, and tasks that can later be delegated to them is priceless.  

I worked in a store once that I was immediately met with disgust on my very first day.  This wasn’t because anything I did myself, because I just started working there.  After talking with several employees, I quickly got the reason for this dislike of the loss prevention department.  I was basically told in so many words that loss prevention was useless and didn’t do anything but sit in the office.  I was shocked at this to say the least, but I was starting to understand why they felt that way.  Apparently the manager of the department that came before me wasn’t the best guy, he would sleep in the office, and did a lot of other things that I can’t write about in this article.

I definitely had my work cut out for me at this particular store, but I knew if I didn’t change the store team’s perceptions, we would never be successful in things we were trying to accomplish.  I started talking to the store associates one on one and asking them how they thought I could do a better job than the last guy.  Of course there was a long list, but eventually they saw that I cared about the position and store, and I was not that guy.  I also had to train many of the associates on why we use retail anti-theft devices and how to use them.  I didn’t just tell them what to do and throw down an Alpha Spider Wrap, saying put this on that box. I actively participated with them, explaining why we use them, how they are beneficial, and then demonstrated how to use them properly.  

To get them excited about calling in tips on shoplifters, I offered them $5 gift cards for ever tip they called in that led to a shoplifter apprehension or recovery.  This gave them incentive to help me out, even if they didn’t like me at first.  It took a while to get to the point where they were all on board to help me prevent shoplifting in the store, the satisfaction of getting them all to change their perceptions, and turn around to head in the right direction was all worth it in the end.  You can use all the retail anti-theft devices in the world to protect your merchandise, but if your own staff doesn’t care at all about preventing theft, you’ll be fighting a losing battle.  Employee awareness is one of the best ways to help you reduce loss in your store, so make sure you are properly training your team to help your store successfully prevent shoplifting.

For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547

Keep Your Small Expensive Items in Your Store with Alpha Keepers

I often talk about my experience working in retail stores and share some of the crazy items I’ve caught shoplifters trying to take or items that would come up missing. Nothing that I’ve experienced in my career prepared me for this colder winter day. For me it’s another day in the store. I’ve done my rounds, talked with staff, checked shelves for any security breaches, and kept an eye on the CCTV cameras. Another day and nothing seemed more unusual than any other day. I was ready to prevent shoplifting and do my job like I did every day. What I didn’t know was that I was about to be hit for a large amount of merchandise that neither I nor the store was prepared for. 

One aisle I would pay particular attention to was in our cosmetics section. This was our men’s and women’s razor display. I paid more attention to this as the packages were smaller and the price tags were higher. One pack of name brand razors cartridges cost anywhere between $35 and $55 dollars. And the small package size made these a nice target for a thief. Occasionally I would find open packages with all the razors taken and other times we were just missing the whole package. In our store we had tried protecting these with many devices and security ideas to prevent shoplifting of these expensive items.  At one time we tried completely locking up all razors. You can probably guess the problem. There were actually two main issues with this idea. First, customers could no longer access these items to look at and ultimately buy. This meant lost sales of these high priced items and upset customers. Second, in order to open the case for a customer to buy an employee would have to leave what they were doing and go open it. This of course created another problem as employees would be helping another customer or be on break meaning there was a delay. Customers don’t like to wait which meant they were leaving to buy this product from another store. 

Alpha Keepers are a clear box that hold your items. This makes the items still accessible to the customer but protects the store and prevents shoplifting. The Alpha Keepers allow a customer to remove the item from the shelf, but if they try to leave the store your Checkpoint alarm will sound stopping the thief in their tracks. Alpha Keepers are not just for razors but for anything that is odd sized. In fact they come in hundreds of sizes. They are available for CD’s, Blu-Rays, gaming, and ink cartridges just to name a few. This unique security device can help you protect all of your odd shaped expensive items while allowing the customer to still access them. 

As mentioned, we had tried multiple ideas and security devices. We tried attaching peg locks however, thieves would just rip through the cardboard box defeating the lock. We tried attaching security labels to the boxes however, this didn’t prevent them from taking the contents inside. While trying to figure out a solution we had a couple shoplifters that had entered the store and emptied most of the razors and replacement cartridges. They took almost all of it! This cost the store thousands of dollars. If only we had protected those items with Alpha Keepers we would have saved a lot of money and embarrassment!

Don’t let shoplifters get the upper hand! Keep those expensive pegged items in the store and not in a thief’s pocket.  You can now protect your items and prevent shoplifting without restricting access to your customers.

For more information on Alpha Keepers contact us at 1-770-426-0547

The Ultimate Guide To Clothing Security – Part 3

So far you’ve learned how to use clever merchandising tricks to prevent shoplifting incidents from ever occurring. You’ve also gained some insight into how a strict fitting room program can keep customers honest and keep merchandise in your store. So far, you’ve probably learned that clothing security doesn’t have to mean securing that leather jacket with the newest Checkpoint Tag, but simply merchandising it in a way that makes it difficult for a shoplifter to get their hands on. Well, and I hate to say this out loud, but every now and then you will be the victim of a theft, no matter what programs you have in place. 

By using those methods that you’ve learned so far, and using Checkpoint Tags on those high end products, you will most likely reduce about 80% of your losses from theft. Somewhere in that remaining 20% will be organized retail theft. The best clothing security device and the strongest Checkpoint Tags won’t stop these thieves. This is their full time job and they will stop at nothing to rob you of product and profits. Is there anything you can do? Well of course there is. 

 Grab and run shoplifting incidents are one of the most common methods for these groups. They stroll into a store, grab a handful or two of those expensive garments and make a mad dash for the doors. They’ll worry about removing those Checkpoint Tags later, in the comfort of their own homes. The only clothing security measure that will stop them is to lock everything up behind a glass case. We all know that isn’t going to float over well. What you can do however, is be aware of your customers. I preach customer service all day, every day. No matter if I’m talking to hourly associates, or a group of company executives. The best loss prevention strategy is to provide outstanding levels of customer service. A thief simply doesn’t want to be noticed. If they are greeted and assisted by your employees from the minute they walk through the doors, you will shrink the size of the target on your store. 

 Often times these groups will rely on several individuals to distract store employees. Train your teams that if they feel they are being distracted by a group, to immediately call for assistance. To you and your team, you’re coming to prevent theft. To the honest customers, you’re calling in reinforcements to help them with their shopping trip. You can use Checkpoint Tags from the floor to ceiling, and they won’t be as effective as a well-trained employee. I’ve seen this happen in a few of my stores and it has sent these groups down the road. Your employees have to care and you have to train/teach them to. Bottom line. If they don’t care about your profits, or your managers “can’t find the time to train”, then it’s time to find a new employees and managers.  

Have you experienced any incidents of organized retail theft? How have you handled them? I’d love to hear about them, so feel free to drop us a message in the contact us area. I hope you’ll come back for our final installment as we discuss some frequently overlooked ways that you can use in order to battle shoplifting loss. 

 For more information, contact us at Clothing Security, or call 1.770.426.0547

PREVENT RETURN FRAUD WITH ALPHA SHARK TAGS

If you own, or work for a company with multiple store locations, chances are, you’ve been the victim of return fraud. This type of theft comes in various different forms, but the most common for my business is the most simplistic version. It involves a thief stealing an item from one store, returning it to another for store credit, then buying what they are really after, all while giving the appearance of a legitimate shopper. Not only does this cost the company in the form of the initial theft, but you then give a thief store credit and basically allow them to buy whatever they want, all on your dime. 

My company has a no problem/no hassle return policy, with only a few small exceptions. It seems that at least once per week, I’m investigating another case of return fraud. The basic method is easy to track once you spot a suspected fraudster. I simply review CCTV footage of the next closest store prior to the refund. About 70% of the time, I can find them stealing the product at the other store location prior to returning it to the second. This video, coupled with the ID information we obtain makes it very easy to make cases and prosecute these individuals. Well, what about other forms of return fraud that may not be so easily noticeable, or traceable? Have you ever considered that some people purchase clothing to wear for one occasion and then return it? It happens all the time. The practice is known as wardrobing and it can be easily prevented. 

It’s been 10 years since high school graduation and it’s time for that reunion. You want a killer dress to wear, but you can’t justify spending $300 for something you’ll just wear once, then throw to back of the closet for years to come. As you’re shopping, you notice the return policy in the store states that all clothing can be returned within 7 days as long as it is unworn is accompanied by a receipt. Well, who will know if it’s been worn or not? Those tags can easily be put back into place and no one will ever notice. If you’re not using an Alpha Shark Tags, you surely are the victim of this scheme. 

The Alpha Shark Tags is a small tag that is placed on a very visible portion of a piece of clothing. Usually, you would place the tag in a position where it would be quite visible if someone were wearing the clothing, like on the neck line, or on the sleeves front and center. The Alpha Shark Tags is then easily removed at home by the customer, after the purchase. With a return policy that states that clothing must have the tag still attached in order to be returned, you can easily cut down on return fraud completely. 

If you take that example above and conservatively estimate that happens to you at least twice per week, that’s easily over $30k in potential loss that can be added back to your bottom line. How could your business benefit from that extra cash flow? So if you’re tired of customer’s renting your clothes, take a bite out of this fraud scheme today!

 For more information, contact us: Alpha Shark Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547