Gone Fishin’

Can I just say how excited I am that spring is finally here? The temperature has been hovering around 80 degrees for the past couple of weeks and I’ve already got my first fishing trip of the season planned. Guess that means I’ll be heading out to the nearest sporting goods store. Lucky for me I happen to work there. One of the perks of working LP there is, of course the discount. I was just saying to my fiancé how I was in need of a new fishing rod…

 As strange as it may sound, people steal fishing rods. Now, I haven’t seen someone try to jam one down their pants yet (I’m sure it will happen tomorrow now that I’ve challenged the universe), but I have seen some very clever ways that both dishonest customers and employees alike have used to get an even bigger discount on that new combo, and if you’re not protecting your high end fishing rods with Alpha O-Tags, you could be the victim as well. 

 I remember last year around mid-summer. It was a Friday night and there was a full moon (you know what they say about a full moon), so naturally the fishing department was jammed packed with anglers gearing up for the morning. I noticed a gentleman perusing the higher end rods so I offered some advice, since I have previously purchased the same item he was looking at. He and I talked for a good 15 minutes and I felt good that I sold him a great rod that was surely going to help my sales goal for the night. A few minutes later, I was called to the front of the store to one of the registers. 

 Mind you, not all of my cashiers are expert fishermen. Nor are they well versed in the majority of high end products we sell, so it’s always a challenge to have them recognize potential fraud. With our rods, we used the O-Tag to not only provide a visible deterrent to theft, but also as a tool to assist our cashiers identify when a product should ring at a certain threshold (for these rods, it was $199 and up). I get up to the register, and I see the same customer I had spent so much time with earlier. To my surprise (not really… nothing surprises me anymore) there was a price sticker to a $19.99 tackle box over the barcode, which should have rang up $299.99. As soon as I walked over, the customer decided to leave everything and make a sprint out the door. I was proud of my cashier and even more proud of our investment in the O-Tag.

For more information, contact us at losspreventionsystems.com, or call 1.770.426.0547

Prevent Shoplifting Loss By Knowing Some Tricks Of The Trade

Shoplifters have some very “creative” ways to get stuff out the door.  I have seen some wild acts throughout my over fourteen years in the retail business.  I have learned to keep an open mind, stay on my toes, and believe just about anything can happen.  Prevent Shoplifting Loss in your store with constant awareness, and learn the different tactics thieves may be using.  

One thing to look for is what the person is wearing.  Thieves come from all walks of life, so I don’t mean whether they are dressed in neat high fashion, or shabby work clothes.  Look for clothing that does not fit in.  If the day’s weather is mild, but the person walks in wearing a big heavy coat, it should bring up red flags to your staff.  Look for people that appear to have several layers on as well.  They may have on a t-shirt, then a button up shirt, then a jacket on over that.  All layers are generally visible, and the two outer layers are mostly open in the front.  It works because they have the t-shirt tucked in, and that is where they stuff the merchandise, usually down their backs.  The button up shirt will not be tucked in, and that combined with the jacket will help shield them from being spotted because you won’t clearly see the bulky items stuffed into their clothes.   The only way you can know they have the concealed items are to actually see them do it, possibly on camera, or you walk by them and hear the items rattling.  Their movements will generally be labored and slower because they don’t want to make noise or have items drop out.

Look for people’s behaviors that are out of the ordinary.  Prevent Shoplifting Loss by not falling for these antics.  Last week there was a big box store on the local news looking for help after a big loss.  Two men walked in, got a cart, and loaded a large television and a large ride-on toy for a child.  They then separated and one of the men suddenly fell to the floor clasping his chest.  All the surrounding shoppers and employees immediately came to the man, or just stood watching him flailing around.  Not a single person realized what was really happening or saw the other man walk out one of the exits with that cart.  A moment later the one faking the heart attack stood up, suddenly just fine, and walked out the door as well.  

The truth is this trick happens in small businesses too.  It happened to me personally, and yes, I fell for it.  I manage a small retail pharmacy.  This past summer I had a couple standing right at my front counter looking at sim cards and prepaid phones.  I stayed close by because these are high retail items.  Suddenly the man started coughing like crazy, and seemed to be choking.  She looked at him with a glare and told him to go get a drink of water from the fountain.  I pointed to the back of the store, and began to walk with him to make sure he was going to be okay.  Then she said, “oh, he’ll be fine, he’s such a baby.  I do need some help with these cards”.  So, being the good seller I am, I came back to her.  I could hear him coughing all the way to the back of the store, loud and sick sounding.  Suddenly it dawned on me that something wasn’t right.  By the way he sounded, she should have went back there with him.  I told my other employee to help her and excused myself.  As I was walking back, he was going out the door, and she quickly left too.  I went into the restroom, and found three empty sim card packs, worth about $250.  

I should have seen through that, but it happened so fast.  Prevent Shoplifting Loss in your store by acting immediately if it doesn’t feel right.  Don’t be the next news story, or have to hang your head and explain to your staff how you just got taken.

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

Clothing Security 101 – Ink Tags

Having one store in a major metropolitan area is great. Having two or more really helps you capture more market share and increases the awareness to your particular company. Do you know what else multiple stores in the same market does? Attract thieves. Not just your bored stay at home mom, or school skipping teenager. I’m talking about individuals who make a living, a good living, off of ripping people like you and me off. You can deploy as many Checkpoint Tags and EAS Alarm Systems as you want, and it will only keep the honest people honest. A professional booster will get that product no matter how secured it is. In my experience, the only thing that stops them is a tax-payer funded ride downtown. 

Just recently the company I work for introduced a new line of athletic bottoms. That stretchy material that everyone is crazy about right now. I’m no expert in apparel, so I couldn’t tell you why this particular style retailed for $159, but it does. Before this product ever hit the stores, I made sure our buyers and warehouse were on the same page with securing this product. There was no way on Earth that I was going to put these pants on the shelf without some type of clothing security device. We opted for a Checkpoint Ink Tag which had a bit more of a deterrence factor when you looked at it. 

Due to the price point, they only hit select stores. In one particular market, one of my stores received them, while the other store across town did not. As in retail, the next big investigation came along and more new and exciting product dropped and I soon forgot about those $159 pairs of pants I was so excited about seeing a few months back. Until I was conducting a store audit one day. I happened to find myself in that store across town that did not stock these pants. As I was auditing their sales floor, I noticed several pairs of these pants on racks, simply mixed in with other styles of lesser priced clothing. This wasn’t right… we had a special section built for these units to showcase them. Why did this store have a small selection when they shouldn’t have at all? I grabbed the store manager and asked if he could explain. He couldn’t. 

I began researching the product shipments and I came up empty handed. It wasn’t until I looked at the return history of the product that I saw that multiple pairs of these pants were being returned to this store. Upon closer inspection of the pants, I found holes where the Checkpoint Tag had been. I verified the sister store’s sales and while we were definitely selling the units, there were far more returns than sales. I had a theft problem. On top of that, the thieves were returning the stolen goods back to me in order to get store credit, then buying more product. I was out of that money 3 separate times. It took a few weeks of investigating to uncover the ring, but we eventually did.  Local police assisted in making several arrests and we were able to stop that particular loss. Watching the theft on camera, I noticed that the thieves had struggled defeating the Ink Tags on each visit. Had it not been for the ink tags, I do believe they would’ve gotten even more product. 

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

Meat Thieves, Meet Checkpoint Labels

I’ve recently read several news articles about the growing problem of meat thefts from grocery stores around the country. This definitely isn’t a new issue, but some say the problem is getting worse because the price of meats, and groceries in general have been on the rise.  Short of locking up your store’s meat in a glass showcase, what can you do? The first thing you should do is look into Checkpoint Labels that are made specifically for meat sold in grocery stores. 

These Checkpoint Labels are made to use on packages of meat and other foods, and can handle the cold temperatures and moisture.  The team at Checkpoint Systems didn’t think that was enough though, so they put a great deal of research into developing the labels even further, so that they are even safe to be attached to the package of meat while it is in the microwave. This is not something that you would want to try with generic security tags or labels, because they could catch fire or render your food unsafe.  Another point I didn’t mention is that the labels have the option to be purchased with safe handling instructions or even custom printing, so if you’re looking for a solution that provides a retail theft prevention device with your specific message or brand, they’ve got you covered.  

Previously I worked in a store that sold meat and seafood in a section of the store, which was stolen on a regular basis.  I remember one shoplifter in particular that would come into the store and steal several packages of meat very quickly.  You might say that his shoplifting efforts weren’t very rare, but the execution was well done. His thefts usually included steaks, frozen lobster, and other beef or poultry items.  The guy would walk right in the door and head straight for that department.  Sometimes he would put it in a hand basket, but most of the time he would just conceal it in the waistband of his pants. 

The most shocking part about this sneaky shoplifter is that he would typically complete the entire theft in under a minute or two.  Needless to say, that made the thief very hard to catch.  There wasn’t any pattern in the times or days he would come into the store, so we had to get lucky and see him when he first came into the store.  The store I was working at during this time didn’t use Checkpoint Labels on the meat products, so there wasn’t an alarm that sounded at the door when he exited.  The lack of any real retail theft prevention devices on this merchandise made it an easy target for theft.  I was never lucky enough to catch this shoplifter while working at the store, but he was later apprehended by a colleague of mine. 

The thief wouldn’t give much information about what he was doing with all the meat, but we knew it was too much for personal consumption, so he was likely taking orders from other people, or selling to restaurants or smaller markets in the area.  This is typical with these kind of thefts.  It’s not always people trying to shoplift food to eat themselves, but rather stealing food to make a quick buck when they resell it elsewhere.  

For more information contact us at Loss Prevention Systems or call 1.770.426.0547

Checkpoint Tags In Time For Summer

It’s almost that season once again. What season you ask? Swimsuit season of course. I do apologize to anyone reading this who currently resides to the north. I’m very sorry and I hope, for your sake, the sun comes out soon. As a matter of fact, my store has already begun setting up the summer seasonal floor displays, complete with those new swimsuits. This past week also reminded me of why it’s important to use Checkpoint Tags on this product. 

 I was conducting a floor audit not 5 days ago when I was in the middle of our apparel floor. I noticed a man browsing the swimsuits that had just begun arriving to the store. At first, I didn’t pay too much attention to him, as I figured he was dreaming about a warmer time. After a few more minutes, his behavior struck me as odd and I watched him pull a pair of pliers from his pocket and he started removing the Checkpoint Tags that were securing the product. Right in the open. Clearly this guy didn’t really have a plan. 

 As I watched this gentlemen over the next 25 minutes, it was clear that he did have at least one plan. To defeat my Checkpoint System. The door clearly wouldn’t alarm if the Checkpoint Tags were removed and he was well aware of that. He wandered the store clipping the tags, as if he was the only person in the store. Oblivious to the fact that he was being watched by two LP agents and myself. After he had defeated just about every tag imaginable, he simply whipped out a shopping bag from his pocket and bagged his own merchandise. 

 Mr. Shoplifter made it outside where he was met by my team. His first was reaction was to point out that the Checkpoint System didn’t alarm. He wouldn’t return to the store, but rather decided to argue with us. Unknown to him, local police were already on their way to the store. When the police arrived, he was still arguing with me. He informed the officer that he was being wrongfully accused of shoplifting, and that he didn’t have to comply with the police officers request simply because the Checkpoint System didn’t sound. 

I found this incredibly amusing. Here he is, dead to rights, with stolen goods still in his possession, arguing with the police. I thought for sure this guy would give up the act, but he started walking away from the officer. Up until this point, the officer was incredibly polite, and really had more patience that I could have imagined. When the officer grabbed this guy’s arm to stop him, he was met with resistance. Mr. Shoplifter was met with 50,000 volts. In the end, he took a ride to jail and we recovered our merchandise.

For more information, contact us: Checkpoint Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547

The Problem: Online Wardrobing, The Solution: Alpha Shark Tags

For brick and mortar clothing retailers, there are many different options available to combat theft in their stores.  But what are your options when don’t have a storefront, and your business is primarily online?  Online retailers don’t face all of the same challenges as traditional retailers, but some of the problems are similar.  For example, online wardrobing is a growing issue for clothing businesses on the internet.  This issue is the same type of dishonesty that occurs in stores, the only difference is that the merchandise is purchased online before being returned. If you are facing a similar challenge with your own business, there’s good news for you.  Alpha Shark Tags could very well be the solution to your problem, and save you a great deal of money by reducing fraudulent returns.   

This is the issue…online wardrobing starts off as a typical sale. ”Customers” go on the internet and look through your products, finding something that theky think would look good on them.  They then pick the size, style, color, and then they purchase the item. So what’s the problem?  The problem is that it doesn’t always end with the sale.  You have to expect that some merchandise that is purchased is going to wind up getting returned, but what you probably don’t expect is that the “customer” had no intention of keeping the item, or letting you keep your money from the sale.  

Although some people make a habit of this type of behavior, online wardrobing usually occurs when someone wants an expensive outfit, suit, or clothing item that they will probably only need or want to wear one time.  For example, if there is a big event that they need to attend and want to impress everyone there, but they really can’t afford to buy and keep the outfit, this is where the problem lies.  Why keep the item when you can wear it for the event and then return it and get your money back?  Of course this logic leads to dishonesty, but that doesn’t stop everyone from doing it.

But how can a merchandise protection device help you prevent theft if you don’t have an actual storefront?  It’s easy, because Alpha Shark Tags aren’t your typical clothing security tags.  They are made specifically to fight fraudulent returns, and all you have to do is attach the tags to your clothing before you ship the merchandise to the customer.  The customer can try on the clothing item without removing the tag, but they won’t want to wear it in public because it is highly visible.  If they like the purchased item and want to keep it, the tag can be easily removed with a pair of scissors.  

The goal of Alpha Shark Tags isn’t to eliminate returns altogether, but only to reduce the chances of fraudulent returns from occurring.  You can still accept returns, but you can require that the tag still be attached to the garment when it is returned if the customer wants a full refund.  If you decided to, you may want to offer a partial refund if the tag was removed from the garment before returned, but that is a decision you’d have to make and add to your refund policy.  

For more information contact us at clothingsecurity.net or call 1.770.426.0547