Sometimes, and I really don’t like to admit it, I’m impressed at what a shoplifter will go through in order to make off with goods. I often sit back and watch cases where lots of time and energy are put into a theft. I think what would happen if this person would put that much effort into an actual job. Throughout my career, I have met plenty of individuals that rely solely on the income of shoplifter. Boosting is their 9-5. I’ve also learned that they can find clever ways to try and defeat your Checkpoint Systems as well.
Last football season, I had a pair of coast to coast boosters that were tearing my stores apart. They were targeting jerseys, which sell for about $139 each. They would start their run out East, and within a day or so had traversed the interstate and had hit every single one of my stores. Even with the company alerts, the emphasis on Checkpoint Tags and the prominent display location, they were able to hit each store for about 5 jerseys each, per run. They made 5 total runs last season, causing me a loss of about $35k in a very short amount of time. It was very frustrating how good they were. One would distract the sales clerk while the other would use a pair of pliers to remove the Checkpoint Tag. Once the first booster would conceal a jersey or two, they would swap roles and repeat.
I knew that these guys were aware of the Checkpoint System, so I had to use that to my advantage. The Checkpoint Tags we were using were clearly not effective against these guys. They knew all they needed to do was break the tag and it wouldn’t cause an alarm at the door. I needed something better, so we tested out ink tags on the jerseys at a few stores. The results were pretty funny to watch on video.
The first time I saw a report of where the Checkpoint System worked came a few weeks after rolling them out to the test stores. One of my stores reported them as being in the store, and I was able to find them on video. They came in with their usual routine, but they actually scratched their heads when they saw the ink tag. You could quite literally see the confusion on their faces as they attempted to defeat the tag, but agreed that it might not be such a good idea. The left the store without stealing a single jersey. This was the proof of concept that I needed. This football season, all of my jerseys will be secured with an ink tag. I already know we’ll see a reduction in theft. I’m just curious to know if I’ll see my boosters again.
For more information, contact us: Checkpoint Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547
Sometimes, and I really don’t like to admit it, I’m impressed at what a shoplifter will go through in order to make off with goods. I often sit back and watch cases where lots of time and energy are put into a theft. I think what would happen if this person would put that much effort into an actual job. Throughout my career, I have met plenty of individuals that rely solely on the income of shoplifter. Boosting is their 9-5. I’ve also learned that they can find clever ways to try and defeat your Checkpoint Systems as well.
Last football season, I had a pair of coast to coast boosters that were tearing my stores apart. They were targeting jerseys, which sell for about $139 each. They would start their run out East, and within a day or so had traversed the interstate and had hit every single one of my stores. Even with the company alerts, the emphasis on Checkpoint Tags and the prominent display location, they were able to hit each store for about 5 jerseys each, per run. They made 5 total runs last season, causing me a loss of about $35k in a very short amount of time. It was very frustrating how good they were. One would distract the sales clerk while the other would use a pair of pliers to remove the Checkpoint Tag. Once the first booster would conceal a jersey or two, they would swap roles and repeat.
I knew that these guys were aware of the Checkpoint System, so I had to use that to my advantage. The Checkpoint Tags we were using were clearly not effective against these guys. They knew all they needed to do was break the tag and it wouldn’t cause an alarm at the door. I needed something better, so we tested out ink tags on the jerseys at a few stores. The results were pretty funny to watch on video.
The first time I saw a report of where the Checkpoint System worked came a few weeks after rolling them out to the test stores. One of my stores reported them as being in the store, and I was able to find them on video. They came in with their usual routine, but they actually scratched their heads when they saw the ink tag. You could quite literally see the confusion on their faces as they attempted to defeat the tag, but agreed that it might not be such a good idea. The left the store without stealing a single jersey. This was the proof of concept that I needed. This football season, all of my jerseys will be secured with an ink tag. I already know we’ll see a reduction in theft. I’m just curious to know if I’ll see my boosters again.
For more information, contact us: Checkpoint Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547
