DON’T STAIN YOUR SOCKS WITH ALPHA INK TAGS!
Most large retailers have one thing in common for the most part; they sell socks. Think about any big box or chain store and quickly realize that I’m right. (Or you can just trust that I’ve done the research). You know what else is common to those retailers (mine included) and those socks? They get stolen. Every hour of every day of every week, they and most likely you, are losing money to thieves who are stealing your socks! You may simply overlook hosiery as a major shrink category, but I can tell you personally, in my stores two years ago, I lost about $25k in that category per store. That is a significant amount of loss. Loss that could be easily prevented with an Alpha Ink Tag.
Almost every customers that comes into my store to purchase a pair of shoes will likely also leave with a pair of socks. Those bulk socks weren’t the problem, but the athletic socks. I carry some single pairs that retail for $15.99 or higher. Not only were these being stolen in massive amounts by every passing teenager, they were very easy to resell, which made them a prime target for organized retail crime groups. I needed something to prevent shoplifting, as the theft of these socks alone were greatly impacting our bottom line.
After seeing the inventory loss creep up to such a substantial number, I decided to look into ways to better secure this product. I needed something that would do its job to prevent shoplifting, but also keep the product easily accessible to the customer. I couldn’t very well go locking up bags of cotton being a glass case now! I tried a few different options like soft tags and even pencil tags, but nothing gave me the results I was after quite like the Alpha Ink Tags.
Right off the bat, the Alpha Ink Tag has more of a deterrence simply in its appearance. You’d be surprised at how many shoplifters attempt to steal these items and quickly abandoned them when they notice that tag. The thieves were not willing to take the chance of destroying the product with ink by removing the tag. Once I saw just how effective they were in preventing shoplifting, we jumped head first in tagging each and every pair of socks we had over $9.99. My supervisor thought I was going a bit over-board, but I knew the problem we faced and I also knew that a little effort to prevent theft would go a long way to increase profits.
With the tag placed on the back of the product, the normal shopper cannot tell that there is such a large diameter tag protecting the merchandise. Since the vast majority of people don’t try on socks before purchasing them, it didn’t affect our sales one bit. This was the perfect balance between customer service and loss prevention. More importantly, it worked. It stopped those socks from walking out the door, all with just a minor investment in technology and labor. Over the course of the past year I seen our stores post very nice sales increases in the hosiery category. More importantly, the losses have dwindled from a high of $25k all the way down to a mere few hundred dollars. I’d say if you’re not using ink tags, then you’re definitely letting money walk right out the door!!
For more information, contact us: Alpha Ink Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547
Most large retailers have one thing in common for the most part; they sell socks. Think about any big box or chain store and quickly realize that I’m right. (Or you can just trust that I’ve done the research). You know what else is common to those retailers (mine included) and those socks? They get stolen. Every hour of every day of every week, they and most likely you, are losing money to thieves who are stealing your socks! You may simply overlook hosiery as a major shrink category, but I can tell you personally, in my stores two years ago, I lost about $25k in that category per store. That is a significant amount of loss. Loss that could be easily prevented with an Alpha Ink Tag.
Almost every customer that comes into my store to purchase a pair of shoes will likely also leave with a pair of socks. Those bulk socks weren’t the problem, but the athletic socks. I carry some single pairs that retail for $15.99 or higher. Not only were these being stolen in massive amounts by every passing teenager, they were very easy to resell, which made them a prime target for organized retail crime groups. I needed something to prevent shoplifting, as the theft of these socks alone were greatly impacting our bottom line.
After seeing the inventory loss creep up to such a substantial number, I decided to look into ways to better secure this product. I needed something that would do its job to prevent shoplifting, but also keep the product easily accessible to the customer. I couldn’t very well go locking up bags of cotton being a glass case now! I tried a few different options like soft tags and even pencil tags, but nothing gave me the results I was after quite like the Alpha Ink Tags.
Right off the bat, the Alpha Ink Tag has more of a deterrence simply in its appearance. You’d be surprised at how many shoplifters attempt to steal these items and quickly abandoned them when they notice that tag. The thieves were not willing to take the chance of destroying the product with ink by removing the tag. Once I saw just how effective they were in preventing shoplifting, we jumped head first in tagging each and every pair of socks we had over $9.99. My supervisor thought I was going a bit over-board, but I knew the problem we faced and I also knew that a little effort to prevent theft would go a long way to increase profits.
With the tag placed on the back of the product, the normal shopper cannot tell that there is such a large diameter tag protecting the merchandise. Since the vast majority of people don’t try on socks before purchasing them, it didn’t affect our sales one bit. This was the perfect balance between customer service and loss prevention. More importantly, it worked. It stopped those socks from walking out the door, all with just a minor investment in technology and labor. Over the course of the past year I saw our stores post very nice sales increases in the hosiery category. More importantly, the losses have dwindled from a high of $25k all the way down to a mere few hundred dollars. I’d say if you’re not using ink tags, then you’re definitely letting money walk right out the door!!
For more information on Alpha Ink Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
