Sensormatic Safers – 4 WC Blog 766
Prevent Shoplifting -3
Enjoy The Freedom That Comes With Sensormatic Safers
I enjoy customer service and helping customers but when I have to assist a customer because the items they want are locked-up instead of protected by Sensormatic Safers it is frustrating. In the store I work at we sell computer software and there are many items on display that are what I call ‘live’ products having the actual discs in them. As a precaution to prevent shoplifting there are also a lot of programs that we carry and we only display empty boxes for customers. The boxes are even labeled with a warning that these are empty display boxes. Now coming from a person who has been involved in Retail Loss Prevention, writing about it or managing a Loss Prevention department you would assume I would be in favor of this. That is simply not the case. While I hate theft I am not in favor of locking up most merchandise.
Locking up merchandise is a headache for a number of reasons. One concern I have is if merchandise is locked up and has to be retrieved from a secure stockroom an associate is often alone to retrieve that item. Now think about the temptation that may present to an associate. They are surrounded by “high-risk” merchandise in a secluded environment. It is an enticement to some people. I have caught employees stealing from secured stockrooms and often those are higher dollar cases than other employee theft incidents because of the merchandise involved. Locking display cases can present a similar problem because there is a notion that no one can see what is going on inside the case if they are trying to sneak merchandise out. The use of Sensormatic Safers puts merchandise out in the public view and makes employee theft more difficult.
Another irritation with locked up merchandise is that the customer has to wait for assistance to get the product. It may be that someone with keys has to come to a display case and show merchandise to the patron. Control over merchandise has to be maintained even when the shopper is looking at the product. Have you ever seen how fast some shoplifters can run during a snatch and run incident? I have and some of these folks could put an Olympic track star to shame (if only they would re-direct their running skills!). Then there are the skilled shoplifters who know how to confuse a salesperson and steal a piece of merchandise through deception and fast-talking. Finally with locking cases customers have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched when an item is taken out of a display case. The employee has no choice but to be observant and the customer feels rushed trying to look over the item. Using retail anti-theft devices like Sensormatic Safers relieve managers of blowing unnecessary payroll on the time workers are tied up retrieving merchandise from lock-up cases and stockrooms. They prevent shoplifting by scam artists and allow customers to pick up an item and walk around the store with it and take it to the register at their leisure.
With several sizes of Safers available to merchants there is a wide range of products a store can choose to protect against pilferage. The design of these anti-theft devices is such that there is little impact on the amount of space they require to stock on a peghook. This means you can continue stocking almost the same amount of merchandise you already put out and that helps sales. It also frees up stockroom space for other goods. Have you ever experienced running out of a hot selling item because you did not have enough of it on hand and you couldn’t store additional product for lack of space? More space in the stockroom can give you flexibility to have more of that type of stock on hand so you can replenish your floor faster than waiting on a new shipment.
There are two other problems associated with empty display boxes. First, customers tend to see the empty box and since the shelf isn’t empty they assume the store has more on hand. This is not necessarily true but it can cause a real issue with customers. The other problem is at inventory time and if your inventory counters don’t pay attention they may count an empty box and skew your results. It may look good for one year but you will pay for it the next year when the errors are found and corrected.
Prevent shoplifting by protecting merchandise with Sensormatic Safers and tags. Locking up merchandise wastes payroll, wastes employee time and annoys your customers which can lead to lost sales and lost patronage. Owners can experience freedom when using Sensormatic products.
Get more information on Sensormatic Safers contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I enjoy customer service and helping customers but when I have to assist a customer because the items they want are locked-up instead of protected by Sensormatic Safers it is frustrating. In the store I work at we sell computer software and there are many items on display that are what I call ‘live’ products having the actual discs in them. As a precaution to prevent shoplifting there are also a lot of programs that we carry and we only display empty boxes for customers. The boxes are even labeled with a warning that these are empty display boxes. Now coming from a person who has been involved in Retail Loss Prevention, writing about it or managing a Loss Prevention department you would assume I would be in favor of this. That is simply not the case. While I hate theft I am not in favor of locking up most merchandise.
Locking up merchandise is a headache for a number of reasons. One concern I have is if merchandise is locked up and has to be retrieved from a secure stockroom an associate is often alone to retrieve that item. Now think about the temptation that may present to an associate. They are surrounded by “high-risk” merchandise in a secluded environment. It is an enticement to some people. I have caught employees stealing from secured stockrooms and often those are higher dollar cases than other employee theft incidents because of the merchandise involved. Locking display cases can present a similar problem because there is a notion that no one can see what is going on inside the case if they are trying to sneak merchandise out. The use of Sensormatic Safers puts merchandise out in the public view and makes employee theft more difficult.
Another irritation with locked up merchandise is that the customer has to wait for assistance to get the product. It may be that someone with keys has to come to a display case and show merchandise to the patron. Control over merchandise has to be maintained even when the shopper is looking at the product. Have you ever seen how fast some shoplifters can run during a snatch and run incident? I have and some of these folks could put an Olympic track star to shame (if only they would re-direct their running skills!). Then there are the skilled shoplifters who know how to confuse a salesperson and steal a piece of merchandise through deception and fast-talking. Finally with locking cases customers have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched when an item is taken out of a display case. The employee has no choice but to be observant and the customer feels rushed trying to look over the item. Using retail anti-theft devices like Sensormatic Safers relieve managers of blowing unnecessary payroll on the time workers are tied up retrieving merchandise from lock-up cases and stockrooms. They prevent shoplifting by scam artists and allow customers to pick up an item and walk around the store with it and take it to the register at their leisure.
With several sizes of Safers available to merchants there is a wide range of products a store can choose to protect against pilferage. The design of these anti-theft devices is such that there is little impact on the amount of space they require to stock on a peghook. This means you can continue stocking almost the same amount of merchandise you already put out and that helps sales. It also frees up stockroom space for other goods. Have you ever experienced running out of a hot selling item because you did not have enough of it on hand and you couldn’t store additional product for lack of space? More space in the stockroom can give you flexibility to have more of that type of stock on hand so you can replenish your floor faster than waiting on a new shipment.
There are two other problems associated with empty display boxes. First, customers tend to see the empty box and since the shelf isn’t empty they assume the store has more on hand. This is not necessarily true but it can cause a real issue with customers. The other problem is at inventory time and if your inventory counters don’t pay attention they may count an empty box and skew your results. It may look good for one year but you will pay for it the next year when the errors are found and corrected.
Prevent shoplifting by protecting merchandise with Sensormatic Safers and tags. Locking up merchandise wastes payroll, wastes employee time and annoys your customers which can lead to lost sales and lost patronage. Owners can experience freedom when using Sensormatic products.
Get more information on Sensormatic Safers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
