Alpha Thunder Tag-4 WC blog 227
Retail anti-theft device-5
Prevent Shoplifting-3
“Foiling” Professional Shoplifters And Their Booster Bags; The Benefits Of Using The 3-Alarm Alpha Thunder Tag
There are a lot of retail anti-theft devices on the market and each one can prevent shoplifting. The degree to which they can decrease theft may vary, based on the features of the device. The Alpha Thunder tag is a good example of a device with optimal impact, providing serious protection for merchandise. The tags have a number of benefits not offered by some other retail anti-theft devices on the market. The tag is applied directly to packaging using an adhesive backing that makes it stick to the item. It can be attached to boxed merchandise, plastic clamshell packaging, even to display merchandise such as tablets, laptops, and hardware displays like power tools. The Alpha Thunder tag has a tamper alarm built into it using a plunger device so that if a shoplifter were to try to pull it off, a loud 95 decibel alarm is activated. Regardless of where a thief is located in the store, that alarm will draw the attention of store employees so they can respond and deter a theft.
Many retail anti-theft devices have one or two alarm technology designs meaning they will activate an electronic article surveillance (EAS) antenna or they will activate the alarm antenna AND they have a tamper alarm to prevent removal. The Alpha Thunder tag is a 3-alarm device. It has the tamper alarm I spoke of, it activates an EAS antenna AND it has an additional internal alarm that activates if it passes through an EAS antenna and goes out the door. The one and two alarm devices activate antennas, but if a shoplifter continues out the door, there is no other alert to draw attention to them. Merchandise alarming while in the possession of a criminal draws undesired attention that a shoplifter, especially a professional shoplifter wants to avoid. While all retail anti-theft devices can prevent shoplifting the Thunder tag offers added peace of mind to the store owner or manager.
One aspect of Alpha’s 3-alarm devices that excites me about these products is they have been proven they can be detected through 5 layers of foil in booster bag tests. Booster bags are one of the illegal tools that professional shoplifters employ to try to defeat EAS antenna systems. The idea is that the foil interrupts the radio frequency waves that allow a tag to be detected by the antenna. Professional shoplifters come to a store and may have a foil lined bag folded and hidden under their clothes, or it may be a handbag or tote that they have lined on the inside with foil. They fill the bag with the merchandise they want and then leave the store, confident that even if the merchandise is protected with retail anti-theft devices the bag will prevent an EAS antenna from reading any devices or tags. With the 3-alarm tags, foil is no longer a concern for retailers. I saw the potential losses a foil lined bag could have caused my store when I caught a shoplifter stealing packages of razor blades. The suspect filled his bag and walked out through our EAS antennas but the alarm did not sound. Fortunately I had been on the salesfloor watching him and was able to detain him based on my observation of him otherwise we would have lost several hundred dollars in merchandise. Our merchandise was tagged but those particular tags could not be picked up due to the foil lining.
Stock shortage due to merchandise theft is a drain on a store’s profit margin. Left unchecked it gets worse over time as thieves identify a store as an easy target and make it a regular on their list of stores to hit. Using the Alpha Thunder Tag to protect displays and merchandise, along with EAS antennas, a store can prevent shoplifting and add those shortage dollars back to the profit line.
Get more information on Alpha Thunder Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
There are a lot of retail anti-theft devices on the market and each one can prevent shoplifting. The degree to which they can decrease theft may vary, based on the features of the device. The Alpha Thunder tag is a good example of a device with optimal impact, providing serious protection for merchandise. The tags have a number of benefits not offered by some other retail anti-theft devices on the market. The tag is applied directly to packaging using an adhesive backing that makes it stick to the item. It can be attached to boxed merchandise, plastic clamshell packaging, even to display merchandise such as tablets, laptops, and hardware displays like power tools. The Alpha Thunder tag has a tamper alarm built into it using a plunger device so that if a shoplifter were to try to pull it off, a loud 95 decibel alarm is activated. Regardless of where a thief is located in the store, that alarm will draw the attention of store employees so they can respond and deter a theft.
Many retail anti-theft devices have one or two alarm technology designs meaning they will activate an electronic article surveillance (EAS) antenna or they will activate the alarm antenna AND they have a tamper alarm to prevent removal. The Alpha Thunder tag is a 3-alarm device. It has the tamper alarm I spoke of, it activates an EAS antenna AND it has an additional internal alarm that activates if it passes through an EAS antenna and goes out the door. The one and two alarm devices activate antennas, but if a shoplifter continues out the door, there is no other alert to draw attention to them. Merchandise alarming while in the possession of a criminal draws undesired attention that a shoplifter, especially a professional shoplifter wants to avoid. While all retail anti-theft devices can prevent shoplifting the Thunder tag offers added peace of mind to the store owner or manager.
One aspect of Alpha’s 3-alarm devices that excites me about these products is they have been proven they can be detected through 5 layers of foil in booster bag tests. Booster bags are one of the illegal tools that professional shoplifters employ to try to defeat EAS antenna systems. The idea is that the foil interrupts the radio frequency waves that allow a tag to be detected by the antenna. Professional shoplifters come to a store and may have a foil lined bag folded and hidden under their clothes, or it may be a handbag or tote that they have lined on the inside with foil. They fill the bag with the merchandise they want and then leave the store, confident that even if the merchandise is protected with retail anti-theft devices the bag will prevent an EAS antenna from reading any devices or tags. With the 3-alarm tags, foil is no longer a concern for retailers. I saw the potential losses a foil lined bag could have caused my store when I caught a shoplifter stealing packages of razor blades. The suspect filled his bag and walked out through our EAS antennas but the alarm did not sound. Fortunately I had been on the salesfloor watching him and was able to detain him based on my observation of him otherwise we would have lost several hundred dollars in merchandise. Our merchandise was tagged but those particular tags could not be picked up due to the foil lining.
Stock shortage due to merchandise theft is a drain on a store’s profit margin. Left unchecked it gets worse over time as thieves identify a store as an easy target and make it a regular on their list of stores to hit. Using the Alpha Thunder Tag to protect displays and merchandise, along with EAS antennas, a store can prevent shoplifting and add those shortage dollars back to the profit line.
Get more information on Alpha Thunder Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
