Using Checkpoint Tags to protect your merchandise is a cost efficient method of securing almost all of the merchandise found in retail stores. There are several different types of anti-shoplifting devices on the market for all different kinds of merchandise, but these tags are one of the most versatile options if you are unsure what would be right for your store. Depending on what type of merchandise you sell in your store, you could use soft tags, that you can stick on pretty much anything, or hard tags which allow you to reuse them over and over again. The hard tags can also be used with other accessories such as lanyards or other devices made to attach to merchandise that can be used together with the tags to help stop shoplifting.
A while back, I worked at a store that had a problem with numerous amounts of cosmetics items disappearing from the shelves. We identified the problem by scanning shelf labels of merchandise that was either out of stock or very low. While researching, we discovered that some of the merchandise had recently been received, but we were somehow already out of stock. We then checked sales on those particular items, and found that they hadn’t been sold. So that only left a couple of possible explanations as to what happened to the missing merchandise. One explanation is that the merchandise was received, and instead of making its way to the shelves on the sales floor, it was sitting in the stockroom somewhere without being located in the system. The next explanation was that the merchandise was actually stocked, and then stolen by a shoplifter or employee. One thing that was strange was that most of the merchandise that was missing had Checkpoint Tags or other anti-shoplifting devices attached to them.
Around the same time, we also were missing entertainment products such as video games and DVDs. We performed the same research processes to identify the origin of the loss, but were unsuccessful. The next thing I did was start to review many hours of video in from the cosmetics and entertainment areas. I was lucky enough to observe a woman selecting several cosmetic items and placing them into a shopping cart. Her shopping cart had other items in it, such as storage bins and bagged comforter. I continued reviewing video and found that the same woman also selected video games and put them into the shopping cart. After that, she went to an area of the store which was lacking camera coverage. The next time she appeared on camera, she was at the front registers paying for the comforter and storage bins, but the cosmetics and video games where nowhere in sight. I also noticed that the lights on the EAS antennas at the front were flashing as she exited the store, but no one responded to the alarm, and she kept walking out of the store.
Sure enough, a few weeks later, the same woman came into the store and did the same exact thing. This time I was watching her. It turned out that she was putting a layer of video games between a stack of storage bins, and she concealed the cosmetics items by opening the zipper to the comforter and placing the cosmetics in the folds of the comforter, so that it couldn’t be seen. She admitted to stealing with that method several times, and after that, we used hard Checkpoint Tags with a lanyard to keep the comforter zippers closed, only allowing a single finger space to feel the fabric inside. We also followed up with the cashiers to ensure they are looking inside always (L.I.S.A.) when ringing up storage bins or other merchandise that could hide items inside.
For more information contact us: (Checkpoint Tags) or call 1.770.426.0547
Using Checkpoint Tags to protect your merchandise is a cost efficient method of securing almost all of the merchandise found in retail stores. There are several different types of anti-shoplifting devices on the market for all different kinds of merchandise, but these tags are one of the most versatile options if you are unsure what would be right for your store. Depending on what type of merchandise you sell in your store, you could use soft tags, that you can stick on pretty much anything, or hard tags which allow you to reuse them over and over again. The hard tags can also be used with other accessories such as lanyards or other devices made to attach to merchandise that can be used together with the tags to help stop shoplifting.
A while back, I worked at a store that had a problem with numerous amounts of cosmetics items disappearing from the shelves. We identified the problem by scanning shelf labels of merchandise that was either out of stock or very low. While researching, we discovered that some of the merchandise had recently been received, but we were somehow already out of stock. We then checked sales on those particular items, and found that they hadn’t been sold. So that only left a couple of possible explanations as to what happened to the missing merchandise. One explanation is that the merchandise was received, and instead of making its way to the shelves on the sales floor, it was sitting in the stockroom somewhere without being located in the system. The next explanation was that the merchandise was actually stocked, and then stolen by a shoplifter or employee. One thing that was strange was that most of the merchandise that was missing had Checkpoint Tags or other anti-shoplifting devices attached to them.
Around the same time, we also were missing entertainment products such as video games and DVDs. We performed the same research processes to identify the origin of the loss, but were unsuccessful. The next thing I did was start to review many hours of video in from the cosmetics and entertainment areas. I was lucky enough to observe a woman selecting several cosmetic items and placing them into a shopping cart. Her shopping cart had other items in it, such as storage bins and bagged comforter. I continued reviewing video and found that the same woman also selected video games and put them into the shopping cart. After that, she went to an area of the store which was lacking camera coverage. The next time she appeared on camera, she was at the front registers paying for the comforter and storage bins, but the cosmetics and video games where nowhere in sight. I also noticed that the lights on the EAS antennas at the front were flashing as she exited the store, but no one responded to the alarm, and she kept walking out of the store.
Sure enough, a few weeks later, the same woman came into the store and did the same exact thing. This time I was watching her. It turned out that she was putting a layer of video games between a stack of storage bins, and she concealed the cosmetics items by opening the zipper to the comforter and placing the cosmetics in the folds of the comforter, so that it couldn’t be seen. She admitted to stealing with that method several times, and after that, we used hard Checkpoint Tags with a lanyard to keep the comforter zippers closed, only allowing a single finger space to feel the fabric inside. We also followed up with the cashiers to ensure they are looking inside always (L.I.S.A.) when ringing up storage bins or other merchandise that could hide items inside.
For more information contact us: Checkpoint Tags or call 1.770.426.0547
