If you already operate, or are considering opening a shop to sell apparel and accessories, you will want to take a long serious look at what type of clothing security measures you need to have in place. Let me list some facts found in a recent study of retail theft and shoplifting, and you can decide whether or not you are going to need to invest in a clothing alarm system.
This study was conducted by loss prevention professionals throughout the country, compiled together, and all the data averaged out.
96% of retail establishments, regardless of size, suffered losses due to shoplifting. That was up from 94.5%.
This is obviously not just clothing establishments, but also grocery, drug and electronics stores, among others. However, this information comes only from thefts that were reported. Imagine what went out the doors of businesses that had no idea it was even happening. If your store is not utilizing some type of clothing alarm to help you deter and detect theft, you could be losing big.
1 in every 11 people will steal something from a retailer today.
Only 3% of those will be committed by professional shoplifters and members of organized crime rings. More than 74% will be committed by adults, and most of them have jobs. So that means if you do have a clothing alarm and you’re only putting security tags on clothes that are appealing to kids and teens, you may be targeting the wrong audience. Working adults will steal because they want expensive name brand clothing just like anyone else, but they don’t want to pay for them, even if they can afford it. Many times these thefts are strictly on impulse, with zero pre-planning. They walk in just to look around, and then find themselves with a golden opportunity to get that hot item out the door without anyone noticing. Most often, name brand denim jeans and handbags are the top pilfered items for any clothing retailer. The good news is those items can be easily protected with clothing security tags. There are hard tags that can be pinned on in conspicuous places, soft tags that can be adhered or sewn into hidden pockets and seams, and even tags that can be attached via lanyard. When there is a visible means of deterrence present, impulse shoplifters that were “just looking” will decide it’s not worth the risk of being caught.
Clothing theft is up 30% from just last year.
Last month, a small popular clothing and accessory store made the headlines for a very brazen theft attempt. (My daughter loves to shop here, and I know for a fact they have no type of clothing alarm in place.) Two middle age women shopping around in the store, just looking, laughing, and acting normal, like they are out for a shopping day without the kids. They have very large bags, but they are not acting suspicious, and neither employee working feels they are a threat. One employee leaves the sales floor and the women apparently decide they are finished browsing. Temptation gets the better of one of the women, because just as they are walking out the door, she grabs one more item and stuffs it into her bag. She does this just as the employee that had walked away returns. The employee yells for the women to stop, but of course they make a run for it. Lucky for the store staff, the police were close enough to catch them down the street. They discovered 67 pieces of stolen merchandise packed down in those two bags, worth almost $1,300.
Will that store’s managers or owners choose to look into adding some sort of clothing security tools or will they take a chance on being victimized again? Only they can decide whether or not the cost is worth the benefits from investing in a clothing alarm system. I would say after that kind of close call, they can’t afford not to.
For more information about clothing alarms, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Clothingsecurity.net
If you already operate, or are considering opening a shop to sell apparel and accessories, you will want to take a long serious look at what type of clothing security measures you need to have in place. Let me list some facts found in a recent study of retail theft and shoplifting, and you can decide whether or not you are going to need to invest in a EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) System.
This study was conducted by loss prevention professionals throughout the country, compiled together, and all the data averaged out.
- 96% of retail establishments, regardless of size, suffered losses due to shoplifting. That was up from 94.5%.
This is obviously not just clothing establishments, but also grocery, drug and electronics stores, among others. However, this information comes only from thefts that were reported. Imagine what went out the doors of businesses that had no idea it was even happening. If your store is not utilizing some type of clothing alarm to help you deter and detect theft, you could be losing big.
- 1 in every 11 people will steal something from a retailer today.Only 3% of those will be committed by professional shoplifters and members of organized crime rings. More than 74% will be committed by adults, and most of them have jobs. So that means if you do have a clothing alarm and you’re only putting Checkpoint Tags on clothes that are appealing to kids and teens, you may be targeting the wrong audience. Working adults will steal because they want expensive name brand clothing just like anyone else, but they don’t want to pay for them, even if they can afford it. Many times these thefts are strictly on impulse, with zero pre-planning. They walk in just to look around, and then find themselves with a golden opportunity to get that hot item out the door without anyone noticing. Most often, name brand denim jeans and handbags are the top pilfered items for any clothing retailer. The good news is those items can be easily protected with Checkpoint Tags. There are hard tags that can be pinned on in conspicuous places, soft tags that can be adhered or sewn into hidden pockets and seams, and even tags that can be attached via lanyard. When there is a visible means of deterrence present, impulse shoplifters that were “just looking” will decide it’s not worth the risk of being caught.
- Clothing theft is up 30% from just last year. Last month, a small popular clothing and accessory store made the headlines for a very brazen theft attempt. (My daughter loves to shop here, and I know for a fact they have no type of clothing alarm in place.) Two middle age women shopping around in the store, just looking, laughing, and acting normal, like they are out for a shopping day without the kids. They have very large bags, but they are not acting suspicious, and neither employee working feels they are a threat. One employee leaves the sales floor and the women apparently decide they are finished browsing. Temptation gets the better of one of the women, because just as they are walking out the door, she grabs one more item and stuffs it into her bag. She does this just as the employee that had walked away returns. The employee yells for the women to stop, but of course they make a run for it. Luckily for the store staff, the police were close enough to catch them down the street. They discovered 67 pieces of stolen merchandise packed down in those two bags, worth almost $1,300. Will that store’s managers or owners choose to look into adding some sort of clothing security tools or will they take a chance on being victimized again? Only they can decide whether or not the cost is worth the benefits from investing in a clothing alarm system. I would say after that kind of close call, they can’t afford not to.
For more information about Clothing Security, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 or Clothingsecurity.net
