What are some of the things that used to drive me crazy as a Retail Loss Prevention Manager and A Manager On Duty that I would like to clear up for people:
- No, the “sampler” chocolates with a cellophane wrap and a price tag on them are not free samples.
- Yes, we have a cooler of drinks at the checklanes and bags of chips, and no they are not complimentary to start your shopping journey as you enter the store.
- Yes, the size small shirt that is blue at the bottom of the stack is the same size small as the small red one you looked at on the top of the stack. And no, the shirts are not self-folding after you toss it back on the fixture.
- Yes, the price you see is the best price you will get, and no we are not a yard sale where you can dicker on a price.
- No, we don’t have a service to pick up the shopping cart you rolled all the way home and left there.
- Yes, a limit of six items at a time in the fitting room means six and not twenty.
- Oh, the lawnmower you want to return three months after buying it that has grass, dirt, scratches and dents doesn’t work so you want your money back? Gee, I don’t see why that would be a problem, and you say it hasn’t worked right since you bought it?
Finally; Yes, I see the tags are on the bathing suit you are returning and yes you have a receipt, and while I am sure that you bought it with sand already in it, I still can’t believe you are returning this! It was true I had people return swim wear they had obviously worn to the beach and at the end of their vacation return to the store. Tags were put back on the merchandise, they had receipts and policy dictated I had to accept the returns. Had Alpha Shark Tags been available to us, we would not have had those problems.
Why would Alpha Shark Tags have helped to prevent the return of used swim wear (or any other clothing for that matter)? These tags work because they are attached to clothing and not removed until the purchaser does so when they get home and decide to keep the item. Unlike manufacturer labels and price tickets that are attached by a plastic hang tag, the Alpha Shark Tag is clipped together and must be cut off to be removed. Once removed the tag cannot be reattached and is rendered useless. What does this matter? There are customers that commit return fraud by wardrobing. Wardrobing is the act of purchasing merchandise with the intention of wearing it once or twice and returning it. By using Shark Tags on garments a store is able to prevent wardrobing.
Wardrobing requires a customer to keep receipts and often they reattach price tags and merchandise tickets. With Alpha Shark Tags stores can enforce a policy requiring a tag to be on the merchandise in order to return it to the store. Yes, the clothing can still be tried on without any problems and a customer can know exactly what it will look like when they wear it. Clothes can even be given as a gift along with a gift receipt and then returned if the item doesn’t fit, as long as the tag is in place. For retailers, the beauty of the Shark Tag is that without the tag in place and attached, they can deny the return. The clothes that are returned will still be new and ready for resale, there is no necessity to markdown the garment due to wear.
Don’t lose profits due to wardrobing return fraud, use Alpha Shark Tags and have confidence that returned clothes are new and unused. You can also avoid some of those pet peeves that I was forced to endure.
Need more information on Alpha Shark Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
