Sensormatic Security Tags Could Have Prevented This Attempted TV Theft

I get a kick out of each opportunity I get to stop shoplifting even when it isn’t taking place in my store. It happened again, the old Loss Prevention instincts perked up when I saw some suspicious activity in a big box retail store as my wife and I were shopping. As so often happens though when I run into these situations it could have been avoided had the merchandise been protected by using Sensormatic security tags. I will tell you about it in a moment but first I want to explain why I want every store owner and manager to understand the importance of security tags.

Sensormatic security tags are first a visual deterrent to someone who enters a store with the intention of walking out with merchandise they haven’t paid for. This means the reverse is just as true. If a criminal walks into a store and intends to steal and they do find merchandise that isn’t tagged they are going to be more inclined to steal it. Security tags aren’t hard to put on merchandise and believe it or not they are affordable. Security labels are designed for one-time use but come in bulk quantities. Hard tags are meant for multiple uses and stand up to extensive use. Multi-use also means there is little need for replacement tag purchases. It is a great way to save money while protecting what is important in your store. To make a system complete it requires installing Sensormatic pedestals at the front doors to the business. A quick visit to the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website and a click on their free ROI calculator and you can see for yourself how affordable all of this can be. 

So now back to how my shopping trip turned into an adventure to stop shoplifting. My wife and I were walking down an aisle to pick up a box of trash bags and I watched a man pulling a large, black trash bag from a roll. He seemed to be talking to himself while opening up this single bag. I also noticed there was a shopping cart with only a 32 inch LCD television in it. The cart was blocking another customer so I asked the man if the cart was his so the woman and her child could get by. He apologized and moved the buggy. Well, that confirmed for me the cart and the television were his. At this point he started to talk to the woman telling her he was trying to see how big the bags were. I wasn’t buying his act. My wife and I got to the end of the aisle and I stopped and watched him. My wife asked what I was doing and when I told her she rolled her eyes as if to say, “Here we go again!” I watched as the man wheeled the buggy, television and his single trash bag down another aisle. I saw an employee, told him about my L.P. background and about the suspect and the television and suggested he get someone from L.P. or a manager. The suspect was in another aisle trying to place the bag over the television. I walked up and started to talk to him and commented that he had forgotten the rest of the bags an aisle over. He went back and picked up the package and said something about forgetting it. As he walked to another aisle I followed him and watched as he put the package of bags on a shelf. He attempted again to put the bag on the merchandise. Fortunately for him I happened to see where he “accidently” put the bags down again and took them to him. He acknowledged his error and put the bags in his shopping cart and moved the television to the bottom rail of the cart and proceeded to tell me he was going to check-out. Did I mention I also now saw a single can of beer in the child seat covered by the bags? A manager came up and asked me if I was okay. I told him the situation and he said he would tell the front door people and cashiers to look for him (not that he had walked far from us). So while I did not see the final outcome of this I do believe I did stop shoplifting of a television from taking place in this store.

While I enjoyed this game of cops and robbers it could have been avoided had Sensormatic security tags, specifically the Magnetic Alarming 2-Tone Wrap been used on this item. Since I can’t be everywhere at once, I recommend talking to the folks at Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. and find out how they can help you get your own Sensormatic system.

Sesnormatic hard tags are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.