Alpha Cable Lock-5 WC blog 22
Prevent Shoplifting-5
Shoes Walking Out On You? Alpha Mini Cable Locks Can Bring Theft To A Screeching Halt!
How do you stop shoplifting in a department like shoes? This was one of those departments where I found it difficult to prevent theft when I was an Assets Protection Manager. We regularly found old shoes in a box sitting on a shelf…YUCK! I was fairly certain they were not donations to the store. Of course we also had the regular shoplifters who would steal shoes, box and all without leaving anything behind. We didn’t have a lot we could do except place soft EAS tags on the shoes, but generally this was restricted to higher priced shoes. Soft tags were problematic because they were pulled off with the hang tags. Alpha Security products include a mini Alpha Cable Lock as an effective means to prevent shoplifting of shoes (as well as other hard to tag merchandise).
Larger hard tags tend to be too big and bulky to place on shoes and can interfere with trying the shoe on. Soft EAS tags on a box or on hang tags make no sense because hang tags can be pulled off and when on a box, the shoes are just removed from the box. The mini Alpha Cable Lock has a steel cable that can be run through a shoe eyelet or around a sandal strap. The cable is secured in an alarmed locking mechanism. The alarm device will sound if the cable is cut and store staff will be alerted that someone is attempting to steal a pair of shoes. If a shoplifter attempts to leave the store with a pair of shoes secured by a cable lock, the electronic article surveillance antenna alarm will be triggered. Because the device is secured through the shoe eyelet, the shoe is not damaged from pins holes. The cable of the Alpha Cable Lock is small enough to fit through the eyelet while the Alarm mechanism is large enough to provide a visual deterrent to prevent shoplifting
Why is it such a big deal to focus on shoe theft? Because it is a very real issue and with the prices of shoes being what they are, one pair of shoes walking out of a store can be a significant loss. There is a particular brand of athletic shoe that has prices over $300.00 for a single pair of shoes. A name brand hiking/outdoors boot has styles well over $200.00 a pair. There are women’s dress shoes advertised for over $150 for a pair of high heeled shoes. If a shoe has laces, straps, clasps or buckles, the mini Alpha Cable Lock offers the retailer the protection needed to prevent shoplifting. Certainly not ALL shoes can be tagged if they don’t have a place to secure the tag, but there are methods to help stop the shoplifting of those styles, such as displaying a single shoe or as an alternative, using the soft EAS tags (at least for lower priced shoes).
The question arises, “Why not display one shoe of every style and prevent shoplifting altogether?” I would argue that there are two reasons for not doing this. From a customer service stand point a merchant has to personally assist every customer that wants to try on shoes. On a busy day this may not be practical. I believe every customer should be greeted and made to feel welcome, however not every customer wants one on one attention the entire time they are in a store. This can actually drive customers away if they feel “crowded”. The second reason not to display shoes like this is that customers will find a shoe they want and try it on, but if they like it they want to try on the other shoe also. Not having the second shoe available, a customer has to find an employee and then the employee has to go to the stockroom and find the other shoe. I have been one of those customers, with one sales person in the department trying to assist three or four families and I had to wait for assistance to allow my son to try on the second shoe. No retailer should be willing to risk losing a customer because of a lack of service.
Don’t let shoplifters walk all over you. Use Alpha Cable Locks to prevent shoplifting of your shoes. You will improve the level of customer service you can provide without adding payroll and your customers can make selections, take them to a point of sale without waiting for additional assistance and this translates to more profit!
For more information on Alpha Cable Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
How do you stop shoplifting in a department like shoes? This was one of those departments where I found it difficult to prevent theft when I was an Assets Protection Manager. We regularly found old shoes in a box sitting on a shelf…YUCK! I was fairly certain they were not donations to the store. Of course we also had the regular shoplifters who would steal shoes, box and all without leaving anything behind. We didn’t have a lot we could do except place soft EAS tags on the shoes, but generally this was restricted to higher priced shoes. Soft tags were problematic because they were pulled off with the hang tags. Alpha Security products include a mini Alpha Cable Lock as an effective means to prevent shoplifting of shoes (as well as other hard to tag merchandise).
Larger hard tags tend to be too big and bulky to place on shoes and can interfere with trying the shoe on. Soft EAS tags on a box or on hang tags make no sense because hang tags can be pulled off and when on a box, the shoes are just removed from the box. The mini Alpha Cable Lock has a steel cable that can be run through a shoe eyelet or around a sandal strap. The cable is secured in an alarmed locking mechanism. The alarm device will sound if the cable is cut and store staff will be alerted that someone is attempting to steal a pair of shoes. If a shoplifter attempts to leave the store with a pair of shoes secured by a cable lock, the electronic article surveillance antenna alarm will be triggered. Because the device is secured through the shoe eyelet, the shoe is not damaged from pins holes. The cable of the Alpha Cable Lock is small enough to fit through the eyelet while the Alarm mechanism is large enough to provide a visual deterrent to prevent shoplifting
Why is it such a big deal to focus on shoe theft? Because it is a very real issue and with the prices of shoes being what they are, one pair of shoes walking out of a store can be a significant loss. There is a particular brand of athletic shoe that has prices over $300.00 for a single pair of shoes. A name brand hiking/outdoors boot has styles well over $200.00 a pair. There are women’s dress shoes advertised for over $150 for a pair of high heeled shoes. If a shoe has laces, straps, clasps or buckles, the mini Alpha Cable Lock offers the retailer the protection needed to prevent shoplifting. Certainly not ALL shoes can be tagged if they don’t have a place to secure the tag, but there are methods to help stop the shoplifting of those styles, such as displaying a single shoe or as an alternative, using the soft EAS tags (at least for lower priced shoes).
The question arises, “Why not display one shoe of every style and prevent shoplifting altogether?” I would argue that there are two reasons for not doing this. From a customer service stand point a merchant has to personally assist every customer that wants to try on shoes. On a busy day this may not be practical. I believe every customer should be greeted and made to feel welcome, however not every customer wants one on one attention the entire time they are in a store. This can actually drive customers away if they feel “crowded”. The second reason not to display shoes like this is that customers will find a shoe they want and try it on, but if they like it they want to try on the other shoe also. Not having the second shoe available, a customer has to find an employee and then the employee has to go to the stockroom and find the other shoe. I have been one of those customers, with one sales person in the department trying to assist three or four families and I had to wait for assistance to allow my son to try on the second shoe. No retailer should be willing to risk losing a customer because of a lack of service.
Don’t let shoplifters walk all over you. Use Alpha Cable Locks to prevent shoplifting of your shoes. You will improve the level of customer service you can provide without adding payroll and your customers can make selections, take them to a point of sale without waiting for additional assistance and this translates to more profit!
For more information on Alpha Cable Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
