Showcases Slow Down Sales; Use Gaming Keepers Instead

I just had an experience at a big box retailer that made me turn to my wife and tell her I had to get home because I had to write about how to prevent shoplifting. No, it wasn’t what the store or the associate did right that got me into a ranting mood it was what they were doing wrong that got my attention. It also got me to thinking what the CEO of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. Bill Bregar would say to the employee if he had been in my shoes. My wife and I were shopping for a video game as a gift for one of our son’s upcoming birthday. Now this store uses lock-up display cases for many of their video games, mostly the newer games on the market. I don’t like display cases but I get it, many stores don’t know about the benefits of Keepers to protect electronics. HOWEVER, this store already uses gaming keepers to prevent shoplifting of…you guessed it, VIDEO GAMES!
     

I will continue with my rant momentarily but I want to be sure everyone knows what I am referencing when I talk about Keepers. They are see-through, tough, plastic cases that function using electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology. The boxes allow merchants to avoid the hassle of unlocking merchandise in a showcase. The showcase is supposed to require an employee to remove an item, allow one or two things to be looked at and the employee carries the item(s) to the register for the customer. A Keeper allows a customer like me to view the item, read labels and carry it around the store until I am ready to make a purchase. No assistance is required so staff members can help more customers in a store and drive sales. Should a customer turn out to be a shoplifter and try to walk out the door with merchandise protected in gaming keepers an EAS tower at the doors will detect the keeper and sound an alarm. Front end employees respond to the alarm and retrieve the merchandise from the would-be thief.
     

What could have possibly happened that would make me so insane? I located the game I wanted in the showcase. No employees were in the immediate vicinity so I walked to the cash stand and found an employee cleaning around the register. The employee said she would be with me in a minute. I walked back to the showcase and waited for a couple minutes and the employee finally came over. She unlocked the case with her key and removed the game, closed and locked the case and handed me the game. I asked if I had to pay for it at the cash stand where she had been. No, I could continue shopping and pay for it up front. I am not sure how a store can prevent shoplifting if they are locking merchandise up only to hand it over to a customer. My wife and I took the game and walked through the rest of the electronics department. I came to a dump bin filled with marked down video games and all of them were secured in gaming keepers! I just shook my head in disbelief. 
     

I have to wonder how much money has been lost in markdowns for these games that did not sell when they were new and popular. Had the store trusted the protection of Keepers to put the games within the reach of customers when they were new releases there would not be as many on hand today. Customers do not want to wait for assistance to browse merchandise. The effort to locate a sales associate and get them to assist you at a display case can be frustrating and there is no way to measure the lost sales this causes. By offering gaming keepers to their clients, Loss Prevention Systems Inc. sees the potential for increasing profits through sales and still delivering merchandise protection that reduces shortage.

 

 I bought the game and the store made their money but not all of their customers are me and neither are yours. Lost profit due to markdowns because of unnecessary showcases can be avoided. Get merchandise into the hands of your customers by using keepers for games and much more.

 

Need more information on gaming keepers? Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today