Retail Anti-Theft Devices-5 WC Blog 141
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Alpha Keepers – 5
Prevention Of Shoplifting Requires Retail Ant-Theft Devices And Customer Service
The first step a business owner or manager must take to prevent shoplifting in their stores is to use retail anti-theft devices to protect merchandise. These devices may include electronic article surveillance tags, cameras, showcases, and etc. The thing many business owners forget to address is the fact that retail anti-theft devices alone are not enough to stop theft. There has to be awareness, education and training of staff as well. Protection tools such as Alpha Keepers are great for deterring theft, but the truth of the matter is they don’t stop determined thieves, especially when employees are not nearby to respond to electronic article surveillance alarms.
For someone not aware of what Alpha Keepers are, they are solid, clear plastic boxes with a hinged top that locks in place after merchandise is placed in the box. The boxes are very durable and extremely difficult to break into without the proper detachment key. They are also electronic article surveillance (EAS) sensitive and will activate EAS antennas if they come into the proximity of the antennas. Keepers come in a variety of shapes and sizes giving options for protecting a wide range of products. Protective case designs are available for small health and beauty products to video game software and even round cases for baby formula.
This brings me to the point of this article, do Alpha Keepers prevent shoplifting? Yes and no is my answer. Retail anti-theft devices prevent theft by casual shoplifters who are looking for a quick thrill of stealing but are not interested in risk. The chance that an alarm could be set off at a door or prying off an anti-theft device could trip an alarm is enough to prevent theft by the “amateur” shoplifter. The professional shoplifter who makes their living stealing and reselling generally avoids items that will trigger alarms. Their goal is to leave a building undetected after stealing so they can return at a later time and steal again. So who does that leave since it sounds like most criminals are deterred by retail anti-theft devices? It leaves those who are risk takers and frequently these are the people who are stealing to support drug and alcohol habits.
A case in point is a recent incident at the store I work at as a sales associate. A customer came in one night and my instincts as a prior Loss Prevention Manager kicked in and I was immediately wary of him. The customer was looking around in a suspicious manner and seemed very jittery. I offered him assistance and he told me he was looking for ink cartridges. Our store keeps the cartridges in Alpha Keepers in a corralled area. I walked the customer to the ink cartridges and continued to assist him by trying to determine the cartridge style he needed. The patron said he had to call his mother to find out. Well, the store was busy and we have a limited staff so I took the chance that the ink cartridges would be okay since they were in keeper boxes. I hadn’t walked away very far to assist someone else when I heard the EAS alarm at the doors sound. The “customer” I had been assisting had selected two ink cartridges valued at about a hundred dollars or so combined and he ran out the door. The security boxes did what they were designed to do and set off the alarm, but in this case there was no one in the vicinity of the door to respond to the alarm and challenge him.
Retail anti-theft devices can and usually do prevent shoplifting, but to truly maximize their effectiveness, it is important to adequately staff a store with enough employees. Sometimes it can be as simple as having enough people that someone is in the area of the door to respond to alarms. If extra staffing is out of the question, it may be a matter of placing a cashier and a register at the exit making it difficult for a criminal to grab and run. Just remember, Alpha Keepers are not a cure-all for all theft but they will prevent a significant portion of it and keep your store profitable.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
The first step a business owner or manager must take to prevent shoplifting in their stores is to use retail anti-theft devices to protect merchandise. These devices may include electronic article surveillance tags, cameras, showcases, and etc. The thing many business owners forget to address is the fact that retail anti-theft devices alone are not enough to stop theft. There has to be awareness, education and training of staff as well. Protection tools such as Alpha Keepers are great for deterring theft, but the truth of the matter is they don’t stop determined thieves, especially when employees are not nearby to respond to electronic article surveillance alarms.
For someone not aware of what Alpha Keepers are, they are solid, clear plastic boxes with a hinged top that locks in place after merchandise is placed in the box. The boxes are very durable and extremely difficult to break into without the proper detachment key. They are also electronic article surveillance (EAS) sensitive and will activate EAS antennas if they come into the proximity of the antennas. Keepers come in a variety of shapes and sizes giving options for protecting a wide range of products. Protective case designs are available for small health and beauty products to video game software and even round cases for baby formula.
This brings me to the point of this article, do Alpha Keepers prevent shoplifting? Yes and no is my answer. Retail anti-theft devices prevent theft by casual shoplifters who are looking for a quick thrill of stealing but are not interested in risk. The chance that an alarm could be set off at a door or prying off an anti-theft device could trip an alarm is enough to prevent theft by the “amateur” shoplifter. The professional shoplifter who makes their living stealing and reselling generally avoids items that will trigger alarms. Their goal is to leave a building undetected after stealing so they can return at a later time and steal again. So who does that leave since it sounds like most criminals are deterred by retail anti-theft devices? It leaves those who are risk takers and frequently these are the people who are stealing to support drug and alcohol habits.
A case in point is a recent incident at the store I work at as a sales associate. A customer came in one night and my instincts as a prior Loss Prevention Manager kicked in and I was immediately wary of him. The customer was looking around in a suspicious manner and seemed very jittery. I offered him assistance and he told me he was looking for ink cartridges. Our store keeps the cartridges in Alpha Keepers in a corralled area. I walked the customer to the ink cartridges and continued to assist him by trying to determine the cartridge style he needed. The patron said he had to call his mother to find out. Well, the store was busy and we have a limited staff so I took the chance that the ink cartridges would be okay since they were in keeper boxes. I hadn’t walked away very far to assist someone else when I heard the EAS alarm at the doors sound. The “customer” I had been assisting had selected two ink cartridges valued at about a hundred dollars or so combined and he ran out the door. The security boxes did what they were designed to do and set off the alarm, but in this case there was no one in the vicinity of the door to respond to the alarm and challenge him.
Retail anti-theft devices can and usually do prevent shoplifting, but to truly maximize their effectiveness, it is important to adequately staff a store with enough employees. Sometimes it can be as simple as having enough people that someone is in the area of the door to respond to alarms. If extra staffing is out of the question, it may be a matter of placing a cashier and a register at the exit making it difficult for a criminal to grab and run. Just remember, Alpha Keepers are not a cure-all for all theft but they will prevent a significant portion of it and keep your store profitable.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
ALPHA KEEPERS TO PROTECT BABY FORMULA
Every so often, I get my entire team together and we “blitz” a market. Essentially, the entire LP team for the area comes into one store for a weekend and tries to break the company record for highest single day shoplifting count. Of course, we stack the deck and pick a historically heavy weekend in the highest shrinking store in the area. This past month’s blitz proved to be quite an adventure, that all started with the discovery of Alpha Keepers in the most unusual location.
Not a lot slips by when there’s five agents and a manager in one store. We got to work around 9 and stayed throughout the night. We grabbed the first lifter at around 10am and it was one, right after the other all day long. We were also working with local law enforcement that set up a mobile command center of sorts where they would process the shoplifter. This was a targeted approach to identifying individuals that are involved in organized retail crimes. Part of the process is obtaining consent to search every vehicle.
It was our 5th or 6th booster of the day. The guy, walked out the store with 3 dozen pairs of headphones, valued at $50 each. He goes through the processing and officers gain consent to search his vehicle. Inside is a curious discovery; about 100 cans of infant formula thrown across the rear seat. I can tell immediately from the stickers that this is my product. We protect infant formula with Alpha Keepers, so how did he manage to get this many?
We pop the trunk and find even more. Under the trunk mat, we lift up the flooring and find probably 2 dozen or more Alpha Keepers, with my store’s stickers on the bottom. They’re not broken, nor are they damaged in any way. It seemed as if there was a breakdown in the process of how we protect infant formula, and this guy had figured it out and was exploiting us for thousands.
Of course, he wasn’t much of a talker once he was hit with a few felony charges, so it seemed as if it would remain a mystery on how he was able to remove the infant formula from the keepers. That mystery was short-lived as when our suspect got to the jail, deputies performed a more thorough pat down before he was booked. Inside of his underwear was an Alpha key. At some point in his travels, he was able to swipe one from a store that had lose physical security controls.
There was a good lesson to learn from this incident, and it’s one that I stress to managers very often. If we’re going to take the time, energy and money to protect infant formula, or any item for that matter, we have to ensure that all controls measures are in place to minimize the chance of someone breaking said controls. An important piece to that is securing the tools that remove the tools that stop shoplifters from stealing your goods!
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Every so often, I get my entire team together and we “blitz” a market. Essentially, the entire LP team for the area comes into one store for a weekend and tries to break the company record for highest single day shoplifting count. Of course, we stack the deck and pick a historically heavy weekend in the highest shrinking store in the area. This past month’s blitz proved to be quite an adventure, that all started with the discovery of Alpha Keepers in the most unusual location.
Not a lot slips by when there’s five agents and a manager in one store. We got to work around 9 and stayed throughout the night. We grabbed the first lifter at around 10am and it was one, right after the other all day long. We were also working with local law enforcement that set up a mobile command center of sorts where they would process the shoplifter. This was a targeted approach to identifying individuals that are involved in organized retail crimes. Part of the process is obtaining consent to search every vehicle.
It was our 5th or 6th booster of the day. The guy, walked out the store with 3 dozen pairs of headphones, valued at $50 each. He goes through the processing and officers gain consent to search his vehicle. Inside is a curious discovery; about 100 cans of infant formula thrown across the rear seat. I can tell immediately from the stickers that this is my product. We protect infant formula with Alpha Keepers, so how did he manage to get this many?
We pop the trunk and find even more. Under the trunk mat, we lift up the flooring and find probably 2 dozen or more Alpha Keepers, with my store’s stickers on the bottom. They’re not broken, nor are they damaged in any way. It seemed as if there was a breakdown in the process of how we protect infant formula, and this guy had figured it out and was exploiting us for thousands.
Of course, he wasn’t much of a talker once he was hit with a few felony charges, so it seemed as if it would remain a mystery on how he was able to remove the infant formula from the keepers. That mystery was short-lived as when our suspect got to the jail, deputies performed a more thorough pat down before he was booked. Inside of his underwear was an Alpha key. At some point in his travels, he was able to swipe one from a store that had lose physical security controls.
There was a good lesson to learn from this incident, and it’s one that I stress to managers very often. If we’re going to take the time, energy and money to protect infant formula, or any item for that matter, we have to ensure that all controls measures are in place to minimize the chance of someone breaking said controls. An important piece to that is securing the tools that remove the tools that stop shoplifters from stealing your goods!
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
USING ALPHA KEEPERS TO SOOTHE THE BURN OF RAZOR THEFT
I walked into my local grocery store last weekend to get some shopping done. I came prepared with my list and a budget. This is the only way I can get out without spending a small fortune. I you’re an avid shopper, you know the flow. Grab your household items first, then boxed/canned stuff, saving the refrigerated/frozen goods right before checkout. You wouldn’t want your milk to spoil after 2 hours in the basket would you? As a bald guy, naturally the first thing on my list is razor blades. I get to the aisle and notice there’s empty Alpha Keepers, but no razors. They must be out, I think to myself as I continue on my trip.
My list is complete, and I’ve even taken in a few free samples (or three). I get to the checkout lanes and I happen to glance over at the service desk and see the razor blades, behind the customer service counter. I asked the cashier why the blades are back there and she tells me that they have to protect razor blades from shoplifters. Being in the business that I’m in, I agree, grab my blades and groceries and head home. In the car, I thought about the empty Alpha Keepers on the shelf and how many customers have probably left empty handed.
Do you own a grocery store, or perhaps a pharmacy? I bet you’re also tired of boosters continually targeting your razor blades. I’d also bet that you’ve gone through a gauntlet of ways to protect razor blades in your store. But are you doing more harm than good with your strategies? There’s a fine line between product protection and customer service. Knowing where that balance stands can mean the difference between shrink and sales.
It’s in my opinion that the second you place any high sales item, like razor blades, in an area not accessible to the customer (say behind a service desk), your sales will immediately take an impact. I see this routinely in my company. Razor blades are no different. There is serious demand for good razors, which also opens the door for a high theft demand as well. Resale ability on stolen goods is quite easy with household and personal care items, so the reward is huge with minimal risk for the shoplifter. So what’s the answer? How do you satisfy the customer, all while limiting the risk of being targeted by thieves? Alpha Keepers.
If you’re serious about protecting razor blades, or any other personal care item that is seeing high shirk in your store, the keeper is the route to take. They allow you to merchandise the blades on your shelves, putting them in the hands of your customer, all while making it very un-attractive to the shoplifter. I can tell you from experience that the Alpha Keeper will help minimize shrink all while helping boost your bottom line. Give them a try and see how much you’ll shave off your bottom line!
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I walked into my local grocery store last weekend to get some shopping done. I came prepared with my list and a budget. This is the only way I can get out without spending a small fortune. If you’re an avid shopper, you know the flow. Grab your household items first, then boxed/canned stuff, saving the refrigerated/frozen goods right before checkout. You wouldn’t want your milk to spoil after 2 hours in the basket would you? As a bald guy, naturally the first thing on my list is razor blades. I get to the aisle and notice there’s empty Alpha Keepers, but no razors. They must be out, I think to myself as I continue on my trip.
My list is complete, and I’ve even taken in a few free samples (or three). I get to the checkout lanes and I happen to glance over at the service desk and see the razor blades, behind the customer service counter. I asked the cashier why the blades are back there and she tells me that they have to protect razor blades from shoplifters. Being in the business that I’m in, I agree, grab my blades and groceries and head home. In the car, I thought about the empty Alpha Keepers on the shelf and how many customers have probably left empty handed.
Do you own a grocery store, or perhaps a pharmacy? I bet you’re also tired of boosters continually targeting your razor blades. I’d also bet that you’ve gone through a gauntlet of ways to protect razor blades in your store. But are you doing more harm than good with your strategies? There’s a fine line between product protection and customer service. Knowing where that balance stands can mean the difference between shrink and sales.
It’s in my opinion that the second you place any high sales item, like razor blades, in an area not accessible to the customer (say behind a service desk), your sales will immediately take an impact. I see this routinely in my company. Razor blades are no different. There is serious demand for good razors, which also opens the door for a high theft demand as well. Resale ability on stolen goods is quite easy with household and personal care items, so the reward is huge with minimal risk for the shoplifter. So what’s the answer? How do you satisfy the customer, all while limiting the risk of being targeted by thieves? Alpha Keepers.
If you’re serious about protecting razor blades, or any other personal care item that is seeing high shirk in your store, the keeper is the route to take. They allow you to merchandise the blades on your shelves, putting them in the hands of your customer, all while making it very un-attractive to the shoplifter. I can tell you from experience that the Alpha Keeper will help minimize shrink all while helping boost your bottom line. Give them a try and see how much you’ll shave off your bottom line!
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Keepers-4 , Protect Razor Blades-2 , Prevent Shoplifting-2
Shave Off Some Stress With Alpha Keepers
I have worked for the same small retail pharmacy business for just over fifteen years. I have seen some new ideas come and go. Some of them have worked out great and some have not made it. One year our boss said that we should get rid of our “Next Register Please” signs. She said they were negative messages and that we should just talk to our customers and tell them where to check out. That was a great idea, but she also said we needed to be out on the sales floor when we did not have customers at the counter, in order to answer questions and be visible to prevent shoplifting. However, she did realize that while we were out on the floor, helping a customer find something, that another customer could walk up and not know which register to go to put their items down. Then, we would come back to the counter and have to move all their merchandise to the one we were actually using. That was very frustrating for us and them, to say the least. Needless to say, we had to order new signs not long after that.
That was just one of their least bad ideas. They have done much worse. About a month ago, a different manager decided that we should no longer keep our razor blades in Alpha Keepers. They said they had decided that they were not needed any longer since razor blades were not being stolen like they had been in the past. (If you just slapped your own forehead, you had the same reaction I had…) The original reason our company chose to protect razor blades with Alpha Keepers was because thefts were rampant in that category. We would put them out for sale, and they would disappear before the day was over. I am not even exaggerating either. I was actually having inventory one day, with counters all around the store, and had every peg wiped out. The flea market thieves don’t play. When they need a particular item to sell at their booths, they will take everything you have. So, in order to prevent shoplifting in this section, we encased all our razor blade packages in Alpha Keepers. And BOOM! Problem solved. The clear cases still allowed our honest, cash paying, customers access to the products without having to ask for them. But, they made it extremely difficult for the criminals to come in and help themselves. They could no longer just stuff the packages down in their clothes, because the cases made them heavier and harder to conceal. They also worked in conjunction with the Checkpoint system, so they would cause the alarm to activate if there was a theft attempt.
How’s this new idea going, you ask? Well, it turns out word spread really fast in the flea market community about our newest idea. And in less than two weeks, we have had four major losses in our area stores. Thousands of dollars gone in minutes because we no longer protect razor blades. So, last night after I read on our store managers only Facebook page that yet another store got hit. I have decided to take a stand and put all my razor blade packages back into Alpha Keepers. I know it’s just a matter of time before my own store becomes their next victim and I am not just going to wait and hope I don’t lose too much. Enough is enough, and this change was another obvious failure. Change is good, but not when it’s bad.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call today: 1.770.426.0547
I have worked for the same small retail pharmacy business for just over fifteen years. I have seen some new ideas come and go. Some of them have worked out great and some have not made it. One year our boss said that we should get rid of our “Next Register Please” signs. She said they were negative messages and that we should just talk to our customers and tell them where to check out. That was a great idea, but she also said we needed to be out on the sales floor when we did not have customers at the counter, in order to answer questions and be visible to prevent shoplifting. However, she did realize that while we were out on the floor, helping a customer find something, that another customer could walk up and not know which register to go to put their items down. Then, we would come back to the counter and have to move all their merchandise to the one we were actually using. That was very frustrating for us and them, to say the least. Needless to say, we had to order new signs not long after that.
That was just one of their least bad ideas. They have done much worse. About a month ago, a different manager decided that we should no longer keep our razor blades in Alpha Keepers. They said they had decided that they were not needed any longer since razor blades were not being stolen like they had been in the past. (If you just slapped your own forehead, you had the same reaction I had…) The original reason our company chose to protect razor blades with Alpha Keepers was because thefts were rampant in that category. We would put them out for sale, and they would disappear before the day was over. I am not even exaggerating either. I was actually having inventory one day, with counters all around the store, and had every peg wiped out. The flea market thieves don’t play. When they need a particular item to sell at their booths, they will take everything you have. So, in order to prevent shoplifting in this section, we encased all our razor blade packages in Alpha Keepers. And BOOM! Problem solved. The clear cases still allowed our honest, cash paying, customers access to the products without having to ask for them. But, they made it extremely difficult for the criminals to come in and help themselves. They could no longer just stuff the packages down in their clothes, because the cases made them heavier and harder to conceal. They also worked in conjunction with the Checkpoint system, so they would cause the alarm to activate if there was a theft attempt.
How’s this new idea going, you ask? Well, it turns out word spread really fast in the flea market community about our newest idea. And in less than two weeks, we have had four major losses in our area stores. Thousands of dollars gone in minutes because we no longer protect razor blades. So, last night after I read on our store managers only Facebook page that yet another store got hit. I have decided to take a stand and put all my razor blade packages back into Alpha Keepers. I know it’s just a matter of time before my own store becomes their next victim and I am not just going to wait and hope I don’t lose too much. Enough is enough, and this change was another obvious failure. Change is good, but not when it’s bad.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call today: 1.770.426.0547
I have mentioned in previous articles that my retail background has primarily been in the Loss Prevention field, but over the past five years I have remained in retail working for an office supply store as a customer service specialist. Sometimes my work requires me to stock merchandise on the sales floor and in doing so I use retail anti-theft devices to protect specific items or price points of merchandise. Recently I was putting out merchandise and using Alpha Keepers to protect electronics, specifically jump drives, memory cards and memory sticks. I point this out because I want to let retailers who are struggling to prevent shoplifting in their stores understand there are methods to protect even the smallest items they may carry.
Alpha Keepers are sturdy, clear, hard boxes with a hinged bottom. They can only be opened by using a special detachment key, making them very difficult for a shoplifter to force open.The boxes allow merchandise to be displayed in the open and customers can see the package and read labels while the risk for theft is dramatically reduced. Boxes are able to be displayed on store shelves and even have an option for inserting a plastic tab that allows the box to be displayed on a peg hook. They can be ordered to work with acoustic magnetic (am) electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems or radio frequency (rf) systems. The boxes are made in a number of sizes so they are versatile enough to prevent shoplifting of a wide range of products.
Some items are prone to theft due to their size and how easy they are to conceal. Because of this many retailers will lock these items in display cases to prevent shoplifting. Showcases and locking display cases, even locking peg hooks require a sales associate with a key to be readily available to open the case; show a product and either ring up the item or take it to a register. If there are other customers wanting to look at merchandise they have to wait until the associate returns or another staff member becomes available. I have seen the negative impact locking display cases have on sales. People get irritated and leave if they have to wait for service. This of course means lost sales and there is no room for that in retail. The alternative used to be taking the chance and putting out merchandise and hoping customer service and the honesty of customers would prevent shoplifting.
Alpha Keepers offer merchants an alternate solution to both situations. For instance, in my store, by securing the jump drives and memory sticks in these retail anti-theft devices, as I was doing, we are locking up merchandise. The benefit is that the customer can make the selection they want without waiting for assistance. They can walk around the store and continue to shop and when they are ready for checkout, the cashier has the detachment key to take the merchandise out of the boxes.
The benefit for the store is that customers don’t get frustrated and leave because they have to wait for assistance for something they may not feel should have to be locked up. The boxes also protect electronics by being a visible deterrent to a thief. Most shoplifters will not want to risk an EAS alarm or try to find a way to force open a box. Additionally, the boxes do add bulk to a small item and make it more difficult to conceal something. A purse can conceal a large number of jump drives removed from a peg hook. The same purse may only hold one or two jump drives protected in Alpha Keepers.
Protect electronics in your store and prevent shoplifting by using Alpha Keepers. Nothing is too small and you will improve customer service and sales.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today
