Retail Anti-Theft Devices – 4 WC Blog 405
Alpha Security – 3
Prevent Shoplifting – 3
Financial Security For Your Retail Business Can Be Secured With Retail Anti-Theft Devices
I’ve recently been toying with the idea of getting a 401k account with my primary employer. I already am participating in the pension plan fund but I don’t know that I have full confidence that will be enough security for me when I am ready to retire…LOTS of years down the road, no matter what my wife or friends may say to the contrary. I also have a small pension I earned while working for a retailer as a Loss Prevention Manager but I will not be collecting that money for a LOT of years (I’m just emphasizing this in case anyone who knows me may be reading this and cracking age jokes at my expense). While I am hopeful that social security will be around then I don’t want to put all my eggs in that basket either. The point I am making is this, my financial security is a priority and I have goals I have set, a family to take care of and bills that must be paid. It is therefore MY responsibility to do all that I can to look out for the security of my wife and our future. Small retail business owners have to be concerned with financial security too. Their financial security is more complex than mine. Not only is cash flow a consideration but so are factors that directly impact profits and therefore financial security. For example using retail anti-theft devices impacts the financial security of a retailer.
It would make sense at this point to clarify what I mean by anti-theft devices. Retail anti-theft devices from Checkpoint’s Alpha security line of products are applied to merchandise such as clothing or if a wrap or cable is used it is wrapped around a product. In either case the devices are meant to deter and prevent shoplifting. These protective tools are built with a radio frequency coil inside of them that will cause an electronic article surveillance pedestal to alarm when tagged items are carried too close. Most of us have heard pedestals of one type or another get set off at exit doors. That annoying beeping sound and those flashing lights that draws EVERYONE’s attention elicits a response from trained store employees. Those employees combine tact and service with receipt checks to retrieve merchandise a criminal was going to steal.
Consider the impact of empty shelves or clothing racks on the financial security of the business. Are you selling goods and not getting freight back on the floor? Poor logistics can cripple a store. Customers can’t buy what isn’t there. Determining the causes for lack of product is also important for financial security. If freight isn’t being shipped to the store is there an issue with the purchasing process? If freight is at the store but not getting on to the floor there could be a breakdown in the push process. If product is getting to the floor and it is being sold great, then go back to step one and evaluate replenishment again. If it is being stolen the negative financial impact is tripled, stolen merchandise is lost profit, no merchandise translates to lost sales and third more merchandise has to be bought to replace what was taken. Financial losses due to theft can be avoided by placing Checkpoint’s Alpha security retail anti-theft devices on all merchandise.
What else impacts the financial security of a business? Consider safety issues and concerns as potential drains on a business. Is your parking lot lighting adequate? Poor parking lot lighting can lead to an increase in crime and that can reduce the customer traffic visiting your store resulting in decreased sales. As the criminal activity outside the store increases so does the criminal activity inside the store. It is more difficult to prevent shoplifting when the perception is criminals are being invited to the store. Are panhandlers permitted to loiter on your property or approach customers as they walk through the parking lot? I have had to chase off panhandlers who were intimidating customers. I have seen customers afraid to leave the safety of their vehicles because a panhandler was standing at their door as soon as the vehicle was placed in park. In a sense you could say financial security starts when the customer drives into your parking lot.
The financial security of a small business depends on a lot of factors. Prevent shoplifting by using Alpha security retail anti-theft devices and you can make a significant impact on profits through improved in-stocks and in turn, increased sales.
Get more information on retail anti-theft devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I’ve recently been toying with the idea of getting a 401k account with my primary employer. I already am participating in the pension plan fund but I don’t know that I have full confidence that will be enough security for me when I am ready to retire…LOTS of years down the road, no matter what my wife or friends may say to the contrary. I also have a small pension I earned while working for a retailer as a Loss Prevention Manager but I will not be collecting that money for a LOT of years (I’m just emphasizing this in case anyone who knows me may be reading this and cracking age jokes at my expense). While I am hopeful that social security will be around then I don’t want to put all my eggs in that basket either. The point I am making is this, my financial security is a priority and I have goals I have set, a family to take care of and bills that must be paid. It is therefore MY responsibility to do all that I can to look out for the security of my wife and our future. Small retail business owners have to be concerned with financial security too. Their financial security is more complex than mine. Not only is cash flow a consideration but so are factors that directly impact profits and therefore financial security. For example using retail anti-theft devices impacts the financial security of a retailer.
It would make sense at this point to clarify what I mean by anti-theft devices. Retail anti-theft devices from Checkpoint’s Alpha security line of products are applied to merchandise such as clothing or if a wrap or cable is used it is wrapped around a product. In either case the devices are meant to deter and prevent shoplifting. These protective tools are built with a radio frequency coil inside of them that will cause an electronic article surveillance pedestal to alarm when tagged items are carried too close. Most of us have heard pedestals of one type or another get set off at exit doors. That annoying beeping sound and those flashing lights that draws EVERYONE’s attention elicits a response from trained store employees. Those employees combine tact and service with receipt checks to retrieve merchandise a criminal was going to steal.
Consider the impact of empty shelves or clothing racks on the financial security of the business. Are you selling goods and not getting freight back on the floor? Poor logistics can cripple a store. Customers can’t buy what isn’t there. Determining the causes for lack of product is also important for financial security. If freight isn’t being shipped to the store is there an issue with the purchasing process? If freight is at the store but not getting on to the floor there could be a breakdown in the push process. If product is getting to the floor and it is being sold great, then go back to step one and evaluate replenishment again. If it is being stolen the negative financial impact is tripled, stolen merchandise is lost profit, no merchandise translates to lost sales and third more merchandise has to be bought to replace what was taken. Financial losses due to theft can be avoided by placing Checkpoint’s Alpha security retail anti-theft devices on all merchandise.
What else impacts the financial security of a business? Consider safety issues and concerns as potential drains on a business. Is your parking lot lighting adequate? Poor parking lot lighting can lead to an increase in crime and that can reduce the customer traffic visiting your store resulting in decreased sales. As the criminal activity outside the store increases so does the criminal activity inside the store. It is more difficult to prevent shoplifting when the perception is criminals are being invited to the store. Are panhandlers permitted to loiter on your property or approach customers as they walk through the parking lot? I have had to chase off panhandlers who were intimidating customers. I have seen customers afraid to leave the safety of their vehicles because a panhandler was standing at their door as soon as the vehicle was placed in park. In a sense you could say financial security starts when the customer drives into your parking lot.
The financial security of a small business depends on a lot of factors. Prevent shoplifting by using Alpha security retail anti-theft devices and you can make a significant impact on profits through improved in-stocks and in turn, increased sales.
Get more information on retail anti-theft devices, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Hang Tag-3 WC Blog 422
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-4
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Surprising Results When You Choose To Use Retail Anti-Theft Devices To Prevent Shoplifting
Surprises can be good and they can be not-so-good. Not long ago I received an unexpected Thank You card with a gift card inside of it for a restaurant chain. It was sent by an employer that for whom I work as a token of their appreciation. You can imagine my surprise at such a gift when it was completely out of the blue. To top it off, it came unbeknownst to the people in the office that sent it, on my wife and my 26th wedding anniversary! Several years ago my wife got our church friends to throw me a surprise birthday party. I am not a big fan of parties, especially when they are for me but the thoughtfulness of the get-together was overwhelming. Some surprises are not welcome like one time when I was working an overnight shift and the tire on our van blew out while my wife was driving it. I was not there to be able to assist her and she was not sure what to do. That same kind of surprise, something unexpected happening is part of what enhances the ability of retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting.
Retail anti-theft devices such as the Alpha hang tag work in part because of the surprise a shoplifter gets when the tag activates the electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers at the front doors of a store. The Alpha hang tag is used on the hang tab of peg hook merchandise to make it difficult for a shoplifter to simply conceal the item in a pocket or purse and walk out of a store. For starters the tag prevents a thief from easily cutting merchandise off of a locking peg hook. The tag is a solid plastic material that snaps over the tab. It is designed to be removed at the point of sale only and requires a detachment key to take if off. For merchandise not on a locking peg hook it deters theft because the tags have a lock symbol on them and the words “security protected” printed on the front. If a criminal decides to try to steal product that has the tag on it the EAS towers sound a piercing alarm that gets the attention of store employees. This alarm frequently surprises the crook dumb enough to try to steal the item. The surprise of the alarm noise and flashing lights in the towers can and does prevent shoplifting by causing the bad guy to drop the goods. Dropped merchandise is recovered merchandise.
Thinking back on my Loss Prevention days I can recall a number of times when a shoplifter got near the doors with merchandise protected with retail anti-theft devices and the alarm was activated and a recovery was made due to dropped merchandise. I remember once when a customer had placed a pair of tagged sunglasses in his pocket and began to leave the store. The alarm sounded and he looked shocked, pulled the glasses out and tossed them down on the ground and ran. I had no intention of stopping him for theft since I had not seen the concealment but I was going to have my uniformed security officer stop him and conduct a receipt check. As it turned out it wasn’t necessary to do that. I have seen people walk up the doors, set off the alarm and as a cashier supervisor approached they pulled the item out and say that they forgot that they had placed it wherever it was they had concealed it. The power of an EAS alarm cannot be underestimated when you see it prevent shoplifting.
The element of surprise can work wonders when an Alpha hang tag and other EAS retail anti-theft devices are used to protect merchandise. It can be a nasty surprise for a shoplifter trying to get merchandise past EAS towers and the alarms activate. It can be a pleasant surprise for a retail owner when a tag deters a theft or causes merchandise to be dropped and a recovery is made. The payoff in reduced shortage and improved in-stocks will drive up sales and THAT is a VERY pleasant surprise indeed.
For more information about Alpha Hang Tag contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Surprises can be good and they can be not-so-good. Not long ago I received an unexpected Thank You card with a gift card inside of it for a restaurant chain. It was sent by an employer that for whom I work as a token of their appreciation. You can imagine my surprise at such a gift when it was completely out of the blue. To top it off, it came unbeknownst to the people in the office that sent it, on my wife and my 26th wedding anniversary! Several years ago my wife got our church friends to throw me a surprise birthday party. I am not a big fan of parties, especially when they are for me but the thoughtfulness of the get-together was overwhelming. Some surprises are not welcome like one time when I was working an overnight shift and the tire on our van blew out while my wife was driving it. I was not there to be able to assist her and she was not sure what to do. That same kind of surprise, something unexpected happening is part of what enhances the ability of retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting.
Retail anti-theft devices such as the Alpha hang tag work in part because of the surprise a shoplifter gets when the tag activates the electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers at the front doors of a store. The Alpha hang tag is used on the hang tab of peg hook merchandise to make it difficult for a shoplifter to simply conceal the item in a pocket or purse and walk out of a store. For starters the tag prevents a thief from easily cutting merchandise off of a locking peg hook. The tag is a solid plastic material that snaps over the tab. It is designed to be removed at the point of sale only and requires a detachment key to take if off. For merchandise not on a locking peg hook it deters theft because the tags have a lock symbol on them and the words “security protected” printed on the front. If a criminal decides to try to steal product that has the tag on it the EAS towers sound a piercing alarm that gets the attention of store employees. This alarm frequently surprises the crook dumb enough to try to steal the item. The surprise of the alarm noise and flashing lights in the towers can and does prevent shoplifting by causing the bad guy to drop the goods. Dropped merchandise is recovered merchandise.
Thinking back on my Loss Prevention days I can recall a number of times when a shoplifter got near the doors with merchandise protected with retail anti-theft devices and the alarm was activated and a recovery was made due to dropped merchandise. I remember once when a customer had placed a pair of tagged sunglasses in his pocket and began to leave the store. The alarm sounded and he looked shocked, pulled the glasses out and tossed them down on the ground and ran. I had no intention of stopping him for theft since I had not seen the concealment but I was going to have my uniformed security officer stop him and conduct a receipt check. As it turned out it wasn’t necessary to do that. I have seen people walk up the doors, set off the alarm and as a cashier supervisor approached they pulled the item out and say that they forgot that they had placed it wherever it was they had concealed it. The power of an EAS alarm cannot be underestimated when you see it prevent shoplifting.
The element of surprise can work wonders when an Alpha hang tag and other EAS retail anti-theft devices are used to protect merchandise. It can be a nasty surprise for a shoplifter trying to get merchandise past EAS towers and the alarms activate. It can be a pleasant surprise for a retail owner when a tag deters a theft or causes merchandise to be dropped and a recovery is made. The payoff in reduced shortage and improved in-stocks will drive up sales and THAT is a VERY pleasant surprise indeed.
For more information about Alpha Hang Tag, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha 3 Alarm -5 WC Blog 398
Retail Ani-Theft Device-4
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Monitor A Problem Or Prevent A Problem? Alpha 3 Alarm Tags Are An Effective Tool To Prevent Shoplifting
The commercial begins with several armed thugs barging into a bank. The customers all get down on the floor cowering and the bank clerks raise their hands in submission. In the middle of the bank a uniformed officer is standing watching what is going on. A woman on the floor whispers up at him and says, “Do something!” The officer looks down at her and says, “Oh, I’m not a security guard, I’m a security monitor.” He goes on to explain that he only monitors for bank robberies he doesn’t do anything about them. The commercial is hilarious to me. The absurdity of the exaggeration has enough ring of truth to it to make it effective in getting out its message. The company is pointing out that it proactively monitors personal information and credit information for the clients who use it. It argues through the messaging of the commercial that it doesn’t just monitor when a person has their identity stolen. I bring this up because it seems some stores use retail anti-theft devices on merchandise with the intention to prevent shoplifting but then do nothing about it when an alarm sounds. It may be the tamper alarm on an Alpha 3 Alarm tag that is sounding or an electronic article surveillance (EAS) pedestal activating due to a shoplifter trying to sneak tagged merchandise out the door. Of course, talking about an Alpha 3 Alarm tag makes no sense if you aren’t familiar with it so let me talk about it briefly.
An Alpha 3 Alarm tags are retail anti-theft devices that are attached to merchandise, especially softlines products (clothing, clothing accessories, bath shop items and bedding to name a few) that deters thieves and can prevent shoplifting. Tags are two–pieces, a hard tag with a pin and a cap that covers the pin after it is pushed through the product. Once pieced together the tag is nearly impossible to remove from the merchandise without an Alpha detachment tool. When a crook attempts to pry a tag off the merchandise is damaged and rendered useless to the criminal, defeating the reason they would want to get the tag off in the first place. Tags are also equipped with EAS technology designed to be picked up by EAS pedestal sensors when a shoplifter tries to carry an item out of the store. This sounds an alarm in the pedestal designed to elicit employee response to determine the cause of the alarm and recover merchandise. An Alpha 3 Alarm tag has a built in tamper alarm that activates when someone tries to pry it off, activates a pedestal alarm and if it is carried out the door and a built in alarm that sounds in the tag. Thieves cannot avoid being noticed with a screeching tag giving them away as they try to run away.
Going back to my commercial example and retail theft prevention strategies, I am perplexed by the number of times I am hearing EAS alarm activations and there appears to be no response to the alarms. I was in the mall not long ago and heard an alarm activation at one of the doors. The person who set it off looked around and left. The closest cashier didn’t look over or appear to acknowledge an alarm had gone off. I just questioned what the purpose was of having the EAS pedestals in the first place. All I picture is the pedestal in place of the security monitor saying, “I’m not an a retail anti-theft device, I’m a retail anti-theft monitor, I only let you know when a theft took place” then matter- of- factly it adds, “A theft just took place” and the alarm sounds. No one does anything to react you just know a theft occurred.
C’mon, take theft and shortage seriously. Don’t invest in an EAS pedestal and ignore it. Don’t purchase Alpha 3 Alarm tags and use them on only part of the merchandise in the store. What are you trying to do stop just some of the shoplifters stealing from you? Which ones are they? Prevent shoplifting from taking place don’t just monitor the problem.
Get more information on Alpha 3 Alarm, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
The commercial begins with several armed thugs barging into a bank. The customers all get down on the floor cowering and the bank clerks raise their hands in submission. In the middle of the bank a uniformed officer is standing watching what is going on. A woman on the floor whispers up at him and says, “Do something!” The officer looks down at her and says, “Oh, I’m not a security guard, I’m a security monitor.” He goes on to explain that he only monitors for bank robberies he doesn’t do anything about them. The commercial is hilarious to me. The absurdity of the exaggeration has enough ring of truth to it to make it effective in getting out its message. The company is pointing out that it proactively monitors personal information and credit information for the clients who use it. It argues through the messaging of the commercial that it doesn’t just monitor when a person has their identity stolen. I bring this up because it seems some stores use retail anti-theft devices on merchandise with the intention to prevent shoplifting but then do nothing about it when an alarm sounds. It may be the tamper alarm on an Alpha 3 Alarm tag that is sounding or an electronic article surveillance (EAS) pedestal activating due to a shoplifter trying to sneak tagged merchandise out the door. Of course, talking about an Alpha 3 Alarm tag makes no sense if you aren’t familiar with it so let me talk about it briefly.
An Alpha 3 Alarm tags are retail anti-theft devices that are attached to merchandise, especially softlines products (clothing, clothing accessories, bath shop items and bedding to name a few) that deters thieves and can prevent shoplifting. Tags are two–pieces, a hard tag with a pin and a cap that covers the pin after it is pushed through the product. Once pieced together the tag is nearly impossible to remove from the merchandise without an Alpha detachment tool. When a crook attempts to pry a tag off the merchandise is damaged and rendered useless to the criminal, defeating the reason they would want to get the tag off in the first place. Tags are also equipped with EAS technology designed to be picked up by EAS pedestal sensors when a shoplifter tries to carry an item out of the store. This sounds an alarm in the pedestal designed to elicit employee response to determine the cause of the alarm and recover merchandise. An Alpha 3 Alarm tag has a built in tamper alarm that activates when someone tries to pry it off, activates a pedestal alarm and if it is carried out the door and a built in alarm that sounds in the tag. Thieves cannot avoid being noticed with a screeching tag giving them away as they try to run away.
Going back to my commercial example and retail theft prevention strategies, I am perplexed by the number of times I am hearing EAS alarm activations and there appears to be no response to the alarms. I was in the mall not long ago and heard an alarm activation at one of the doors. The person who set it off looked around and left. The closest cashier didn’t look over or appear to acknowledge an alarm had gone off. I just questioned what the purpose was of having the EAS pedestals in the first place. All I picture is the pedestal in place of the security monitor saying, “I’m not an a retail anti-theft device, I’m a retail anti-theft monitor, I only let you know when a theft took place” then matter- of- factly it adds, “A theft just took place” and the alarm sounds. No one does anything to react you just know a theft occurred.
C’mon, take theft and shortage seriously. Don’t invest in an EAS pedestal and ignore it. Don’t purchase Alpha 3 Alarm tags and use them on only part of the merchandise in the store. What are you trying to do stop just some of the shoplifters stealing from you? Which ones are they? Prevent shoplifting from taking place don’t just monitor the problem.
Get more information on Alpha 3 Alarm, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Keepers-4 WC Blog 394
Prevent Shoplifting-4
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-4
Retail Anti-Theft Devices; The Decisions Stores Make That Drive Me Crazy! Part 1
From time to time I see retail Loss Prevention initiatives that make me go crazy. Sometimes the initiative goes too far in reducing security measures. I have seen Loss Prevention payroll cuts in an effort to save money. I have seen merchandise such as video games removed from lock-up cases (which I might add I am not necessarily opposed to) but then no security measure is added to prevent shoplifting, by using Alpha Keepers or even soft electronic article surveillance tags. I have seen high priced items removed from “security grids” that direct what items get retail anti-theft devices placed on them. For example, I am aware of a company that sells laminators. No, not really a high sales item but there was a time when a certain price point of the item required them to be protected with a security device and now they are no longer protected. Certain ink jet cartridges in one store are stored in Alpha Keepers while other brands are not protected. News flash! Shoplifters are not necessarily concerned with the brand or price points sometimes they just want the merchandise in order to trade it for whatever cash they can get or for drugs.
I want to briefly clarify for readers who may not be familiar with them, what Alpha Keepers are. Keepers are clear, solid, plastic boxes with hinged, locking lids that allows merchants to display merchandise on the salesfloor while protecting the merchandise from theft. The boxes require special detachment keys in order to open them adding an additional level of security. The boxes are also built with electronic article surveillance technology (EAS) that makes the Keepers detectable by EAS towers when stores have them installed. This makes sure that if a shoplifter tries to carry secured merchandise out of the store tower alarms and lights activate and warn store employees that an attempted theft is taking place. Employees respond to the doors and recover merchandise and prevent shoplifting or get the patron to purchase the item.
The beauty of retail anti-theft devices is that it allows retailers to take merchandise from the showcases and place them in the reach of the customer. This gives customers the ability to handle merchandise, read package information and carry it around the store while they continue to shop. Likewise, the Keepers give flexibility to store owners and managers to not tie an employee down to the showcases waiting to help customers or standing at the showcase taking out merchandise and putting it back while the customer browses merchandise. So YES, remove merchandise from showcases, make it accessible and sales will inevitably climb. People will buy products when they don’t have to wait for assistance.
My irritation is NOT at the removal of product from security lock-ups, my irritation is when merchandise is put on the floor and not secured with retail anti-theft devices. Furthermore, DON’T have a policy of securing product with anti-theft devices and then removing the devices or not placing them on new shipments anymore. Is the policy in place because there is no longer evidence that the merchandise is being stolen…WELL DUH! The merchandise not being stolen because the protections did what they were designed to do, prevent shoplifting! Is the decision based on the lack of sales of a product? That has nothing to do with the security device or the ability of customers to access them, it may be due to product placement, price point, lack of customer service or simply the item is not in demand. As long as it is being carried in the store all merchandise should be protected.
Removing merchandise from lock-up cases can certainly improve sales. Placing merchandise on the floor without protecting it is an invitation to increased theft and shortage. Make products available to your customers but use Alpha Keepers and retail anti-theft devices on all the things you sell to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
From time to time I see retail Loss Prevention initiatives that make me go crazy. Sometimes the initiative goes too far in reducing security measures. I have seen Loss Prevention payroll cuts in an effort to save money. I have seen merchandise such as video games removed from lock-up cases (which I might add I am not necessarily opposed to) but then no security measure is added to prevent shoplifting, by using Alpha Keepers or even soft electronic article surveillance tags. I have seen high priced items removed from “security grids” that direct what items get retail anti-theft devices placed on them. For example, I am aware of a company that sells laminators. No, not really a high sales item but there was a time when a certain price point of the item required them to be protected with a security device and now they are no longer protected. Certain ink jet cartridges in one store are stored in Alpha Keepers while other brands are not protected. News flash! Shoplifters are not necessarily concerned with the brand or price points sometimes they just want the merchandise in order to trade it for whatever cash they can get or for drugs.
I want to briefly clarify for readers who may not be familiar with them, what Alpha Keepers are. Keepers are clear, solid, plastic boxes with hinged, locking lids that allows merchants to display merchandise on the salesfloor while protecting the merchandise from theft. The boxes require special detachment keys in order to open them adding an additional level of security. The boxes are also built with electronic article surveillance technology (EAS) that makes the Keepers detectable by EAS towers when stores have them installed. This makes sure that if a shoplifter tries to carry secured merchandise out of the store tower alarms and lights activate and warn store employees that an attempted theft is taking place. Employees respond to the doors and recover merchandise and prevent shoplifting or get the patron to purchase the item.
The beauty of retail anti-theft devices is that it allows retailers to take merchandise from the showcases and place them in the reach of the customer. This gives customers the ability to handle merchandise, read package information and carry it around the store while they continue to shop. Likewise, the Keepers give flexibility to store owners and managers to not tie an employee down to the showcases waiting to help customers or standing at the showcase taking out merchandise and putting it back while the customer browses merchandise. So YES, remove merchandise from showcases, make it accessible and sales will inevitably climb. People will buy products when they don’t have to wait for assistance.
My irritation is NOT at the removal of product from security lock-ups, my irritation is when merchandise is put on the floor and not secured with retail anti-theft devices. Furthermore, DON’T have a policy of securing product with anti-theft devices and then removing the devices or not placing them on new shipments anymore. Is the policy in place because there is no longer evidence that the merchandise is being stolen…WELL DUH! The merchandise not being stolen because the protections did what they were designed to do, prevent shoplifting! Is the decision based on the lack of sales of a product? That has nothing to do with the security device or the ability of customers to access them, it may be due to product placement, price point, lack of customer service or simply the item is not in demand. As long as it is being carried in the store all merchandise should be protected.
Removing merchandise from lock-up cases can certainly improve sales. Placing merchandise on the floor without protecting it is an invitation to increased theft and shortage. Make products available to your customers but use Alpha Keepers and retail anti-theft devices on all the things you sell to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Since I spend much of my time on a computer at work and writing I started to think about the potential impact it could be having on my eyesight. I have always had very good vision but I have noticed in recent months that I have been experiencing a little more difficulty in reading books in low light. It has not always been this way for me. I am thinking it is related to my time on the computer, my wife says I’m just getting old but I KNOW that can’t be true. It did make me begin to wonder if there was a correlation between the use of technology and eyesight especially with all the people on smart phones, tablets and computers today. As I bounced this around in my head it also dawned on me that there a lot of small children that are using everything from tablets to smart phones. Could this be causing eyesight problems for children before they enter their teenage years? If so, could the eyewear industry see an increase in sales due to increased uses of computer/phone technology? My last question is for eyewear stores, if there is an increase are you ready to prevent shoplifting of your merchandise because increased patronage could mean increased theft?
Theft is always a concern for retailers but those that fail to take steps to prevent shoplifting often experience increased merchandise shortage at inventory time. Increased shortage means less profit and a decline in sales because merchandise can’t be kept in stock to sell to paying customers. By using retail anti-theft devices on goods, merchandise theft can be greatly curtailed if not stopped completely. Specialty stores like an eyewear retail shop can use an eyewear tag on glasses to stop pilferage. An eyewear tag is an electronic article surveillance (EAS), retail anti-theft device that is attached to the arm of a pair of glasses. The tag will cause an EAS tower to sound an alarm and lights will flash if glasses with a tag on them are carried close to the doors. Alarm activations result in store employees responding to the doors and conducting receipt checks and recovering unpaid products. They also result in bad guys dropping merchandise and running. One other benefit of the tag is that it deters criminals from stealing in the first place. The tag can only be removed with a special detachment key and if someone tries to pry it off at minimum the arm will break off if the whole frame doesn’t fall apart.
Do our eyes get damaged from the use of technology? According to an article on the American Optometric Association website titled, “The 21st century child: Increased Technology Use May Lead To Future Eye Health And Vision Issues”, posted July 28, 2015, “ Today’s electronic devices, also give off high-energy, short-wave, blue and violet light, which may affect vision and even prematurely age the eyes. Early research shows that overexposure to blue light could contribute to eye strain and discomfort and may lead to serious conditions later in life such as age- related macular degeneration (AMD), which can cause blindness.” (Italics and underlining are mine for emphasis) http://www.aoa.org/newsroom/the-21st-century-child-increased-technology-use-may-lead-to-future-eye-health-and-vision-issues?sso=y . The story goes on to report that Optometrists are watching new research on the subject. If the initial concerns on the subject prove to be true then it could be I am experiencing some of my sight issues to technology use. The larger issue is that there should be more concern for the children who are growing up in an age where 5 year olds are smarter than I am when it comes to smart phones. They are constantly in front of these devices and it is not unreasonable to suspect we will see the increase in eyeglass wear as I suggested at the beginning of the article.
Optical store owners get ready sales could be growing at an exponential rate as the effect of technology start to take their toll on so many of our young adults. I hope the studies do not play out and children do not suffer ill-effects. If however you see me or more of my peers in the near future, prepare now to prevent shoplifting by using retail anti-theft devices because not everyone that enters your store is going to be honest. Use an eyewear tag on all of your glasses and you will continue to see black ink on that bottom line.
Need information on eyewear tag? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
