Risk Or Reward; Shoplifters Avoid Shoplifting When They See Alpha Security Products

I started out this article with the intent of writing about the problem of Organized Retail Crime and how to deter them from stealing razor blades and other pegged merchandise that tend to be high theft. That was my intent. In preparation for my posting, I came across an interesting article from the University of Florida, UF News, “The Science of Stealing”, by Alisson Clark, February 16, 2016. In the article they discuss shoplifter behaviors and how to prevent shoplifting. The co-director of the Loss Prevention Research Team, Read Hayes, points out that there are three ways to stop theft; “One way is to make stealing an item too difficult. If you’ve bought razor blades and had to twist a knob to extract them from a plastic tube, you’ve experienced this approach firsthand. Another tactic is to make stealing too risky, perhaps sending a signal when an item is removed from the shelf or package. It could be a loud noise or even a photo that goes to store staff. The third type of deterrent renders items useless or undesirable – think of those tags designed splatter ink on stolen clothing.” (sic). I agree with Mr. Hayes on the tactic of making theft risky and I immediately thought of Alpha Security retail anti-theft devices. Retailers have to make the risk of theft outweigh any benefit a criminal sees in trying to steal.
     

What is it about the article that caused me to think of Alpha Security products? Alpha’s products come in 2 and 3 alarm styles. The 2 alarm style emits a loud noise, as described by Mr. Hayes, when the device is tampered with by a thief. They are also built with radio frequency (rf) technology that can be picked up by electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers and activate those alarms. Most people have at least heard this loud beeping sound at the front doors of a store at one time or another. 3 alarm models have the added benefit of an alarm in the tag that activates if a criminal gets out the door so the crook doesn’t “blend” into the crowd. Where they go, the alarm follows. When it comes to clothing, if an Alpha Security hard tag is forcibly removed from a garment it is going to damage the item it is attached to. In some form or fashion the tag is going to tear or rip a hole in the merchandise, rendering it useless to the perpetrator.     

Another point in the article I agreed with was that Mr. Hayes states that none of the three options are effective to prevent shoplifting if the criminal, ”… doesn’t understand what they are.” The writer says Mr. Hayes has a “… theory of See-Get-Fear”. “Criminals have to first see the deterrent, understand what it does, and fear that it will work well enough to land them in jail.” No argument from me. I would point out that some in Loss Prevention feel that tags should be hidden rather than out in the open. I would say hiding a second retail anti-theft device on an item to prevent shoplifting is appropriate in some instances, but not all. I used to hide a second soft label inside a leather coat pocket or an expensive handbag. This was always an exception. I believe the deterrent value of the tag is first in its visibility to shoppers. I also think that there is deterrent value in EAS pedestals at the entrances to stores. Would-be shoplifters immediately see there are security protections in place as soon as they walk in the store. 
     

The only argument I had to the article was towards the end when the writer states, “Deterrents like this don’t just make buying razor blades a little more painful. They also help slow the billions lost to theft and fraud each year…” referring to two razor blade displays that were tested in a contest by twenty criminals to see which was the most difficult to defeat. Locking cases, or “twist/turn/lift” displays may impede shoplifters more than some other retail anti-theft devices but they also have a negative impact on sales. Customers don’t want to fight a display case or wait on help to get a product. They tend to get turned off and not make the purchase or leave. Alpha Security devices give the deterrent protection Mr. Hayes referred to while allowing freedom of shopping for the consumer.
     

Prevent shoplifting of razor blades and other high theft products by Organized Retail Crime groups and other thieves. Alpha Security products can deter theft and improve profitability for your store. 

Get more information on Alpha Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
      

Prevent Petty Theft Of Pegged Product With Alpha Hang Tags

Walking through a large retail chain store the other day I happened to be in the aisle with the electric toothbrushes. I noticed that most of the toothbrushes had some type of retail anti-theft device attached to them to prevent shoplifting. There was something that stood out to me, the toothbrush heads hanging from peg hooks did not appear to have any protection against theft. Once I noticed that my nosiness kicked in and I started looking at other peg hooked items. I went to the electronics department with my wife in tow (I knew she would be as interested as I was in the store’s merchandise protection strategies). I found more pegged merchandise that seemed as though they should have been secured. I poked my wife and told her she needed to look at something. With a roll of the eyes and a sigh, I assume sharing my exasperation at what I was seeing, I pointed out a locking peg hook with merchandise hanging from it by a simple manufacturer’s plastic hang tag. I asked if she was seeing what I was seeing. She pretended to act like she didn’t care and said, “No”. I pointed out the silliness of putting merchandise on a locking hook that could easily be torn off. I also pointed out all of the other pegged items that did not appear to have anything to prevent shoplifting or deter thieves. My wife must have been thoroughly disgusted by this oversight because she left me behind as she went to the shoe department leaving me to ponder the gravity of the situation. I could only shake my head and wonder, why were they not using Alpha Hang Tags?
     

Using an Alpha Hang Tag on the pegged merchandise in this store could make a significant difference in reducing shortage of these items. An Alpha Hang Tag is a two piece retail anti-theft device that clamps together over the manufacturer hang tag. The Alpha Tag prevents the merchandise tag from being cut through so product can be removed from a locking peg. For product on a standard or locking peghook, the hard tag has electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology built into it giving it the ability to be detected by EAS towers in a store. The tag prevents shoplifting by being visible and deterring criminals from trying to steal and the tags activate EAS pedestal alarms when someone chooses to try to steal. The alarm activation is loud enough to be heard throughout most buildings, alerting store personnel of the activity. Employees near the pedestals can respond and conduct receipt checks then recover merchandise before it goes out the door.
    

Retail anti-theft devices can be expensive, which makes the Alpha Hang Tag a cost saver. This tag can be used over and over again, since it is removed at the point of sale when a purchase is made. They are stored away until ready for re-use on new products. The RF circuitry built into the tag does not detune if passed over a deactivation pad so there is no need to worry about tags no longer being detected by EAS towers. The ability to use the devices on hang tabs and clamshell packaging gives the user added flexibility in the amount and types of pegged merchandise that can be protected. Yes, clamshell packaging can be thick compared to plastic hang tabs but Alpha addressed that problem by adding an optional long pin tab that can be used in place of the short, standard pin. 
     

Prevent shoplifting of pegged merchandise while improving instocks and merchandise shrinkage. Use Alpha Hang Tags on all of your peghook ready products and see the increase in your store profits.

Alpha Hang Tags are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.

FLY AWAY WITH SPIDER WRAPS

To be honest, I’m sitting in an aisle seat, 32,000 feet above the ground somewhere between LaGuardia and St. Louis. I’m heading home after spending a week in New York City. It’s been a great week without work. I’ve not checked my work email, thought about my stores, or even pondered how many calls I’ll have to return once I get back into the office on Monday. Yet, here am I, working on my “other job”, where I get to help you all work through the ever-growing challenge on how to prevent shoplifting. As I’m blasting through the air at well over 500 miles an hour, I’m thinking maybe we should talk about Alpha spider wraps today. It has nothing to do with the spider I just saw on the seat back in front of me… 

 It’s always a challenge to find that perfect balance of protection an aesthetics. It’s one of my biggest daily challenges when interacting with store managers. They all want “clean” displays and to afford their customers the ability to interact with the products they are selling. They also want to prevent shoplifting. Often, those two ideals clash with one another and one side has to give a little to the other in order to strike a fair balance. 

 We recently went into the quad-copter business. I don’t like to call them “drones”. A drone is a military weapon. A quad-copter is an RC toy with four rotors and generally a camera. If you’ve been paying attention, these really appeal to the masses. Technology has enabled them to be smaller, cheaper, reliable and easier than ever to control. This line was a huge success during the holiday and it’s proving to be an even better, all year category. One problem I didn’t anticipate having was the amount of loss we’d experience from shoplifting. 

 So how do you prevent shoplifting of a quad-copter? Most come packaged in some very awkwardly shaped boxes. From the very small, to the very large, a consistent packaging is not what these are known for. So naturally, we had a need for a versatile tagging method that provided a steady ROI. Our first choice was the Alpha spider wrap. These worked great in several areas. First, we could always find a wrap that fit the packaging. Second, it allowed us to openly display the product so the customer could read the box, learn the specs and ultimately buy the product with minimal assistance from an employee. Third was the level of protection it gave. Most shoplifters will be discouraged by just the look of an Alpha spider wrap. They know it means business. 

 Perhaps you have some items in your store right now that may be a good fit for an Alpha spider wrap? You know, that awkwardly shaped item that you tend to put behind the glass so it doesn’t get stolen. That item that would probably sell much better if it were openly displayed and in the hands of your customers. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t’ let criminals dictate your store. Get those items out in the hands of your paying customers and out of the hands of the thieves!

Need information on Alpha Technology? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now. 

Stop Baby Stroller Shortage And Other Shrink By Simply Applying An Alpha O Tag To Your Products

Displaying merchandise can be tricky, especially when the merchandise is something that someone is going to want to try out.Take a bicycle for instance, how many times do you see someone sitting on a bike in a store, then start riding it? It happens fairly regularly because people want to know how something is going to look and feel before they purchase it. Infant strollers were an item that could be a big issue for my store from time to time. We had the display models tied down to the display shelf for customer safety and to prevent shoplifting. Often someone wanted to put their baby in it to see how they fit or they wanted to push a buggy to see how heavy it felt. Some of the strollers had hefty price points on them and you didn’t want to potentially lose a sale so you cut the tie down straps and took the stroller off of the shelf for the potential buyer. Sometimes the customers cut the straps themselves and you didn’t know they weren’t secure until you spot checked them at some point. Thieves also took the baby strollers off the display shelf and put their cute little babies in the buggy. The criminal strolled around the store until they felt comfortable walking out the door with one of our baby buggies. When I was trying to protect display baby strollers I had electronic article surveillance (EAS) soft tags I used to thwart thieves. Today there are even better retail anti-theft devices for this merchandise, the O tag by Alpha Security. 

The O tag is a heavy duty, hard tag with a circular inner design. The tag is a single piece unit with a hinge that allows it to be opened and then secured around products that are tubular, such as golf clubs, baseball bats, cords for power tools and baby strollers. Once the tag is locked onto a piece of merchandise it requires a special detachment tool to take it off. Like other retail anti-theft devices from Alpha Security, the tags have a radio frequency (rf) coil built into them. This causes EAS antenna alarms to be set off when the tagged item is moved too close to an exit protected by an antenna. Alarm lights flash, a beeping noise blares and store employees are immediately alerted to a potential attempted shoplifting. I say attempted because often the alarms prevent shoplifting because the criminal abandons the merchandise and leaves when an alarm sounds. If they don’t run, an employee checks the receipt and validates the cause of the alarm and recovers the product. 

It can be hard to ascertain if some items are being stolen because they can be worn, carried, or pushed around a store and look like it belongs to the person in possession of it. Backpacks are an example of this, if the tags are pulled off and a shoplifter puts it on and wears it through the building. If you don’t see them when they enter the store and you don’t see them tear the tags off, it can be touchy as to whether or not you should stop them and ask for a receipt. Being suspicious of someone is not sufficient grounds to make an accusation of theft. Infant strollers are the same. A shopper enters the store carrying a baby, goes to the strollers and removes tags, places the baby in it and rolls it through the store and out the door. I have had to make a few apprehensions involving baby buggies and I was always careful that I knew for sure the item belonged to the store. There are few things more uncomfortable for a Loss Prevention officer than to have to apprehend a parent with a child. Being absolutely certain eases some of the discomfort associated with such a stop. An Alpha O Tag can help easily identify merchandise that belongs to the store and prevent shoplifting, especially when placed in a visible location on a stroller frame.

Infant stroller theft does occur and possibly more frequently than you realize. Who wants to think a mom or dad would steal merchandise using their baby as a prop? Use an O Tag on your strollers as well as other merchandise you may carry that have tubular designs and put the brakes on free-wheeling crooks. 

Get more information on O Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.