Stop shoplifting-3 WC Blog 653
Employee theft reduction training-3
How Can You Keep Employee Theft Reduction Training Relevant And Fresh?
I had the opportunity in the store where I work to help train another employee and it brought to mind how managers go about training employees to stop shoplifting and retail fraud. My story started when I overheard one of our cashiers helping a customer at her register. I noticed that this cashier, normally a very outgoing person and super at upselling purchases was only making a half-hearted attempt to offer the customer a new program we have started. I jumped in and spoke with the customer about the program and I signed her up. After the customer left I spoke to the cashier and asked why she had not put of her magic touch on the program. She told me that she had made attempts when the program first rolled out but when she would ask for someone to help her get off the register and show her how to enroll the customer no one would help. After a couple of times of this she quit making an effort. I assured the cashier that if we were working together and someone was interested in the program she was to call me and I would show her how to do it. Wouldn’t you know it, the very next shift I worked the cashier was working too and she had a customer wanting to sign up. I did as I promised and took them to a computer and walked the cashier through the steps, allowing her to key in the information as I told her how to navigate.
This situation made me stop and think about employee theft reduction training and how it impacts the managers or associates being trained. How often do we invest time and money in training our employees on a new initiative and then fail to follow up on that training. I have witnessed training sessions that have pumped up the team with videos and music used to energize the crowd. After the sessions have ended everyone goes back to their same old routines. The managers may talk about it for a week or two but the enthusiasm dies and the program gets put on a back burner. I’ve seen this in retail operations and I have witnessed it in retail loss prevention. Admittedly, I have been guilty of this myself. How do you as a store owner or manager conduct employee theft reduction training with other managers and staff or do you do it at all? If so, is it a once and done or do you spend time on refresher training?
Training should not be thought of as a one-time process. It should be ongoing but not necessarily in a formal setting. Take for example training employees on properly attaching Sensormatic labels to merchandise. You may show someone one time but occasionally follow-up and ask that associate to show you how they are doing it. They may bring to your attention an issue with label placement they are seeing on medicines. It could be they are seeing inconsistency in a protection strategy. If you find someone is performing exceptionally well, you may choose to use that person as a trainer. The fact is if you show interest in your team and what they are doing they will show interest in the store and its success.
That said if you as a manager don’t have a strong skill set in an area such as time management you may find a business consultant to come in and train your managers to improve productivity. Let’s say Loss Prevention is a field you have little experience in, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) conducts training for retailers to help in shortage reduction. They conduct employee theft reduction and background check training for managers. They also offer training that will help stores stop shoplifting to improve profits. Follow-up training is available through live webinars, emailed tips and an online magazine. You have an opportunity to get employees excited about theft reduction and use that energy to carry out the vision you have for your stores; a vision of sales growth and business expansion. With LPSI that excitement doesn’t need to wane since ongoing training will always be available.
As for that cashier I helped, she was pleased at her first opportunity to sign up a customer for our program. As long as she receives support I am absolutely positive the store is going to benefit as she pursues customer sign-ups. That translates into increased sales for our store.
Need information on employee theft reduction training? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I had the opportunity in the store where I work to help train another employee and it brought to mind how managers go about training employees to stop shoplifting and retail fraud. My story started when I overheard one of our cashiers helping a customer at her register. I noticed that this cashier, normally a very outgoing person and super at upselling purchases was only making a half-hearted attempt to offer the customer a new program we have started. I jumped in and spoke with the customer about the program and I signed her up. After the customer left I spoke to the cashier and asked why she had not put of her magic touch on the program. She told me that she had made attempts when the program first rolled out but when she would ask for someone to help her get off the register and show her how to enroll the customer no one would help. After a couple of times of this she quit making an effort. I assured the cashier that if we were working together and someone was interested in the program she was to call me and I would show her how to do it. Wouldn’t you know it, the very next shift I worked the cashier was working too and she had a customer wanting to sign up. I did as I promised and took them to a computer and walked the cashier through the steps, allowing her to key in the information as I told her how to navigate.
This situation made me stop and think about employee theft reduction training and how it impacts the managers or associates being trained. How often do we invest time and money in training our employees on a new initiative and then fail to follow up on that training. I have witnessed training sessions that have pumped up the team with videos and music used to energize the crowd. After the sessions have ended everyone goes back to their same old routines. The managers may talk about it for a week or two but the enthusiasm dies and the program gets put on a back burner. I’ve seen this in retail operations and I have witnessed it in retail loss prevention. Admittedly, I have been guilty of this myself. How do you as a store owner or manager conduct employee theft reduction training with other managers and staff or do you do it at all? If so, is it a once and done or do you spend time on refresher training?
Training should not be thought of as a one-time process. It should be ongoing but not necessarily in a formal setting. Take for example training employees on properly attaching Sensormatic labels to merchandise. You may show someone one time but occasionally follow-up and ask that associate to show you how they are doing it. They may bring to your attention an issue with label placement they are seeing on medicines. It could be they are seeing inconsistency in a protection strategy. If you find someone is performing exceptionally well, you may choose to use that person as a trainer. The fact is if you show interest in your team and what they are doing they will show interest in the store and its success.
That said if you as a manager don’t have a strong skill set in an area such as time management you may find a business consultant to come in and train your managers to improve productivity. Let’s say Loss Prevention is a field you have little experience in, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) conducts training for retailers to help in shortage reduction. They conduct employee theft reduction and background check training for managers. They also offer training that will help stores stop shoplifting to improve profits. Follow-up training is available through live webinars, emailed tips and an online magazine. You have an opportunity to get employees excited about theft reduction and use that energy to carry out the vision you have for your stores; a vision of sales growth and business expansion. With LPSI that excitement doesn’t need to wane since ongoing training will always be available.
As for that cashier I helped, she was pleased at her first opportunity to sign up a customer for our program. As long as she receives support I am absolutely positive the store is going to benefit as she pursues customer sign-ups. That translates into increased sales for our store.
Need information on employee theft reduction training? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Stop shoplifting – 3 WC blog 744
Sensormatic labels – 4
Is New Technology More Effective To Stop Shoplifting?
Okay folks I am just going to say this, all of our new fancy technologies are just interfering with all of the old tried and true methods of doing things including how we stop shoplifting. What got me started on this bandwagon you may ask? Let me tell you what started this. My children bought fast food and brought it home and I happened to note an advertisement for a food delivery service that can bring fast food (or other restaurant fare) to your home. Now c’mon, a drive through wasn’t fast enough for you? I mean now we have to have that food brought to us? Geez, let’s hire someone to feed it to us too! And there’s a PHONE APP for this! Why, in my day you picked up the receiver and you put your index finger in the rotary dial and called to see if a restaurant was open or if a pizza could be delivered. And let’s talk about other technology. You couldn’t be satisfied with a beeper alerting you that someone was trying to reach you? No, that wasn’t good enough you had to come up with your fancy flip phones. Okay, I bit and I got one too and guess what I still have one! Now you had to go and upgrade to your smart-phones and all of your apps that you download. You’re turning on and off lights when you aren’t home. You talk to family and friends face to face on a phone!! Even in Retail Loss Prevention the use of Sensormatic labels and towers has changed. It worked just fine when we had to put those big 2-inch EAS tags on merchandise to keep goods from being stolen. Those clunky electronic article surveillance towers worked just fine with their hit or miss tag detection. Now you’ve gone and mucked that all up too!
Nowadays we don’t have one-size fits all EAS tags. No, you had to go and make them small and more convenient to protect more types of merchandise. Now you have Sensormatic labels small enough to protect cosmetic items. In my day you just sucked it up and either took the hit in shortage due to theft or you took a gamble and tried to stop shoplifting by apprehending people you suspected of taking a $3.00 mascara bottle. Add to this, Bill Bregar and his company Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. recommending Sensormatic systems and products to his customers as the best method of cutting expenses and building sales through reduced theft! What has happened to the days of using black and white pan-tilt-zoom camera to try to catch that thief pocketing merchandise and the thrill of stopping them and hoping they didn’t drop it? Doggone it you even have Bill recommending a Sensormatic Synergy Camera to attach to compatible antennas to capture alarm events as they happen when Sensormatic labels activate the tower. Need a snapshot? It can do that. If you prefer video, you can have that instead.
Oh, and if you think I’ve covered everything you are mistaken. I remember the days when we had to go to a computer terminal to look up reports and research information to help us identify potential theft and to stop shoplifting. Now you retail managers have even gone mobile in your stores and carry your fancy-shmancy phones to access store reporting. So what does Sensormatic do? They create Shrink Management as a Service (SMaaS) to assist managers in their Loss Prevention Programs and enhance sales. In MY day if you wanted to know when alarms had taken place you went to the alarm log and assumed all activity was entered correctly. Equipment problems were identified by testing your system on a daily basis and if you were off for a week then it would just wait until you returned. Now this software can analyze problems for you!
On a serious note, the advances in Sensormatic labels and technologies is amazing. While it would be nice if every store could afford a Loss Prevention staff the fact is it is expensive and not in the budget for most small retailers. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. does have practical and affordable solutions for you. I have seen what they have to offer and they can provide all of the tools necessary to improve your profits. From reduced shrink to improved hiring and staffing processes with their Applicant Management Center they offer everything that I could only wish I had available when I was Loss Prevention Manager and a Manager on Duty for a major retail chain. I recommend you check out their website and yes, go ahead and use your fancy smart phone to do it.
For more information on Sensormatic labels contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Okay folks I am just going to say this, all of our new fancy technologies are just interfering with all of the old tried and true methods of doing things including how we stop shoplifting. What got me started on this bandwagon you may ask? Let me tell you what started this. My children bought fast food and brought it home and I happened to note an advertisement for a food delivery service that can bring fast food (or other restaurant fare) to your home. Now c’mon, a drive through wasn’t fast enough for you? I mean now we have to have that food brought to us? Geez, let’s hire someone to feed it to us too! And there’s a PHONE APP for this! Why, in my day you picked up the receiver and you put your index finger in the rotary dial and called to see if a restaurant was open or if a pizza could be delivered. And let’s talk about other technology. You couldn’t be satisfied with a beeper alerting you that someone was trying to reach you? No, that wasn’t good enough you had to come up with your fancy flip phones. Okay, I bit and I got one too and guess what I still have one! Now you had to go and upgrade to your smart-phones and all of your apps that you download. You’re turning on and off lights when you aren’t home. You talk to family and friends face to face on a phone!! Even in Retail Loss Prevention the use of Sensormatic labels and towers has changed. It worked just fine when we had to put those big 2-inch EAS tags on merchandise to keep goods from being stolen. Those clunky electronic article surveillance towers worked just fine with their hit or miss tag detection. Now you’ve gone and mucked that all up too!
Nowadays we don’t have one-size fits all EAS tags. No, you had to go and make them small and more convenient to protect more types of merchandise. Now you have Sensormatic labels small enough to protect cosmetic items. In my day you just sucked it up and either took the hit in shortage due to theft or you took a gamble and tried to stop shoplifting by apprehending people you suspected of taking a $3.00 mascara bottle. Add to this, Bill Bregar and his company Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. recommending Sensormatic systems and products to his customers as the best method of cutting expenses and building sales through reduced theft! What has happened to the days of using black and white pan-tilt-zoom camera to try to catch that thief pocketing merchandise and the thrill of stopping them and hoping they didn’t drop it? Doggone it you even have Bill recommending a Sensormatic Synergy Camera to attach to compatible antennas to capture alarm events as they happen when Sensormatic labels activate the tower. Need a snapshot? It can do that. If you prefer video, you can have that instead.
Oh, and if you think I’ve covered everything you are mistaken. I remember the days when we had to go to a computer terminal to look up reports and research information to help us identify potential theft and to stop shoplifting. Now you retail managers have even gone mobile in your stores and carry your fancy-shmancy phones to access store reporting. So what does Sensormatic do? They create Shrink Management as a Service (SMaaS) to assist managers in their Loss Prevention Programs and enhance sales. In MY day if you wanted to know when alarms had taken place you went to the alarm log and assumed all activity was entered correctly. Equipment problems were identified by testing your system on a daily basis and if you were off for a week then it would just wait until you returned. Now this software can analyze problems for you!
On a serious note, the advances in Sensormatic labels and technologies is amazing. While it would be nice if every store could afford a Loss Prevention staff the fact is it is expensive and not in the budget for most small retailers. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. does have practical and affordable solutions for you. I have seen what they have to offer and they can provide all of the tools necessary to improve your profits. From reduced shrink to improved hiring and staffing processes with their Applicant Management Center they offer everything that I could only wish I had available when I was Loss Prevention Manager and a Manager on Duty for a major retail chain. I recommend you check out their website and yes, go ahead and use your fancy smart phone to do it.
For more information on Sensormatic labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
I was shopping in a department store with my wife and as I am prone to do I noticed the Sensormatic security system towers at the doors. Sensormatic equipment is used by 80% of the top 200 retailers in the world (Sensormatic.com). I walked through this store and saw racks and tables filled with clothing that had not been protected with any Sensormatic labels or tags. This was peculiar to me. Why in the world would you have a system in place that could prevent theft and then not protect merchandise from the very theft you installed the system to defend against?
The purpose of an anti-theft system is to stop shoplifting, keeping merchandise in the store so it can be sold to the shoppers who want to purchase your products. In order for the system to properly work goods have to be tagged with electronic article surveillance tags and/or labels. It may seem like this should be common sense but if it is common sense then why do I find so many instances like the one I found during my shopping trip? Is it a lack of information on how a Sensormatic security system is supposed to work? I doubt it. This business has a Loss Prevention Department, I know because twenty-eight years ago I worked for them as a Loss Prevention Officer. Is there a lack of tagging due to payroll or the cost of the tags? This should not be a reason for neglecting tagging merchandise.Sensormatic hard tags are reusable so when a large quantity of tags are bought (which should be with the purchase of a new system) they aren’t going to quickly run out and require a new set to be bought. The tagging can be done by salesfloor employees as they are working. A newly installed system may require some initial payroll investment in order to get merchandise tagged but once complete it is simply a matter of maintaining the tagging program. In fact, if you were to use the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. Free ROI Calculator you can include payroll into the amount you are willing to spend on a new system. After the numbers are figured the calculator will show you how long it will take for a new system to pay for itself. So I left the store perplexed at the lack of tagging I noted in my visit.
My wife and I then went into another department store, part of a company struggling financially at this time. Again, I saw theSensormatic security system towers at the front doors. My heart sank a bit as I noted to my wife how empty the store looked, of people AND merchandise. There were very few visible employees and very few customers for that matter. I could not help but wonder if the lack of merchandise was a planned decrease in merchandise levels or if a significant portion of the emptiness was a failure to stop shoplifting or a combination? With very few of the clothing items protected with a Sensormatic security tag I could only imagine that a significant portion of the financial woes faced by this business (and empty fixtures) was due in part to a poor anti-theft strategy. Even if an item was properly tagged and someone were to start to walk out of the store and activated the tower alarm, who was going to respond to that situation? No one was around to respond and the offender would have simply walked out without a proper package or receipt check. Since I was having a difficult time finding something that was tagged in the first place I’m not sure this was a concern anyways.
Having a Sensormatic security system will stop shoplifting but it requires some amount of effort. Proper tagging of merchandise, training of employees and staffing a store so someone is in a position to respond in a timely manner are important factors to consider. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can help you with theft prevention consultations to help make your store more money. They can even give guidance on how you can keep merchandise tagged and have employees staffed so they can respond to alarm activity. Don’t take my word for it check out their website for more information.
Get more information on a Sensormatic Security System, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Sensormatic labels -4 wc blog 741
Stop Shoplifting – 3
Don’t Settle For Stagnant Shortage Results – Use Sensormatic Labels
If I were to ask retail owners if they would like to stop shoplifting from taking place in their stores I feel certain I would receive a 100% response in the affirmative. I would also guarantee a 100% affirmative response if I were to ask retailers if they would like to increase profits. Interestingly to me however is the fact that a recent 2018 National Retail Security Survey, found that there was a 22.2% decrease in the use of “Acousto-magnetic, electronic security tags” from 2017-2018 (pg. 10). This category would include Sensormatic labels of all types, including the HBC labels for health and beauty products and the Ultra strip III rolls. Now before I hit the panic button let me be clear, there were increases in other categories of Retail Loss Prevention Systems. For example the report listed budget increases for “Theft deterrent devices” which would include Sensormatic Safers, wraps, etc. So not all areas of retail theft protection have been neglected but the reporting that a 22.2% decrease in acousto-magnetic tag spending is concerning to me. As a former Loss Prevention Manager I believe this is a poor decision on the part of retailers.
The report indicates that shortage remains about flat to previous years at 1.33% (pg.5). Let me ask you a question, if your store sales remained flat to previous years would you be excited about this? Certainly not! You would take steps to improve profits. Well, shrink reduction is one place to start and it can be done quickly and results will be seen almost immediately. Bringing that 1.33% down by half is not unreasonable. Remember, that percentage is an average percentage for retailers. Your store(s) could very well be experiencing shrink much higher than this. As we break down shortage we find from the report that external theft accounted for 36.5% of store losses in 2017. Internal theft or employee theft resulted in an additional 30% of store losses. Combined, on average this could be 66.5% of your merchandise shortage and does not include an estimated 5.4% attributed to vendor theft or fraud. Bill Bregar, owner of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. knows how theft takes a significant bite out of store profits. Bill has developed and operated Loss Prevention programs at the National Director level for major retailers. He draws on that experience to help business owners improve their profits through improved sales and reduced shortage. Like me, Bill DOES recommend the use of Sensormatic labels and hard tags to prevent shoplifting and internal theft to his clients.
I mentioned that you could bring shrink down by almost half and it can be done quickly. Bill agrees with me here as well and if you will take a look at the ROI calculator on the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website you will see that is the amount his company estimates you would reduce shrink by if you were to install a retail anti-theft system and use Sensormatic labels and tags. Sitting stagnate and accepting 1.33% losses is an unacceptable proposition when that figure can be easily improved upon.
One other aspect of the report that concerned me is that approximately 42% of stores in this survey experienced shrinkage of 1.5% and higher (with 9% of stores experiencing over 3% in shortage) (pg. 5). And what are some of the types of anti-theft measures that are increasingly being used in stores? “Simulated, visible CCTV” and “Observation mirrors” are listed as seeing a 27.0% and 9% increase since 2017 respectively (pg. 10). I have nothing against CCTV or the use of mirrors in stores. I used live CCTV and recorded video to catch shoplifters and dishonest employees. Mirrors can help with seeing corners that may be out of the line of sight of employees. Using simulated CCTV may deter a minimal amount of theft but Sensormatic labels are a much more effective method to stop shoplifting. They act as a deterrent AND they set off alarm towers providing trained employees an opportunity to recover merchandise before it gets out the door. Mirrors are only effective if employees are watching them and going to those corners but do your employees have time to be watching mirrors? Unless you have a Loss Prevention Associate working the benefits are negligible at best.
Investing in a Sensormatic system is the smart choice for store owners. They are proven to stop shoplifting and employee theft. I have first-hand experience recovering merchandise that was going to be stolen had an electronic article surveillance alarm not set off an alarm tower. Don’t waste money on technology that will not provide the same results. Keep merchandise out of the hands of thieves and in the store where it will be bought and see sales soar. Invest in Sensormatic security systems!
Need information on Sensormatic labels? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
If I were to ask retail owners if they would like to stop shoplifting from taking place in their stores I feel certain I would receive a 100% response in the affirmative. I would also guarantee a 100% affirmative response if I were to ask retailers if they would like to increase profits. Interestingly to me however is the fact that a recent 2018 National Retail Security Survey, found that there was a 22.2% decrease in the use of “Acousto-magnetic, electronic security tags” from 2017-2018 (pg. 10). This category would include Sensormatic labels of all types, including the HBC labels for health and beauty products and the Ultra strip III rolls. Now before I hit the panic button let me be clear, there were increases in other categories of Retail Loss Prevention Systems. For example the report listed budget increases for “Theft deterrent devices” which would include Sensormatic Safers, wraps, etc. So not all areas of retail theft protection have been neglected but the reporting that a 22.2% decrease in acousto-magnetic tag spending is concerning to me. As a former Loss Prevention Manager I believe this is a poor decision on the part of retailers.
The report indicates that shortage remains about flat to previous years at 1.33% (pg.5). Let me ask you a question, if your store sales remained flat to previous years would you be excited about this? Certainly not! You would take steps to improve profits. Well, shrink reduction is one place to start and it can be done quickly and results will be seen almost immediately. Bringing that 1.33% down by half is not unreasonable. Remember, that percentage is an average percentage for retailers. Your store(s) could very well be experiencing shrink much higher than this. As we break down shortage we find from the report that external theft accounted for 36.5% of store losses in 2017. Internal theft or employee theft resulted in an additional 30% of store losses. Combined, on average this could be 66.5% of your merchandise shortage and does not include an estimated 5.4% attributed to vendor theft or fraud. Bill Bregar, owner of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. knows how theft takes a significant bite out of store profits. Bill has developed and operated Loss Prevention programs at the National Director level for major retailers. He draws on that experience to help business owners improve their profits through improved sales and reduced shortage. Like me, Bill DOES recommend the use of Sensormatic labels and hard tags to prevent shoplifting and internal theft to his clients.
I mentioned that you could bring shrink down by almost half and it can be done quickly. Bill agrees with me here as well and if you will take a look at the ROI calculator on the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website you will see that is the amount his company estimates you would reduce shrink by if you were to install a retail anti-theft system and use Sensormatic labels and tags. Sitting stagnate and accepting 1.33% losses is an unacceptable proposition when that figure can be easily improved upon.
One other aspect of the report that concerned me is that approximately 42% of stores in this survey experienced shrinkage of 1.5% and higher (with 9% of stores experiencing over 3% in shortage) (pg. 5). And what are some of the types of anti-theft measures that are increasingly being used in stores? “Simulated, visible CCTV” and “Observation mirrors” are listed as seeing a 27.0% and 9% increase since 2017 respectively (pg. 10). I have nothing against CCTV or the use of mirrors in stores. I used live CCTV and recorded video to catch shoplifters and dishonest employees. Mirrors can help with seeing corners that may be out of the line of sight of employees. Using simulated CCTV may deter a minimal amount of theft but Sensormatic labels are a much more effective method to stop shoplifting. They act as a deterrent AND they set off alarm towers providing trained employees an opportunity to recover merchandise before it gets out the door. Mirrors are only effective if employees are watching them and going to those corners but do your employees have time to be watching mirrors? Unless you have a Loss Prevention Associate working the benefits are negligible at best.
Investing in a Sensormatic system is the smart choice for store owners. They are proven to stop shoplifting and employee theft. I have first-hand experience recovering merchandise that was going to be stolen had an electronic article surveillance alarm not set off an alarm tower. Don’t waste money on technology that will not provide the same results. Keep merchandise out of the hands of thieves and in the store where it will be bought and see sales soar. Invest in Sensormatic security systems!
Need information on Sensormatic labels? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Sensormatic Labels – 5 WC Blog 731
Stop Shoplifting – 3
When To Choose Between Sensormatic Labels and Hard Tags
When is it better to use Sensormatic labels versus hard tags? I encountered an incident at work the other night that is a prime example of when one can be chosen over the other. I was on the salesfloor of the store where I work answering questions for a customer over the telephone. As I was trying to explain information on a specific computer monitor I happened to glance over my shoulder and saw a shopper closing up a cardboard box that a certain computer charging cable is carried in. All of the other laptop chargers are in thick plastic blister packages and have electronic article surveillance tags source tagged in them. I was suspicious of the customer as he closed up the box and placed it back on the peg hook but I was also busy with the customer on the telephone. I saw no way to interrupt the phone conversation to check on a suspicious action without potentially hurting the reputation of the store with that customer. The only other people in the store were tied up with their own customers so there was no one to call for assistance. When I did finally finish helping the customer on the phone I checked on the box that had been rehung and it was indeed empty.
Sensormatic labels and the hard tags will stop shoplifting but there are differences in how they are placed on merchandise that should influence what products store managers choose to put them on. If merchandise is protected in a hard, plastic blister package a label will provide the protection needed to sound the electronic article surveillance alarm. With ample customer service on the floor, criminals will not have the opportunity to cut into packages to remove the contents. So in these cases packaging and labels work in unison to deter theft. If presented with a choice the other merchandise I like to see labels used to protect are small easy to conceal items such as you find in the health and beauty department. These are too small for hard tags but are still in high demand by thieves and should be protected. Cosmetics are one of the top categories for theft in shrinkage analysis reporting among stores that sell cosmetics. Often store managers that don’t protect these items don’t understand that there are Sensormatic labels designed for this purpose. The HBC (Health, Beauty and Cosmetic) Sheet Label is a narrow label specifically for this category of product. As an ardent supporter of tagging as much as possible in a store, labels are the perfect solution for protecting large quantities of merchandise in a cost effective manner.
Hard tags are reusable and dependable in merchandise protection but there are limitations on what they can be used on and may not make sense for everything. Do you need to put every deck of “Old Maid” children’s cards in Flexible Safers when they pose little if any theft risk? Probably not but what you can do is tear off a label from a sheet and slap it on a box. It may be low risk but now you have virtually eliminated that threat, regardless of how minor, to keep your cards from being stolen. Sensormatic labels are versatile and can be used on almost any product sold in stores. From a deck of “Old Maid” cards to a computer printer to placement on a garment manufacturer hang tag, labels can give more flexibility for store managers in order to stop shoplifting. When a store has both the labels and the hard tags I do suggest using the hard tags when possible on the higher price point goods. If we use the theft incident I referenced earlier a Sensormatic Magnetic Alarming 3-Tone Wrap or Flexible Safer would have been a better option for the Powercord. Either of these would have prevented the crook from easily getting into the box and stealing the contents. IF a store has no other options a label on a high dollar product is better than a lock up case or no tag at all.
As much as we would like to have a one to one employee/customer ratio in our stores we know that is not an option. Sometimes we are pulled in all different directions and shoplifters take advantage of it. Using a Sensormatic security system and the best anti-theft devices for a particular product you can stop shoplifting in your store(s). When the merchandise itself seems too small or too insignificant or you simply don’t keep hard tags on hand, Sensormatic labels are a wonderful all-purpose way to keep products secure. Stay in-stock and making money by using electronic article surveillance devices on ALL your merchandise.
Sensormatic labels are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
When is it better to use Sensormatic labels versus hard tags? I encountered an incident at work the other night that is a prime example of when one can be chosen over the other. I was on the salesfloor of the store where I work answering questions for a customer over the telephone. As I was trying to explain information on a specific computer monitor I happened to glance over my shoulder and saw a shopper closing up a cardboard box that a certain computer charging cable is carried in. All of the other laptop chargers are in thick plastic blister packages and have electronic article surveillance tags source tagged in them. I was suspicious of the customer as he closed up the box and placed it back on the peg hook but I was also busy with the customer on the telephone. I saw no way to interrupt the phone conversation to check on a suspicious action without potentially hurting the reputation of the store with that customer. The only other people in the store were tied up with their own customers so there was no one to call for assistance. When I did finally finish helping the customer on the phone I checked on the box that had been rehung and it was indeed empty.
Sensormatic labels and the hard tags will stop shoplifting but there are differences in how they are placed on merchandise that should influence what products store managers choose to put them on. If merchandise is protected in a hard, plastic blister package a label will provide the protection needed to sound the electronic article surveillance alarm. With ample customer service on the floor, criminals will not have the opportunity to cut into packages to remove the contents. So in these cases packaging and labels work in unison to deter theft. If presented with a choice the other merchandise I like to see labels used to protect are small easy to conceal items such as you find in the health and beauty department. These are too small for hard tags but are still in high demand by thieves and should be protected. Cosmetics are one of the top categories for theft in shrinkage analysis reporting among stores that sell cosmetics. Often store managers that don’t protect these items don’t understand that there are Sensormatic labels designed for this purpose. The HBC (Health, Beauty and Cosmetic) Sheet Label is a narrow label specifically for this category of product. As an ardent supporter of tagging as much as possible in a store, labels are the perfect solution for protecting large quantities of merchandise in a cost effective manner.
Hard tags are reusable and dependable in merchandise protection but there are limitations on what they can be used on and may not make sense for everything. Do you need to put every deck of “Old Maid” children’s cards in Flexible Safers when they pose little if any theft risk? Probably not but what you can do is tear off a label from a sheet and slap it on a box. It may be low risk but now you have virtually eliminated that threat, regardless of how minor, to keep your cards from being stolen. Sensormatic labels are versatile and can be used on almost any product sold in stores. From a deck of “Old Maid” cards to a computer printer to placement on a garment manufacturer hang tag, labels can give more flexibility for store managers in order to stop shoplifting. When a store has both the labels and the hard tags I do suggest using the hard tags when possible on the higher price point goods. If we use the theft incident I referenced earlier a Sensormatic Magnetic Alarming 3-Tone Wrap or Flexible Safer would have been a better option for the Powercord. Either of these would have prevented the crook from easily getting into the box and stealing the contents. IF a store has no other options a label on a high dollar product is better than a lock up case or no tag at all.
As much as we would like to have a one to one employee/customer ratio in our stores we know that is not an option. Sometimes we are pulled in all different directions and shoplifters take advantage of it. Using a Sensormatic security system and the best anti-theft devices for a particular product you can stop shoplifting in your store(s). When the merchandise itself seems too small or too insignificant or you simply don’t keep hard tags on hand, Sensormatic labels are a wonderful all-purpose way to keep products secure. Stay in-stock and making money by using electronic article surveillance devices on ALL your merchandise.
Sensormatic labels are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
