Change is not always easy for example I remember having to make changes in how to stop shoplifting when I went from one company to another. I promoted from a Loss Prevention Associate in a store where I could chase shoplifters, tackle and hold them until local police arrived to a Loss Prevention Manager of a company that would not permit any pursuit beyond the sidewalk. Later, due to circumstances of management realignment I had to depart my beloved Loss Prevention Manager position and took on a Freight Manager role I was successful in by almost all diagnostic measurements. Unfortunately (or fortunately as I later realized), that position took a toll on me and I resigned after a year and a half. Despite my experience and education new work did not come easily but I did wind up back in Loss Prevention for a retail store that had a total hand-off policy. Even if I saw a shoplifter conceal merchandise and set off the Sensormatic security system I could “talk to them” but I could not physically stop the person. I tried to abide by the policy despite my disagreement. You can’t stop shoplifting if there are no repercussions when a thief walks out and knows you cannot touch them. Oh that company has closed down almost all of their brick and mortar locations. I have my own opinion as to why. I left the company after a few short months for reasons I won’t get into but suffice it to say it was another fortuitous situation as that location was only open a couple of more years. Change happens.
I have also had to handle change in how to stop shoplifting going from one type of electronic article surveillance company to another. The last one I was involved with was Sensormatic security systems and I must say I was impressed with the quality of the equipment and tags. I was already familiar with the brand but had not used it myself. I still have some familiarity with it as the office store where I work uses the system and I know how good our inventory shortage results are for the past 8 years. The results speak volumes of the effectiveness of Sensormatic in helping stores stop shoplifting (even though I still get the itch to do it myself from time to time). Systems have their own features and some may compare them to driving a Ford or a Chevy. I would liken it to driving a mini-van or a Cadillac Escalade. The mini-van gets me where I need to go (that is what I can afford to drive) the Escalade would also get me there but with more bells, whistles and let’s be honest reliability. I think of Sensormatic security systems as the Escalade versus the other electronic article surveillance systems on the market. They just perform better.
Change can come in other forms in our work and careers. Sometimes we think we want to do one thing and events or circumstances force us to go another path. In my life I believe God has directed my career and sometimes it can be downright scary. But in the end I find I have learned new things or I have contributed in some small manner to a new employer. I never would have imagined that my Air Force Law Enforcement experience and Retail Loss Prevention experiences would ever have led to work in a college library! Nor would I have ever imagined myself as a writer of articles for a Loss Prevention consulting business. Sure, like many others I kind of had a secret desire to write but I did not get a degree in English or Journalism. My degree in Sociology was a far cry from writing. But as I look at my experiences as an Air Force Law Enforcement Specialist and a Loss Prevention Officer and Manager, I had to write…A LOT! When I would stop shoplifting and apprehend a culprit I had to write a report that might go to court. It had to be accurate. Maybe I was more prepared than I thought.
My point is change can and will happen. Are you ready to embrace it or fight it? There is nothing wrong with being a little nervous about it. What will I do? How do I react? Questions will arise. But in my case I was given an opportunity by a new boss, Bill Bregar, to try my hand at writing for his company. I had coaching and encouragement along the way by new friends Ashleigh Berry and Cathy Benoist. I was pushed out of comfort zones and tried new things. A new door opened and I was welcomed with open arms I will never forget what these people have done for me. That is how YOU should embrace change. Now a door is closing. I don’t know where it will lead but I am confident God has a new and exciting adventure planned. After 849 articles it is time to see where a new door will open but before I do let me leave you with these words of wisdom from someone with over 17 years in Retail Loss Prevention…If you don’t have a Sensormatic security system, buy one you will improve the financial success of your store, I promise!
For more information on Sensormatic security systems, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Change is not always easy for example I remember having to make changes in how to stop shoplifting when I went from one company to another. I was promoted from a Loss Prevention Associate in a store where I could chase shoplifters, tackle and hold them until local police arrived to a Loss Prevention Manager of a company that would not permit any pursuit beyond the sidewalk. Later, due to circumstances of management realignment I had to depart my beloved Loss Prevention Manager position and took on a Freight Manager role I was successful in by almost all diagnostic measurements. Unfortunately (or fortunately as I later realized), that position took a toll on me and I resigned after a year and a half. Despite my experience and education new work did not come easily but I did wind up back in Loss Prevention for a retail store that had a total hands-off policy. Even if I saw a shoplifter conceal merchandise and set off the Sensormatic security system I could “talk to them” but I could not physically stop the person. I tried to abide by the policy despite my disagreement. You can’t stop shoplifting if there are no repercussions when a thief walks out and knows you cannot touch them. Oh that company has closed down almost all of their brick and mortar locations. I have my own opinion as to why. I left the company after a few short months for reasons I won’t get into but suffice it to say it was another fortuitous situation as that location was only open a couple of more years. Change happens.
I have also had to handle change in how to stop shoplifting going from one type of electronic article surveillance company to another. The last one I was involved with was Sensormatic security systems and I must say I was impressed with the quality of the equipment and tags. I was already familiar with the brand but had not used it myself. I still have some familiarity with it as the office store where I work uses the system and I know how good our inventory shortage results are for the past 8 years. The results speak volumes of the effectiveness of Sensormatic in helping stores stop shoplifting (even though I still get the itch to do it myself from time to time). Systems have their own features and some may compare them to driving a Ford or a Chevy. I would liken it to driving a mini-van or a Cadillac Escalade. The mini-van gets me where I need to go (that is what I can afford to drive) the Escalade would also get me there but with more bells, whistles and let’s be honest reliability. I think of Sensormatic security systems as the Escalade versus the other electronic article surveillance systems on the market. They just perform better.
Change can come in other forms in our work and careers. Sometimes we think we want to do one thing and events or circumstances force us to go another path. In my life I believe God has directed my career and sometimes it can be downright scary. But in the end I find I have learned new things or I have contributed in some small manner to a new employer. I never would have imagined that my Air Force Law Enforcement experience and Retail Loss Prevention experiences would ever have led to work in a college library! Nor would I have ever imagined myself as a writer of articles for a Loss Prevention consulting business. Sure, like many others I kind of had a secret desire to write but I did not get a degree in English or Journalism. My degree in Sociology was a far cry from writing. But as I look at my experiences as an Air Force Law Enforcement Specialist and a Loss Prevention Officer and Manager, I had to write…A LOT! When I would stop shoplifting and apprehend a culprit I had to write a report that might go to court. It had to be accurate. Maybe I was more prepared than I thought.
My point is change can and will happen. Are you ready to embrace it or fight it? There is nothing wrong with being a little nervous about it. What will I do? How do I react? Questions will arise. But in my case I was given an opportunity by a new boss, Bill Bregar, to try my hand at writing for his company. I had coaching and encouragement along the way by new friends Ashleigh Berry and Cathy Benoist. I was pushed out of comfort zones and tried new things. A new door opened and I was welcomed with open arms I will never forget what these people have done for me. That is how YOU should embrace change. Now a door is closing. I don’t know where it will lead but I am confident God has a new and exciting adventure planned. After 849 articles it is time to see where a new door will open but before I do let me leave you with these words of wisdom from someone with over 17 years in Retail Loss Prevention…If you don’t have a Sensormatic security system, buy one you will improve the financial success of your store, I promise!
For more information on Sensormatic security systems, contact us at 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Protect Health And Beauty Products From Professional Crooks By Using Sensormatic Safers
How important is it for store owners to protect health and beauty products? How important is it to prevent all theft in your store? As I was searching for recent news on Organized Retail Crime (ORC) activity I came across a story that was a strong reminder of why it is important for merchants to prevent shoplifting. A professional shoplifting ring out of Florida was recently caught by police. They are accused of theft to the tune of over $2 million dollars in stolen goods! According to a story in clickorlando.com, May 08, 2018, “5 arrested 1 sought in Florida retail theft ring” the suspects were, “…hitting eight to 10 businesses each day.” This is an incredible amount of merchandise and it was not just one type of store being targeted. The group was hitting grocery stores, drug stores and department stores. The story related that Publix Loss Prevention started the investigation as the group was stealing primarily health and beauty products from their stores. Of course as the investigation by police went into full swing it was determined other chains were being hit by the group also. It turns out the ring was stealing clothes and shoes as well as teeth whitening strips, electric toothbrushes and razors. The goods were then sold on the black market.
What are Organized Retail Theft (ORC) rings and is there a way to combat them? ORC groups are professional shoplifting groups. They can vary in the number of people who operate in a ring and they may even use people outside of the ring to actually do the shoplifting. What makes these groups different from the opportunist who enters a store and steals is that the opportunist may only do it as a prank or for a thrill. They may steal a lot over time but not in the quantities or dollars that professional groups will steal. ORC rings are reselling as a business. They may sell on the internet, out of a warehouse or use a “mom and pop” shop as a cover. They will steal anything they can get out of a store but they love to steal small merchandise that is easy to conceal. This is why it is so important to protect health and beauty products.
So now you know what an ORC group is but how do you fight back against a group of criminals who may be working in teams or sending in others to steal for them? You prevent shoplifting by using Sensormatic Flexible Safers. Safers are tough, durable, locking bags with electronic article surveillance protection built into them. They add size and alarm protection to smaller pieces of merchandise that would otherwise be easy for shoplifters to steal in bulk quantities. How did the ORC group mentioned at the beginning of this article get away with hitting eight to 10 businesses a day? I would be willing to bet that in part they were avoiding merchandise that had electronic article surveillance protection as much as they possibly could. Professional shoplifters know that activating alarm towers with Flexible Safers or other Sensormatic tags is going to draw unwanted attention and make it difficult to go back to that store again. A store that uses anti-shoplifting devices to protect health and beauty products is one step ahead of the bad guys.
It is important that I mention that Sensormatic Safers prevent shoplifting by the opportunist as much as the professional. This is especially true in the health and beauty product departments where so many of the items are pocketable. That means they are small enough to be slipped into a pocket and that is a difficult theft to see. I can tell you that we in the Loss Prevention field are very wary of stopping someone for stealing something as small as a cosmetic item. It is simply too risky and the chance of making a bad stop too great. We often let these people walk out unless they set off an electronic article surveillance alarm and then we leave it up to a store manager or supervisor to resolve the cause for the alarm. We generally won’t make an apprehension for an alarm activation, we simply want to see merchandise retrieved.
You never know if your store will be hit by professional shoplifting rings but I can assure you at some point you will be the victim of some variety of shoplifter. If you want to protect health and beauty products or any small merchandise Flexible Safers are the solution for you. Saving money with a Sensormatic System and tags is a beautiful thing.
For more information about how to protect health and beauty products contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
How important is it for store owners to protect health and beauty products? How important is it to prevent all theft in your store? As I was searching for recent news on Organized Retail Crime (ORC) activity I came across a story that was a strong reminder of why it is important for merchants to prevent shoplifting. A professional shoplifting ring out of Florida was recently caught by police. They are accused of theft to the tune of over $2 million dollars in stolen goods! According to a story in clickorlando.com, May 08, 2018, “5 arrested 1 sought in Florida retail theft ring” the suspects were, “…hitting eight to 10 businesses each day.” This is an incredible amount of merchandise and it was not just one type of store being targeted. The group was hitting grocery stores, drug stores and department stores. The story related that Publix Loss Prevention started the investigation as the group was stealing primarily health and beauty products from their stores. Of course as the investigation by police went into full swing it was determined other chains were being hit by the group also. It turns out the ring was stealing clothes and shoes as well as teeth whitening strips, electric toothbrushes and razors. The goods were then sold on the black market.
What are Organized Retail Theft (ORC) rings and is there a way to combat them? ORC groups are professional shoplifting groups. They can vary in the number of people who operate in a ring and they may even use people outside of the ring to actually do the shoplifting. What makes these groups different from the opportunist who enters a store and steals is that the opportunist may only do it as a prank or for a thrill. They may steal a lot over time but not in the quantities or dollars that professional groups will steal. ORC rings are reselling as a business. They may sell on the internet, out of a warehouse or use a “mom and pop” shop as a cover. They will steal anything they can get out of a store but they love to steal small merchandise that is easy to conceal. This is why it is so important to protect health and beauty products.
So now you know what an ORC group is but how do you fight back against a group of criminals who may be working in teams or sending in others to steal for them? You prevent shoplifting by using Sensormatic Flexible Safers. Safers are tough, durable, locking bags with electronic article surveillance protection built into them. They add size and alarm protection to smaller pieces of merchandise that would otherwise be easy for shoplifters to steal in bulk quantities. How did the ORC group mentioned at the beginning of this article get away with hitting eight to 10 businesses a day? I would be willing to bet that in part they were avoiding merchandise that had electronic article surveillance protection as much as they possibly could. Professional shoplifters know that activating alarm towers with Flexible Safers or other Sensormatic tags is going to draw unwanted attention and make it difficult to go back to that store again. A store that uses anti-shoplifting devices to protect health and beauty products is one step ahead of the bad guys.
It is important that I mention that Sensormatic Safers prevent shoplifting by the opportunist as much as the professional. This is especially true in the health and beauty product departments where so many of the items are pocketable. That means they are small enough to be slipped into a pocket and that is a difficult theft to see. I can tell you that we in the Loss Prevention field are very wary of stopping someone for stealing something as small as a cosmetic item. It is simply too risky and the chance of making a bad stop too great. We often let these people walk out unless they set off an electronic article surveillance alarm and then we leave it up to a store manager or supervisor to resolve the cause for the alarm. We generally won’t make an apprehension for an alarm activation, we simply want to see merchandise retrieved.
You never know if your store will be hit by professional shoplifting rings but I can assure you at some point you will be the victim of some variety of shoplifter. If you want to protect health and beauty products or any small merchandise Flexible Safers are the solution for you. Saving money with a Sensormatic System and tags is a beautiful thing.
For more information about how to protect health and beauty products contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Clothing Security – 4 WC blog 848
Clothing security tags – 3
The Best Shortage Reduction Programs Always Include Clothing Security Tags
It can be difficult to decide the best clothing security to use to protect your merchandise from theft. Do you rely on fantastic customer service to dissuade potential pilferers from scooting out with unpaid goods? Do you have fitting room practices in place to prevent hidden goods from being secreted into a dressing room? Perhaps you use closed circuit television cameras and monitors to deter criminals from stealing clothing. Each of these is a good tool in the fight against merchandise shortage but if this is all you are doing then you are missing a critical element in your tool chest.
Sensormatic’s electronic article surveillance towers and clothing security tags are essential for those store owners who are looking for effective methods to reduce shortage. For one thing the tags are nearly impossible to remove without damaging the merchandise. They are built so that a Sensormatic detachment tool is required to take the tag off of an item. I confess that as a Loss Prevention Officer I wanted to see how difficult it really would be to forcibly remove clothing security tags so I attempted to pry one off of a shirt. The shirt was damaged already so I wasn’t destroying anything of value. I can say that the tag did not come off and as I recall I did end up damaging the product more in the process. Since I had a pretty good understanding of how the tags worked I can only imagine the damage a shoplifter would do to a garment if they were able to get a tagged article of clothing out of a store.
Sensormatic products alone are a strong deterrent to criminals. They don’t want to damage merchandise. Whether they intend to sell it to make money, trade the clothes for drugs or take the goods for their own use the majority of shoplifters recognize the damage tags will cause of forcibly removed. That removes the incentive to try to steal in the first place. Most people also understand what electronic article surveillance systems do and that includes shoplifters. The potential risk of setting off a Sensormatic security alarm and getting caught is another deterrent that prevents theft from taking place.
Are these risks associated with Sensormatic tags enough to impede all shoplifters? I would say no. A system may work as a standalone clothing security measure for a time but when crooks see that no one responds to alarm activations they no longer fear being stopped. An effective clothing security program will incorporate training employees on how to properly react to electronic article surveillance alarms. Waving at a customer who has just set off a Sensormatic alarm pedestal only reinforces to thieves that alarms are not taken seriously at a store where this happens. Ongoing training with employees is an important part of an overall shortage reduction program for a store. There are right and wrong ways to stop people who set off alarms.
I mentioned at the beginning of this article that there are other tools that retailers use in their efforts to enhance clothing security. Fitting room controls is one of my favorite areas to focus theft prevention. The reason is the privacy afforded thieves when they enter a fitting room. They know stores cannot place closed circuit television cameras or mirrors here. They hide merchandise and clothing articles between draped pieces of clothing and walk in. While in the room they either change into the clothing hidden between layers of merchandise they are carrying or they conceal those items in a bag, backpack, purse etc. Scheduling an associate to work the fitting room and separate merchandise being taken into a room is a strong deterrent to shoplifting. I cannot tell you how much merchandise I have seen good fitting room attendants recover.
In order to stop shoplifting and improve your profits you must have a comprehensive program in place. Start a program with a great customer service culture add clothing security tags and a Sensormatic system and a fitting room attendant and you will be well on your way. Help is always just a phone call away.
For more information on clothing security contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
It can be difficult to decide the best clothing security to use to protect your merchandise from theft. Do you rely on fantastic customer service to dissuade potential pilferers from scooting out with unpaid goods? Do you have fitting room practices in place to prevent hidden goods from being secreted into a dressing room? Perhaps you use closed circuit television cameras and monitors to deter criminals from stealing clothing. Each of these is a good tool in the fight against merchandise shortage but if this is all you are doing then you are missing a critical element in your tool chest.
Sensormatic’s electronic article surveillance towers and clothing security tags are essential for those store owners who are looking for effective methods to reduce shortage. For one thing the tags are nearly impossible to remove without damaging the merchandise. They are built so that a Sensormatic detachment tool is required to take the tag off of an item. I confess that as a Loss Prevention Officer I wanted to see how difficult it really would be to forcibly remove clothing security tags so I attempted to pry one off of a shirt. The shirt was damaged already so I wasn’t destroying anything of value. I can say that the tag did not come off and as I recall I did end up damaging the product more in the process. Since I had a pretty good understanding of how the tags worked I can only imagine the damage a shoplifter would do to a garment if they were able to get a tagged article of clothing out of a store.
Sensormatic products alone are a strong deterrent to criminals. They don’t want to damage merchandise. Whether they intend to sell it to make money, trade the clothes for drugs or take the goods for their own use the majority of shoplifters recognize the damage tags will cause of forcibly removed. That removes the incentive to try to steal in the first place. Most people also understand what electronic article surveillance systems do and that includes shoplifters. The potential risk of setting off a Sensormatic security alarm and getting caught is another deterrent that prevents theft from taking place.
Are these risks associated with Sensormatic tags enough to impede all shoplifters? I would say no. A system may work as a standalone clothing security measure for a time but when crooks see that no one responds to alarm activations they no longer fear being stopped. An effective clothing security program will incorporate training employees on how to properly react to electronic article surveillance alarms. Waving at a customer who has just set off a Sensormatic alarm pedestal only reinforces to thieves that alarms are not taken seriously at a store where this happens. Ongoing training with employees is an important part of an overall shortage reduction program for a store. There are right and wrong ways to stop people who set off alarms.
I mentioned at the beginning of this article that there are other tools that retailers use in their efforts to enhance clothing security. Fitting room controls is one of my favorite areas to focus theft prevention. The reason is the privacy afforded thieves when they enter a fitting room. They know stores cannot place closed circuit television cameras or mirrors here. They hide merchandise and clothing articles between draped pieces of clothing and walk in. While in the room they either change into the clothing hidden between layers of merchandise they are carrying or they conceal those items in a bag, backpack, purse etc. Scheduling an associate to work the fitting room and separate merchandise being taken into a room is a strong deterrent to shoplifting. I cannot tell you how much merchandise I have seen good fitting room attendants recover.
In order to stop shoplifting and improve your profits you must have a comprehensive program in place. Start a program with a great customer service culture add clothing security tags and a Sensormatic system and a fitting room attendant and you will be well on your way. Help is always just a phone call away.
For more information on clothing security contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Retail Traffic Counting-3 wc blog 844
Door Counting Sensor-4
Cure Lengthy Checkout Lines Using Retail Traffic Counting Devices
How many times when I am standing in a long line to check out in a retail store do I wish I had a personal retail traffic counting device. I want to know how many people are in front of me and why there are other lines that are just as long with a minimum number of cashiers working. Oh it is really easy to dismiss it as a fluke and I just happened to get in at the wrong time but when it happens over and over again it isn’t a fluke. It is poor staffing and scheduling by some scheduling manager or it may be the result of an automated scheduling system. The worse-case scenario in my mind is someone creating a cashier schedule with no concept of customer traffic patterns. It is those situations when a door counting sensor would be a help.
Consider the difference it would make if a store was basing scheduling not off of an equal allocation of budget dollars for each day of the week but rather on the flow of customer traffic. Is 4:00pm on a Monday afternoon in the winter the same as 4:00pm on a Monday in the summer? Living in a tourist town I can say for certain it is not. Customer traffic is much different here based on seasonal activity and by the days of the week. Saturday at 1:00pm for a store can look nothing like 1:00pm on a Tuesday. If you don’t believe me try strolling through your local mall on those days and see what I mean. The same holds true for your own store. Your traffic patterns are not going to be the same every day. If you are scheduling your team as though the days are all the same you are probably hurting sales and losing more merchandise to shoplifters. The fix is easy and only requires a retail traffic counting device be attached to your Sensormatic security system.
A door counting sensor will enable store owners to see how many people are entering the store and at what time of the day/night they are coming in. Schedules can be created around those hours. Now, think about me standing in that long line at the local big box store. There are too few cashiers for the number of patrons because of some scheduling screw-up. Using retail traffic counting managers can begin evaluating the shopping patterns of clientele. Open the doors at 8:00am and you may only need a single cashier until 10:00am. You may have had two cashiers in the past but numbers show that only one is necessary. Perhaps you choose to put that two hours of payroll into your 5:00pm-7:00pm shift. Maybe you add it to your Saturday at 1:00pm when you have more customers. Wait lines go down and shoppers are happier. Happier customers are willing to return and spend money.
Lest I neglect to mention it the use of a door counting sensor can also help in decreasing theft in a store as well as cut down checkout wait times. If shortage due to theft is believed to be a concern it could be because shoplifters are taking advantage of the busy times of the day. If the store does not have adequate coverage on the salesfloor during peak hours crooks will find it much easier to steal from a business. Using the data from a door counting sensor managers can better spread the salesfloor coverage around to impact those busier days and hours. That translates to improved customer service reducing opportunities to steal while enhancing the opportunities to increase sales through suggestive selling and add-on sales.
Retail traffic counting can have a tremendous impact on a store. When used properly it can enhance the customer service satisfaction of your patrons by helping to allocate payroll dollars to the times when you have more shoppers in the store. When used with a Sensormatic security system camera it can help in tracking electronic article surveillance alarm activity and employee response to those alarms. It can also assist in improving salesfloor staffing to ensure shoplifters are deterred through better customer service. That will drive up sales and decrease theft and who can argue with that?
Door counting sensors are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
How many times when I am standing in a long line to check out in a retail store do I wish I had a personal retail traffic counting device. I want to know how many people are in front of me and why there are other lines that are just as long with a minimum number of cashiers working. Oh it is really easy to dismiss it as a fluke and I just happened to get in at the wrong time but when it happens over and over again it isn’t a fluke. It is poor staffing and scheduling by some scheduling manager or it may be the result of an automated scheduling system. The worse-case scenario in my mind is someone creating a cashier schedule with no concept of customer traffic patterns. It is those situations when a door counting sensor would be a help.
Consider the difference it would make if a store was basing scheduling not off of an equal allocation of budget dollars for each day of the week but rather on the flow of customer traffic. Is 4:00pm on a Monday afternoon in the winter the same as 4:00pm on a Monday in the summer? Living in a tourist town I can say for certain it is not. Customer traffic is much different here based on seasonal activity and by the days of the week. Saturday at 1:00pm for a store can look nothing like 1:00pm on a Tuesday. If you don’t believe me try strolling through your local mall on those days and see what I mean. The same holds true for your own store. Your traffic patterns are not going to be the same every day. If you are scheduling your team as though the days are all the same you are probably hurting sales and losing more merchandise to shoplifters. The fix is easy and only requires a retail traffic counting device be attached to your Sensormatic security system.
A door counting sensor will enable store owners to see how many people are entering the store and at what time of the day/night they are coming in. Schedules can be created around those hours. Now, think about me standing in that long line at the local big box store. There are too few cashiers for the number of patrons because of some scheduling screw-up. Using retail traffic counting managers can begin evaluating the shopping patterns of clientele. Open the doors at 8:00am and you may only need a single cashier until 10:00am. You may have had two cashiers in the past but numbers show that only one is necessary. Perhaps you choose to put that two hours of payroll into your 5:00pm-7:00pm shift. Maybe you add it to your Saturday at 1:00pm when you have more customers. Wait lines go down and shoppers are happier. Happier customers are willing to return and spend money.
Lest I neglect to mention it the use of a door counting sensor can also help in decreasing theft in a store as well as cut down checkout wait times. If shortage due to theft is believed to be a concern it could be because shoplifters are taking advantage of the busy times of the day. If the store does not have adequate coverage on the salesfloor during peak hours crooks will find it much easier to steal from a business. Using the data from a door counting sensor managers can better spread the salesfloor coverage around to impact those busier days and hours. That translates to improved customer service reducing opportunities to steal while enhancing the opportunities to increase sales through suggestive selling and add-on sales.
Retail traffic counting can have a tremendous impact on a store. When used properly it can enhance the customer service satisfaction of your patrons by helping to allocate payroll dollars to the times when you have more shoppers in the store. When used with a Sensormatic security system camera it can help in tracking electronic article surveillance alarm activity and employee response to those alarms. It can also assist in improving salesfloor staffing to ensure shoplifters are deterred through better customer service. That will drive up sales and decrease theft and who can argue with that?
Door counting sensors are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Protect Games – 4 WC Blog 839
Prevent Shoplifting – 3
Not All Solutions To Protect Games Are Equal
I am a fan of video games but when it comes to shoplifting I don’t play games and I look for the ways stores protect games. I am aware of one chain store that stocks only empty display boxes on shelves to protect the merchandise. The challenge with this method of protecting product is two-fold. First just having an empty box on display does not necessarily mean there is a live corresponding disc to be sold. Two, even though the stores store the discs in alphabetical order, I have personally experienced the wait while associates searched for the item I wanted. I can even recall once when a disc I wanted could not be located. It was a very frustrating experience.
I worked for a store that used display cases to stock video games in order to prevent shoplifting. This posed its own unique set of problems. First, some of the games were displayed with the spine of the game facing the customer. The pictures that are designed to pique the interest of potential customers were not visible. I believe this display hampered sales. Next was the display case itself…it was locked. If a customer wanted to look at merchandise they had to try to get an employee’s attention in order to open the showcase. Yes, showcases prevent shoplifting and I would contend they prevent sales as well.
A slightly better option I see in one retail giant is a game in a lock box attached by a cord to the display case. It does give the shopper a bit more flexibility to look at the game, turn the box over and read the description on the back and seem more information in general. Still the customer is forced to seek assistance from an employee if they want to make a purchase. The showcase itself is still locked. I would not mind this option so much if there was always someone standing nearby with a key. Unfortunately in the world of retail with tighter payroll budgets, that is not going to happen very often. Thus the advent of the wonderful thing we have come to know as a “call button”. Help is just a push away (and maybe several minutes away depending on how busy the associates are at the time).
Then there is the solution I have come to call the dump bin. There is nothing in place to prevent shoplifting in many cases. These tend to be bins filled with older games that may not be quite as popular so they are dumped in one of these containers. Customers have to dig and search to look at games. An avalanche may drop everything back on top of the item they had almost reached at the bottom of the mess. In some instances the games may protect games with an electronic article surveillance label which at least is some defense against theft. The problem is that the bad guys will remove the cellophane wrap and take the package and disc. These can then go to stores that buy “used” games for a few bucks each. There is always the internet option for selling or a trade for drugs on the street. Shoplifters are not necessarily picky about how they get money or drugs.
The preferred method in my mind to protect games is to use Sensormatic Safers. They look like a storage bag with a locking zipper and basically that is what they are. What is unique about these bags is that they are made of polyethylene and nylon material making them extremely durable. They also have electronic article surveillance built into them ensuring they will work with a Sensormatic security tower system. Why do I like this method of protecting merchandise? Accessibility for customers is the reason. Shoppers can pick up a game in a Safer, look at it from all angles and carry it around the store. They don’t have to wait for someone to help them open a display case just to look at an item they may or may not be interested in purchasing. The merchandise remains secure and the customer is more likely to buy it when they can carry it with them while conducting other shopping.
It is important to protect games and high shrink merchandise but it is just as important to ensure your customers have access to merchandise. The longer they have to wait for help or jump through hoops to make a purchase the less likely they will be to shop in your store in the future. Flexible Safers allow you to be flexible with your customers and that has a positive impact on sales and shortage.
It is important to protect games and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
I am a fan of video games but when it comes to shoplifting I don’t play games and I look for the ways stores protect games. I am aware of one chain store that stocks only empty display boxes on shelves to protect the merchandise. The challenge with this method of protecting product is two-fold. First just having an empty box on display does not necessarily mean there is a live corresponding disc to be sold. Two, even though the stores store the discs in alphabetical order, I have personally experienced the wait while associates searched for the item I wanted. I can even recall once when a disc I wanted could not be located. It was a very frustrating experience.
I worked for a store that used display cases to stock video games in order to prevent shoplifting. This posed its own unique set of problems. First, some of the games were displayed with the spine of the game facing the customer. The pictures that are designed to pique the interest of potential customers were not visible. I believe this display hampered sales. Next was the display case itself…it was locked. If a customer wanted to look at merchandise they had to try to get an employee’s attention in order to open the showcase. Yes, showcases prevent shoplifting and I would contend they prevent sales as well.
A slightly better option I see in one retail giant is a game in a lock box attached by a cord to the display case. It does give the shopper a bit more flexibility to look at the game, turn the box over and read the description on the back and seem more information in general. Still the customer is forced to seek assistance from an employee if they want to make a purchase. The showcase itself is still locked. I would not mind this option so much if there was always someone standing nearby with a key. Unfortunately in the world of retail with tighter payroll budgets, that is not going to happen very often. Thus the advent of the wonderful thing we have come to know as a “call button”. Help is just a push away (and maybe several minutes away depending on how busy the associates are at the time).
Then there is the solution I have come to call the dump bin. There is nothing in place to prevent shoplifting in many cases. These tend to be bins filled with older games that may not be quite as popular so they are dumped in one of these containers. Customers have to dig and search to look at games. An avalanche may drop everything back on top of the item they had almost reached at the bottom of the mess. In some instances the games may protect games with an electronic article surveillance label which at least is some defense against theft. The problem is that the bad guys will remove the cellophane wrap and take the package and disc. These can then go to stores that buy “used” games for a few bucks each. There is always the internet option for selling or a trade for drugs on the street. Shoplifters are not necessarily picky about how they get money or drugs.
The preferred method in my mind to protect games is to use Sensormatic Safers. They look like a storage bag with a locking zipper and basically that is what they are. What is unique about these bags is that they are made of polyethylene and nylon material making them extremely durable. They also have electronic article surveillance built into them ensuring they will work with a Sensormatic security tower system. Why do I like this method of protecting merchandise? Accessibility for customers is the reason. Shoppers can pick up a game in a Safer, look at it from all angles and carry it around the store. They don’t have to wait for someone to help them open a display case just to look at an item they may or may not be interested in purchasing. The merchandise remains secure and the customer is more likely to buy it when they can carry it with them while conducting other shopping.
It is important to protect games and high shrink merchandise but it is just as important to ensure your customers have access to merchandise. The longer they have to wait for help or jump through hoops to make a purchase the less likely they will be to shop in your store in the future. Flexible Safers allow you to be flexible with your customers and that has a positive impact on sales and shortage.
It is important to protect games and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
