O Tag- 4 WC Blog 300
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Retail Anti-Theft Device-3
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.
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.
