Bottle Locks-3 , Liquor Bottle Security-3 , Bottle Lock- 1 , Alpha Security-1
Bottle Locks Can Assist Liquor Sellers
Four young men walked into a grocery store that sells liquor and stuffed their pants with over $700 worth of top shelf vodka, cognac and other spirits. Then they walked right out the door, completely undetected. In a retail environment where there are more customers in the store than employees, it is imperative to employ tools like bottle locks. Alpha security has designed these so that they make liquor bottle security quick and easy. They deter theft by letting the customer know as soon as they arrive that this store takes loss prevention seriously. If there is a successful snatch and grab, the bottle is still practically useless to the thief without the appropriate tool to remove the bottle lock. The bottle will more likely shatter before they can ever get the cap off.
Now that so many different types of stores sell liquor, thefts have risen exponentially. A trio of women went into a store and loaded up shoulder bags right before they bolted out the door. Another small group convinced the staff they worked for the distributor and told them they were there to perform a reset. They loaded up several grocery carts of bottles, and when the few employees got distracted, walked out the door and loaded up their vehicle with the stolen goods. As of this story, that group has not been caught. Even a single bottle here and there can be very detrimental to any store’s bottom line. Simple solutions, like bottle locks, could be implemented and the problem could be solved. When a store looks at their profit line vs their loss line, they have to decide what the solution is if they are losing money from lack of liquor bottle security. Many store managers and owners go with their first inclination to simply move the product. Now, I am an avid opponent of merchandising expensive and highly targeted items anywhere near the exit doors. Just look at high end jewelery stores. They would never put the good stuff at the front. The same should go for liquors and spirits. The only difference is it’s probably not a good idea to even house the cheap stuff near any exit. Those can start to add up as well. I do see the benefits of displaying these products near a register, and the section should always be under some form of surveillance. If possible, there should be an employee there monitoring the section at all times as well.
If that is not an option in your location, then it may be time to take a look into what bottle locks can do for your operation and peace of mind. If your store has not had a problem with liquor bottle security, your luck is sure to run out soon. You cannot expect to be as lucky as a police officer that recently pulled over an SUV for a minor traffic offense. As he approached the vehicle he could tell it was loaded down with boxes. Those boxes turned out to be full of liquor bottles, and the folks inside the vehicle were wanted in three counties for stealing more than $20,000 worth of liquor from area grocers and package stores. The group would conceal and remove ten or twelve bottles at a time, stride right out the door, and were never noticed by the store staff. Of course, later in the shift when they were straightening shelves, the employees would finally realize they had been hit. Thankfully, these guys are going to jail for a very long time and won’t be a problem anymore.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 or Bottlelock.net
Four young men walked into a grocery store that sells liquor and stuffed their pants with over $700 worth of top shelf vodka, cognac and other spirits. Then they walked right out the door, completely undetected. In a retail environment where there are more customers in the store than employees, it is imperative to employ tools like bottle locks. Alpha security has designed these so that they make liquor bottle security quick and easy. They deter theft by letting the customer know as soon as they arrive that this store takes loss prevention seriously. If there is a successful snatch and grab, the bottle is still practically useless to the thief without the appropriate tool to remove the bottle lock. The bottle will more likely shatter before they can ever get the cap off.
Now that so many different types of stores sell liquor, thefts have risen exponentially. A trio of women went into a store and loaded up shoulder bags right before they bolted out the door. Another small group convinced the staff they worked for the distributor and told them they were there to perform a reset. They loaded up several grocery carts of bottles, and when the few employees got distracted, walked out the door and loaded up their vehicle with the stolen goods. As of this story, that group has not been caught. Even a single bottle here and there can be very detrimental to any store’s bottom line. Simple solutions, like bottle locks, could be implemented and the problem could be solved. When a store looks at their profit line vs their loss line, they have to decide what the solution is if they are losing money from lack of liquor bottle security. Many store managers and owners go with their first inclination to simply move the product. Now, I am an avid opponent of merchandising expensive and highly targeted items anywhere near the exit doors. Just look at high end jewelery stores. They would never put the good stuff at the front. The same should go for liquors and spirits. The only difference is it’s probably not a good idea to even house the cheap stuff near any exit. Those can start to add up as well. I do see the benefits of displaying these products near a register, and the section should always be under some form of surveillance. If possible, there should be an employee there monitoring the section at all times as well.
If that is not an option in your location, then it may be time to take a look into what bottle locks can do for your operation and peace of mind. If your store has not had a problem with liquor bottle security, your luck is sure to run out soon. You cannot expect to be as lucky as a police officer that recently pulled over an SUV for a minor traffic offense. As he approached the vehicle he could tell it was loaded down with boxes. Those boxes turned out to be full of liquor bottles, and the folks inside the vehicle were wanted in three counties for stealing more than $20,000 worth of liquor from area grocers and package stores. The group would conceal and remove ten or twelve bottles at a time, stride right out the door, and were never noticed by the store staff. Of course, later in the shift when they were straightening shelves, the employees would finally realize they had been hit. Thankfully, these guys are going to jail for a very long time and won’t be a problem anymore.
For more information on Bottle Locks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 or Bottlelock.net
Speak to any manager at any mass retailer/electronics retailer, and they will all tell you the same thing; iPads are a hot item for thieves! There’s a particular set of reasons why in just about every store you go in, they are deploying some serious security measures just to keep the product on the shelf. This comes in the form of glass cases, alarms attached to the product, RF monitoring and the list can go on and on. What about companies, or even folks in the medical field that are using iPads to get their jobs done? Surely these have to be targets as well?
Water follows the path of least resistance. So does a thief. If they can’t steal a tablet at one (or any) retailer, they will look for other ways to swipe them. Whether it be stealing them from unlocked cars, or out of the purses of restaurant patrons, they will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck. So, if you are in the medical field, and you’re using an iPad, or similar device for your job, you should take notice to this growing theft trend. Not only do you have a duty to protect your financial assets, but also an obligation to your patients to preserve their confidential medical records. This can be accomplished with something as simple as an Alpha Thunder Tag.
What is a Thunder Tag?
Chances are, you’ve never heard of one, however they are well known in the retail industry. They are a form of EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance), which coupled with an antenna, such as the N10 antenna, can help you reduce the chances of a theft incident.
Key features:
The Thunder Tag is a small device that attaches to the back of an iPad, or similar item. The custom adhesive makes it incredible difficult to remove. If the tag is removed, there is a plunger type mechanism on the back that will sound a 95dba alarm.
How it works:
The tag works just like you would see at any retail store. In a store, if the tag is not removed from an item at the point of purchase, it will cause an alarm to go off at the exit door. The N10 antenna, which are an incredibly small and unobstructed version of the retail store towers, can be placed just about anywhere you want. Once the tag passes through here, an alarm would sound, allowing staff to react accordingly.
Practical applications:
In a private practice setting, you can set the N10 antennas at the points of exit, which in most situations and offices, there is only one (the front entrance). If one of your iPads, or tablets that are secured with a thunder tag, passes through the antenna, it will sound an audible alert. If a dishonest patient, vendor, maintenance person, or staff member attempts to steal your equipment, your front office staff will know immediately.
Additional info:
The tags can also be disarmed, with a key such as the Alpha S3 key. The S3 key should be kept in a secured place and only accessible to the office manager, or other trusted administrator. They key can stop an active alarm from sounding, as well as disarming a tag, which would allow it to pass through the antenna without sounding the alarm.
This simple tagging solution, which is the gold standard in the retail community, could very well be the most cost efficient solution to securing your technological investments. With very minimal effort and money, you can ensure that your practice is providing your patients with a level of security that is unmatched. Not only are you protecting that financial investment you’ve made in the technology, you are also ensuring that patient data remains safe and secure. All this while using a simple tool retailers have been using for years!
For more information about Alpha Thunder Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
RL-177
(Stop shoplifting-4), (retail theft prevention-3)
How Holiday Preparation Helps Stop Shoplifting
If you work in retail, it’s getting to be that time of the year that theft and stress drastically increases. Yes, the holidays are almost here already, and so are the shoplifters. Are you ready for the extra rush of people, the confusion, and everything else that comes along with the busiest season of the year? If you want to get ahead of the game and stop shoplifting in your store, you have to be prepared for the coming storm. This includes testing all of your retail theft prevention equipment before your store gets busier, and ensuring that you are fully staffed and confident that you have the right team in place.
Testing to ensure that all of your equipment is functioning properly before the holidays will give you peace of mind that everything will work how it is supposed to when it matters the most. Of course, this includes testing your cameras, camera controllers, monitors, DVRs, EAS towers and deactivation pads, and anything else you use to help stop shoplifting in your store. If you wait until you are seriously busy to do this, you will have a big problem due to your hectic schedule and increased workload. I’ve seen bad situations in the past that could have easily been avoided if the teams had taken these steps before the holidays. If any of your equipment isn’t functioning like it should be, it sometimes takes a while to get it repaired, especially this time of year. For instance, if one of your DVRs has been giving you error messages or not recording everything as it should be, you might have to call and schedule for a technician to come to your store, or even pack up the DVR and ship it out to be repaired.
Another thing you will definitely want to look at before the holidays is whether or not you have enough employees staffed for the increase in business. This is a major part of the success of your holiday preparation plan. There is nothing a shoplifter likes more than being able to get in and out of a store without being noticed, so the more employees that are around helping customers, the less of a chance the shoplifters will have to get away with stealing your merchandise. Employee presence is just as important as having properly functioning retail theft prevention equipment in the store. Ensure that all of your employees are thoroughly trained on how to detect customer behaviors that could be associated with theft or other dishonest or criminal activity.
While we are on the topic of employees, make sure you do your best to hire the right people for the job. Employees typically cause a higher dollar loss than shoplifters, and everyone needs a little bit extra during the holidays. So in addition to trying to get customers to stop shoplifting, you should also have a plan in place to ensure that your employees aren’t stealing from you as well. A lot of that starts with good controls and policies, and making sure that your team follows them closely. With the extra customers and employees in the store, sometimes controls are neglected, which can create a huge opportunity for anyone wanting to do something dishonest.
If you don’t start preparing before the rush, you might get yourself into a position that will leave your store vulnerable to all kinds of dishonest activities. Once again, it’s important that all of your retail theft prevention devices are fully functioning, and your team is properly trained on what to look for in dishonest behaviors, and what to do if they see it happening.
For more information about how to stop shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
If you work in retail, it’s getting to be that time of the year that theft and stress drastically increases. Yes, the holidays are almost here already, and so are the shoplifters. Are you ready for the extra rush of people, the confusion, and everything else that comes along with the busiest season of the year? If you want to get ahead of the game and stop shoplifting in your store, you have to be prepared for the coming storm. This includes testing all of your retail theft prevention equipment before your store gets busier, and ensuring that you are fully staffed and confident that you have the right team in place.
Testing to ensure that all of your equipment is functioning properly before the holidays will give you peace of mind that everything will work how it is supposed to when it matters the most. Of course, this includes testing your cameras, camera controllers, monitors, DVRs, EAS towers and deactivation pads, and anything else you use to help stop shoplifting in your store. If you wait until you are seriously busy to do this, you will have a big problem due to your hectic schedule and increased workload. I’ve seen bad situations in the past that could have easily been avoided if the teams had taken these steps before the holidays. If any of your equipment isn’t functioning like it should be, it sometimes takes a while to get it repaired, especially this time of year. For instance, if one of your DVRs has been giving you error messages or not recording everything as it should be, you might have to call and schedule for a technician to come to your store, or even pack up the DVR and ship it out to be repaired.
Another thing you will definitely want to look at before the holidays is whether or not you have enough employees staffed for the increase in business.This is a major part of the success of your holiday preparation plan. There is nothing a shoplifter likes more than being able to get in and out of a store without being noticed, so the more employees that are around helping customers, the less of a chance the shoplifters will have to get away with stealing your merchandise. Employee presence is just as important as having properly functioning retail theft prevention equipment in the store. Ensure that all of your employees are thoroughly trained on how to detect customer behaviors that could be associated with theft or other dishonest or criminal activity.
While we are on the topic of employees, make sure you do your best to hire the right people for the job. Employees typically cause a higher dollar loss than shoplifters, and everyone needs a little bit extra during the holidays. So in addition to trying to get customers to stop shoplifting, you should also have a plan in place to ensure that your employees aren’t stealing from you as well. A lot of that starts with good controls and policies, and making sure that your team follows them closely. With the extra customers and employees in the store, sometimes controls are neglected, which can create a huge opportunity for anyone wanting to do something dishonest.
If you don’t start preparing before the rush, you might get yourself into a position that will leave your store vulnerable to all kinds of dishonest activities. Once again, it’s important that all of your retail theft prevention devices are fully functioning, and your team is properly trained on what to look for in dishonest behaviors, and what to do if they see it happening.
For more information about how to stop shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
