SECURE YOUR GAMEDAY SPOT WITH ALPHA CABLE LOCKS
It’s finally here!!! I can finally look forward to Sundays again! Football season is the best season. Hands down. There is no further discussion needed. Sitting back with friends, watching your favorite team (Who Dat?!) take on a dirty (bird) rival. It’s a beautiful thing. Think about this the next time you’re out on a tailgate, or even at home with a group of friends; what’s everyone wearing? Chances are, everyone’s got their favorite, or lucky jersey on. Ever think about the theft of these jerseys and how retailers try to prevent shoplifting of them?
Everyone loves their team and loves even more showing their colors. You HAVE to represent your team. You can’t call yourself a fan if you don’t. It’s in the rule book. I checked it out myself. All this garb makes retailers lots of money this time of year, but it is also a giant magnet for thieves. Here’s where Alpha Cable Locks really come in handy.
Licensed apparel is a huge portion of our annual sales. If even one of our sponsored teams makes the playoffs, we can all but bet that we will hit our annual sales goals on licensed apparel alone. This makes the product in demand and thus creates an easy re-sell market place for an entrepreneurial thief.
Last year, my team busted a descent size ring of guys who were engaged in this very activity. They would come into our stores on a Thursday or Friday night and really hit us hard. At the time, we were not using Alpha Cable Locks to secure our jerseys. The thefts quickly added up and by playoffs, we were missing tens of thousands of dollars in licensed jerseys. We found out through our investigation that these guys were working for an owner of a small business downtown. He would pay them to steal the merchandise and he would then resell it in his store. I wonder what measures he had in place to prevent shoplifting at his store?
We started using the 48” Alpha Cable Lock to protect the jerseys. We placed the cable through the neck line, and back through the right arm. We were still able to display the item, customers were able to try them on without obstruction, and most importantly, it made it almost impossible for them to be stolen.
As the playoffs progressed, the demand grew ever higher. So did the theft. It didn’t take long for our friendly shop owner to send in his band of thieves to help him stock his shelves. This time, they were caught with the help of the cable lock. With the assistance of local police, the boosters eventually turned on their employer and the business was eventually shuttered. It was a great win for us, even though the losses had already occurred. It showed just how well the cable locks can prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Technology, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
It’s finally here!!! I can finally look forward to Sundays again! Football season is the best season. Hands down. There is no further discussion needed. Sitting back with friends, watching your favorite team (Who Dat?!) take on a dirty (bird) rival. It’s a beautiful thing. Think about this the next time you’re out on a tailgate, or even at home with a group of friends; what’s everyone wearing? Chances are, everyone’s got their favorite, or lucky jersey on. Ever think about the theft of these jerseys and how retailers try to prevent shoplifting of them?
Everyone loves their team and loves even more showing their colors. You HAVE to represent your team. You can’t call yourself a fan if you don’t. It’s in the rule book. I checked it out myself. All this garb makes retailers lots of money this time of year, but it is also a giant magnet for thieves. Here’s where Alpha Cable Locks really come in handy.
Licensed apparel is a huge portion of our annual sales. If even one of our sponsored teams makes the playoffs, we can all but bet that we will hit our annual sales goals on licensed apparel alone. This makes the product in demand and thus creates an easy re-sell market place for an entrepreneurial thief.
Last year, my team busted a descent size ring of guys who were engaged in this very activity. They would come into our stores on a Thursday or Friday night and really hit us hard. At the time, we were not using Alpha Cable Locks to secure our jerseys. The thefts quickly added up and by playoffs, we were missing tens of thousands of dollars in licensed jerseys. We found out through our investigation that these guys were working for an owner of a small business downtown. He would pay them to steal the merchandise and he would then resell it in his store. I wonder what measures he had in place to prevent shoplifting at his store?
We started using the 48” Alpha Cable Lock to protect the jerseys. We placed the cable through the neck line, and back through the right arm. We were still able to display the item, customers were able to try them on without obstruction, and most importantly, it made it almost impossible for them to be stolen.
As the playoffs progressed, the demand grew ever higher. So did the theft. It didn’t take long for our friendly shop owner to send in his band of thieves to help him stock his shelves. This time, they were caught with the help of the cable lock. With the assistance of local police, the boosters eventually turned on their employer and the business was eventually shuttered. It was a great win for us, even though the losses had already occurred. It showed just how well the cable locks can prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Technology, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
HOW TO STOP SHOPLIFTING AT THE POINT OF SALE
One of the biggest areas of loss for any retail store is there cash register, or point of sale. Think about it… cashiers are an entry level position. Most people who’ve never worked a day in their lives will probably start off as a cashier. That’s scary to me. Someone with no experience, and in most cases, little maturity is now responsible for thousands of dollars every single day. Professional thieves know this, and will regularly target new cashiers to carry out theft/fraud at the registers. What are the common ways for theft to happen and what can you do to stop shoplifting at the point of sale?
It’s a busy Saturday afternoon. Your checkout lanes are wide open and your cashiers are trying their best to keep the crowd moving. A customer approaches a register operated by a brand new cashier and purchases a single bag of candy. He tenders his $.75 total with a $50 bill. Before you know it, he’s asked for change a few times and has really confused your cashier. The next thing you know, he walks out of the store $400 dollars richer. You’ve just been the victim of a quick change artist.
It’s late Friday night. You’re down to one cashier as the last of the customers filter out the store. A customer approaches the register with a $399 pair of wireless headphones. He hands it to the cashier and she passes it through the point of sale. She deactivates the checkpoint label and tells the customer his total. “That’ll be $39.99, sir”, She says with a smile. He smiles back, purchases the item and exits the store. Once again, you’re the victim of a theft. This time, the fraud scheme used is price switching.
It’s early Wednesday morning. It’s a historically slower sales day, so you start the day with only one or two cashiers. A customer approaches the register with several cases of water piled high in the basket. Your cheerful cashier scans one package and enters in the quantity. The customer gladly pays for a basket of water and exits the store. As he exits, the EAS towers sound. “It must be the basket sir, we don’t put checkpoint labels on water”, your door greeter says, waving the customer through. What both associates failed to see was the large quantity of razor blades the customer had hidden at the bottom of the basket.
You may think these incidents are few and far between, but I can guarantee you that this is happening in your store. It’s much easier and carries lower risk for a thief to operate in this manner. After all, if they are questioned by the cashier, they can just pretend that the item was out of sight. So what can you do to stop shoplifting at your registers? Training.
You don’t need the most advanced security system and you definitely don’t need a full time Loss Prevention staff. A group of well trained cashiers can put thousands of dollars back into your store each month. Do you have a solid training plan in place for each new hire? Or, does each new cashier receive about 15 minutes of “training” before they are thrown to the wolves? Unfortunately, most managers do not put enough emphasis on proper training and far too often, we see the second scenario take over. So what can you do?
You’ve been in the management business for a while now, I’m sure. You’ve seen all the ways people have tried to steal from you. Take that knowledge and build your training program around that. If your store is frequently targeted with price switches on certain products, provide initial as well as routine follow up training on how to identify pricing. It’s not good enough to give new cashiers a bunch of training and never follow up. My best stores provide training on a daily basis. There are always new theft trends and new products that arrive in the store each week, and it’s up to you as a manager to keep your cashiers one step ahead.
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but make LP awareness “dummy proof”. Let’s say you carry a wide assortment of headphones. They range in price from $3.99 to $499.99. Your cashier may never know the difference between any of them and thus, susceptible to being conned. Make a standard in the store that says that every headphone over $49.99 will have a checkpoint label. That way the cashier can identify the product as over X dollar amount if they see the label, making it easier for them to identify price switches.
You can take that example and go through your entire store. Not only are you helping your cashiers to identify the higher priced product, you’re in turn making it harder for thieves to steal it. Sometimes, to stop shoplifting, you have to take a holistic approach and attack the problem from several different angles. One of those should always be proper training on the cashier team.
For more information, contact us: Checkpoint Labels, or call 1.770.426.0547
One of the biggest areas of loss for any retail store is there cash register, or point of sale. Think about it… cashiers are an entry level position. Most people who’ve never worked a day in their lives will probably start off as a cashier. That’s scary to me. Someone with no experience, and in most cases, little maturity is now responsible for thousands of dollars every single day. Professional thieves know this, and will regularly target new cashiers to carry out theft/fraud at the registers. What are the common ways for theft to happen and what can you do to stop shoplifting at the point of sale?
It’s a busy Saturday afternoon. Your checkout lanes are wide open and your cashiers are trying their best to keep the crowd moving. A customer approaches a register operated by a brand new cashier and purchases a single bag of candy. He tenders his $.75 total with a $50 bill. Before you know it, he’s asked for change a few times and has really confused your cashier. The next thing you know, he walks out of the store $400 dollars richer. You’ve just been the victim of a quick change artist.
It’s late Friday night. You’re down to one cashier as the last of the customers filter out the store. A customer approaches the register with a $399 pair of wireless headphones. He hands it to the cashier and she passes it through the point of sale. She deactivates the Checkpoint label and tells the customer his total. “That’ll be $39.99, sir”, She says with a smile. He smiles back, purchases the item and exits the store. Once again, you’re the victim of a theft. This time, the fraud scheme used is price switching.
It’s early Wednesday morning. It’s a historically slower sales day, so you start the day with only one or two cashiers. A customer approaches the register with several cases of water piled high in the basket. Your cheerful cashier scans one package and enters in the quantity. The customer gladly pays for a basket of water and exits the store. As he exits, the EAS towers sound. “It must be the basket sir, we don’t put checkpoint labels on water”, your door greeter says, waving the customer through. What both associates failed to see was the large quantity of razor blades the customer had hidden at the bottom of the basket.
You may think these incidents are few and far between, but I can guarantee you that this is happening in your store. It’s much easier and carries lower risk for a thief to operate in this manner. After all, if they are questioned by the cashier, they can just pretend that the item was out of sight. So what can you do to stop shoplifting at your registers? Training.
You don’t need the most advanced security system and you definitely don’t need a full time Loss Prevention staff. A group of well trained cashiers can put thousands of dollars back into your store each month. Do you have a solid training plan in place for each new hire? Or, does each new cashier receive about 15 minutes of “training” before they are thrown to the wolves? Unfortunately, most managers do not put enough emphasis on proper training and far too often, we see the second scenario take over. So what can you do?
You’ve been in the management business for a while now, I’m sure. You’ve seen all the ways people have tried to steal from you. Take that knowledge and build your training program around that. If your store is frequently targeted with price switches on certain products, provide initial as well as routine follow up training on how to identify pricing. It’s not good enough to give new cashiers a bunch of training and never follow up. My best stores provide training on a daily basis. There are always new theft trends and new products that arrive in the store each week, and it’s up to you as a manager to keep your cashiers one step ahead.
I mean this in the nicest way possible, but make LP awareness “dummy proof”. Let’s say you carry a wide assortment of headphones. They range in price from $3.99 to $499.99. Your cashier may never know the difference between any of them and thus, susceptible to being conned. Make a standard in the store that says that every headphone over $49.99 will have a checkpoint label. That way the cashier can identify the product as over X dollar amount if they see the label, making it easier for them to identify price switches.
You can take that example and go through your entire store. Not only are you helping your cashiers to identify the higher priced product, you’re in turn making it harder for thieves to steal it. Sometimes, to stop shoplifting, you have to take a holistic approach and attack the problem from several different angles. One of those should always be proper training on the cashier team.
For more information about Checkpoint Labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Checkpoint Systems- 4 , Checkpoint Labels- 1 , Stop Shoplifting-1 , Checkpoint Tags-1 , Retail Theft Prevention-1
What Kind Of Store Benefits From Checkpoint Systems?
What kind of store benefits from Checkpoint Systems? The short answer is any type. If you sell to the public and you allow people to freely browse in your building, then you will certainly see a return on your investment after installing genuine Checkpoint Systems. I see threatening signs hanging in convenience stores, thrift stores, upscale boutiques, grocery stores, and even gift shops. Just yesterday at a fall festival, I ventured inside a little shop that had a sign up that read: Free Ride In A Police Car If You Are Caught Stealing. What do you get if you don’t get caught? Free stuff. That’s the difference in stores that use signs and stores that use real tools for retail theft prevention.
I have been in convenience stores that utilize the signs too. They get tired of their novelty lighters and beef jerky disappearing, so they resort to using these scare tactics. Unfortunately, these stop very few people. When greed drives people to cross to the dark side, a sign is useless. Adhere some Checkpoint Labels to these items and then you send the message that you mean business. Most people are aware that in many states it is an automatic felony if they remove a tag. Boom. Then there are the expensive gift shops and boutiques. If you are the owner of a shop that sells retail inventory, then you have already shelled out plenty of money. When your merchandise walks out the door, you lose what you’ve already paid for plus the profit you would have gained from the sell. Your loss can be huge, depending on your mark-up percentage. With all the options available to you, it’s a no-brainer to take the plunge and take a look at what Checkpoint Systems can do for you.
In order to stop shoplifting, you have to be willing to put in the time and research to see what tools you need. There are Checkpoint Labels, as mentioned above. These are versatile labels that can be adhered to almost any package. They are available in many shapes, sizes, and colors. For the grocery store battling meat theft, there are labels for you too and they are even microwavable. If you are in the clothing and accessory business, they can be attached to the price labels, or even sewn into a pocket of seam. Of course, you may decide to go with the Checkpoint Tags. These can be attached as pins or even via lanyard. They are made to be strong, and their seams are tight so they reduce the temptation for the shoplifter to attempt to pry them apart. The pins do not harm the merchandise, and they are easily detached.
Either option you choose is going to work hard to deter theft from your operation. There is little training required for your store staff to become loss prevention experts. They will get to know what specific items in your store are targeted the most and they can then employ the tools you have to stop it from happening. When your customers come in they will immediately be greeted by the Checkpoint Systems pedestals and they will see the tools you use throughout the store. It sends a silent message that you are aware of the threat and you take it seriously. They will more than likely decide it’s not worth it to steal from you. That’s better than a free ride in a police car any day.
For more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us: 1.770.426.0547 or Antishoplifting.net
What kind of store benefits from Checkpoint Systems? The short answer is any type. If you sell to the public and you allow people to freely browse in your building, then you will certainly see a return on your investment after installing genuine Checkpoint Systems. I see threatening signs hanging in convenience stores, thrift stores, upscale boutiques, grocery stores, and even gift shops. Just yesterday at a fall festival, I ventured inside a little shop that had a sign up that read: Free Ride In A Police Car If You Are Caught Stealing. What do you get if you don’t get caught? Free stuff. That’s the difference in stores that use signs and stores that use real tools for retail theft prevention.
I have been in convenience stores that utilize the signs too. They get tired of their novelty lighters and beef jerky disappearing, so they resort to using these scare tactics. Unfortunately, these stop very few people. When greed drives people to cross to the dark side, a sign is useless. Adhere some Checkpoint Labels to these items and then you send the message that you mean business. Most people are aware that in many states it is an automatic felony if they remove a tag. Boom. Then there are the expensive gift shops and boutiques. If you are the owner of a shop that sells retail inventory, then you have already shelled out plenty of money. When your merchandise walks out the door, you lose what you’ve already paid for plus the profit you would have gained from the sell. Your loss can be huge, depending on your mark-up percentage. With all the options available to you, it’s a no-brainer to take the plunge and take a look at what Checkpoint Systems can do for you.
In order to stop shoplifting, you have to be willing to put in the time and research to see what tools you need. There are Checkpoint Labels, as mentioned above. These are versatile labels that can be adhered to almost any package. They are available in many shapes, sizes, and colors. For the grocery store battling meat theft, there are labels for you too and they are even microwavable. If you are in the clothing and accessory business, they can be attached to the price labels, or even sewn into a pocket of seam. Of course, you may decide to go with the Checkpoint Tags. These can be attached as pins or even via lanyard. They are made to be strong, and their seams are tight so they reduce the temptation for the shoplifter to attempt to pry them apart. The pins do not harm the merchandise, and they are easily detached.
Either option you choose is going to work hard to deter theft from your operation. There is little training required for your store staff to become loss prevention experts. They will get to know what specific items in your store are targeted the most and they can then employ the tools you have to stop it from happening. When your customers come in they will immediately be greeted by the Checkpoint Systems pedestals and they will see the tools you use throughout the store. It sends a silent message that you are aware of the threat and you take it seriously. They will more than likely decide it’s not worth it to steal from you. That’s better than a free ride in a police car any day.
For more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 or Antishoplifting.net
