RUN THROUGH THE ENDZONE WITH CHECKPOIT TAGS
It’s finally football season again! It’s been a long, long off season. While, my team completely bombed today, sales for licensed apparel gear across the country have skyrocketed. There is no doubt that team spirit is a huge boost for sales. All those team emblazoned shirts, hats and jerseys can make your profits fly down field. So, what does Jeremy Johnson and stolen jerseys have in common? They both turn over really, really well. So if you’re in the business of selling team apparel, you should have checkpoint tags in your playbook.
Of many things, my stores carry a large array of both professional and collegiate apparel and I can tell you from personal experience, people are stealing this product every hour of every day. This is especially true as the home teams do even better, since demand gets higher. It I weren’t using clothing security tags, I really don’t think we’d be very profitable.
Last season, I had a particular store who was seeing high shrink in this area of the store. We stepped up the LP presence but it didn’t seem like it was making a difference. Shipments would arrive to the store, the apparel team would apply the checkpoint tags and put the items on the floor. Even with the additional security measures, we were still losing thousands a month. It seemed like every 3rd or 4th shoplifter we were busting was stealing licensed apparel, but again, on paper, we weren’t making a dent. I had to help this store stem the losses, or the season would be a disappointment (like today’s Saints game…)
There was a new shipment of product coming in on the next Monday morning. I decided to watch the process (from CCTV) of when the product was received, through the time it was placed on the shelf. I watched as the delivery driver dropped off 4 cases of shirts. The manager signed for the delivery and staged the merchandise in the warehouse. 3 hours later, an associate began applying checkpoint tags, then eventually merchandised them on the sales floor. I went to personally count the inventory and that’s where I found a discrepancy. The driver should’ve dropped off 6 cases. The manager failed to properly account for the delivery and only assumed that it was correct. A little camera work and some digging through invoices should the same thing had been happening over and over again for months. We’ve now reached the two minute warning. It was time to put this to an end.
I set up surveillance for the following delivery date. I had the invoice faxed to me from the vendor, so I knew that there should be 7 cases dropped to the store. I also talked with our vendor rep and they did me a favor by attaching some clothing security tags to the merchandise with my store’s name on them. So, there in the parking lot of the store at 3:30am, I sat. Right on time, the driver shows up and unloads 5 cases of merchandise. The lackadaisical manager again blindly signs for the shipment and goes on about his day, unaware that this delivery driver is robbing him blind. The driver pulls out of our lot, with me right behind.
A few miles down the road, he makes a stop at a corner store. There, he grabs two boxes from his truck and heads inside. So do I. I grab a cup of coffee and watch and he and the owner of the store exchange two cases of licensed apparel product for a few hundred bucks in cash. They shake hands and the driver says, “I’ll see you next week, buddy!” as he drives off to continue his shift.
I head back to the car and make a phone call to local police. I have an officer meet me at the store where I explain to him what just occurred. We both go inside to meet with the owner who vehemently denies any knowledge of any shipments. I see the boxes behind the counter and ask for them to be opened. There, in plain sight were the jerseys I was missing. I was able to prove beyond any doubt they were mine, as they each had a clothing security tag firmly attached… with my store’s name on it.
For more information, contact us: Check Point Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547
It’s finally football season again! It’s been a long, long off season. While, my team completely bombed today, sales for licensed apparel gear across the country have skyrocketed. There is no doubt that team spirit is a huge boost for sales. All those team emblazoned shirts, hats and jerseys can make your profits fly down field. So, what does Jeremy Johnson and stolen jerseys have in common? They both turn over really, really well. So if you’re in the business of selling team apparel, you should have Checkpoint tags in your playbook.
Of many things, my stores carry a large array of both professional and collegiate apparel and I can tell you from personal experience, people are stealing this product every hour of every day. This is especially true as the home teams do even better, since demand gets higher. It I weren’t using clothing security tags, I really don’t think we’d be very profitable.
Last season, I had a particular store who was seeing high shrink in this area of the store. We stepped up the LP presence but it didn’t seem like it was making a difference. Shipments would arrive to the store, the apparel team would apply the checkpoint tags and put the items on the floor. Even with the additional security measures, we were still losing thousands a month. It seemed like every 3rd or 4th shoplifter we were busting was stealing licensed apparel, but again, on paper, we weren’t making a dent. I had to help this store stem the losses, or the season would be a disappointment.
There was a new shipment of product coming in on the next Monday morning. I decided to watch the process (from CCTV) of when the product was received, through the time it was placed on the shelf. I watched as the delivery driver dropped off 4 cases of shirts. The manager signed for the delivery and staged the merchandise in the warehouse. 3 hours later, an associate began applying checkpoint tags, then eventually merchandised them on the sales floor. I went to personally count the inventory and that’s where I found a discrepancy. The driver should’ve dropped off 6 cases. The manager failed to properly account for the delivery and only assumed that it was correct. A little camera work and some digging through invoices showed the same thing had been happening over and over again for months. We’ve now reached the two minute warning. It was time to put this to an end.
I set up surveillance for the following delivery date. I had the invoice faxed to me from the vendor, so I knew that there should be 7 cases dropped to the store. I also talked with our vendor rep and they did me a favor by attaching some clothing security tags to the merchandise with my store’s name on them. So, there in the parking lot of the store at 3:30am, I sat. Right on time, the driver shows up and unloads 5 cases of merchandise. The lackadaisical manager again blindly signs for the shipment and goes on about his day, unaware that this delivery driver is robbing him blind. The driver pulls out of our lot, with me right behind.
A few miles down the road, he makes a stop at a corner store. There, he grabs two boxes from his truck and heads inside. So do I. I grab a cup of coffee and watch and he and the owner of the store exchange two cases of licensed apparel product for a few hundred bucks in cash. They shake hands and the driver says, “I’ll see you next week, buddy!” as he drives off to continue his shift.
I head back to the car and make a phone call to local police. I have an officer meet me at the store where I explain to him what just occurred. We both go inside to meet with the owner who vehemently denies any knowledge of any shipments. I see the boxes behind the counter and ask for them to be opened. There, in plain sight were the jerseys I was missing. I was able to prove beyond any doubt they were mine, as they each had a clothing security tag firmly attached… with my store’s name on it.
For more information about Check Point Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Checkpoint Labels-3 , Stop Shoplifting-1, Electronic Article Surveillance-2
Stop The Shoplifter With Checkpoint Labels
I’ve been dealing with this one petty shoplifter for over a month now. It turns out he is well known in our town, and he has been banned from almost every other store. When I called the police about him, we went into the office and I showed the officer the video of the theft. He knew the guy’s name, where he lived, and everything about him. We have an extensive electronic article surveillance system, and all the tools to go with it, so it was perplexing that we could not catch this one guy.
He would come into the store carrying a large back pack. He would always tell the cashier he was just going to leave his back pack up front while he went to the restroom. The cashier would tell him that was fine, and he would go to the rear aisles of the store, where the health and beauty products are displayed. What the cashier didn’t ever seem to notice was that he never once actually went to the restroom. He always wore cargo pants though, and he would first go to the trial size section. Then he would go to our fragrance impressions display, steal several of them, and leave the empty packages behind. He would fill his pants pockets with all the stuff, grab his bag from beside the checkout, and walk right out the door. He was stealing about $50 worth of merchandise from us every time, so it was definitely adding up.
We knew we had to brainstorm to figure out how to successfully catch this guy and get him to stop shoplifting. We first looked at all the times he had been in and made up a list of his most targeted items. We thought he was possibly homeless because he always stole trial size toothpastes and deodorants. And we also thought he may be stealing the fragrance bottles in order to sell them, and they were the majority of the problem anyway, because of their high retail. We had to make them undesirable and unsellable for him. First we added Checkpoint Labels to the packages. We used them to seal the boxes shut and make them harder to open. Since he was opening the boxes though and leaving them behind, we also had to think of a way to use our electronic article surveillance tools to stop that as well. So we also have some different Checkpoint Labels that have our store name and address printed on them. They work the same as the classic versions, but they are more useful in identifying where the stolen items came from. That helps the police get your merchandise back to your store, and back on your shelves. It’s great to get an arrest and make a recovery, and when your store information is printed on the labels, it makes the return much easier and faster.
So with our combined efforts and more awareness form our cashiers, we were able to finally catch him yesterday. My cashier actually missed seeing him come in but saw him go out. She quickly called me to the front, and I called the police immediately. One officer came, and another went looking for the suspect. They arrested him on the prior warrant I had taken out on him, and while they worked on that, I took out a new one for the latest larceny. I had the list of items I suspected him of taking and I told the officer to look on the bottoms of the bottles for my specific Checkpoint Labels. And guess what?? They were there just like I said. I got my stuff back right there at the courthouse and brought it back with me. And as for my thief… he spent last night in jail.
For more information about Checkpoint Labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
I’ve been dealing with this one petty shoplifter for over a month now. It turns out he is well known in our town, and he has been banned from almost every other store. When I called the police about him, we went into the office and I showed the officer the video of the theft. He knew the guy’s name, where he lived, and everything about him. We have an extensive electronic article surveillance system, and all the tools to go with it, so it was perplexing that we could not catch this one guy.
He would come into the store carrying a large back pack. He would always tell the cashier he was just going to leave his back pack up front while he went to the restroom. The cashier would tell him that was fine, and he would go to the rear aisles of the store, where the health and beauty products are displayed. What the cashier didn’t ever seem to notice was that he never once actually went to the restroom. He always wore cargo pants though, and he would first go to the trial size section. Then he would go to our fragrance impressions display, steal several of them, and leave the empty packages behind. He would fill his pants pockets with all the stuff, grab his bag from beside the checkout, and walk right out the door. He was stealing about $50 worth of merchandise from us every time, so it was definitely adding up.
We knew we had to brainstorm to figure out how to successfully catch this guy and get him to stop shoplifting. We first looked at all the times he had been in and made up a list of his most targeted items. We thought he was possibly homeless because he always stole trial size toothpastes and deodorants. And we also thought he may be stealing the fragrance bottles in order to sell them, and they were the majority of the problem anyway, because of their high retail. We had to make them undesirable and unsellable for him. First we added Checkpoint Labels to the packages. We used them to seal the boxes shut and make them harder to open. Since he was opening the boxes though and leaving them behind, we also had to think of a way to use our electronic article surveillance tools to stop that as well. So we also have some different Checkpoint Labels that have our store name and address printed on them. They work the same as the classic versions, but they are more useful in identifying where the stolen items came from. That helps the police get your merchandise back to your store, and back on your shelves. It’s great to get an arrest and make a recovery, and when your store information is printed on the labels, it makes the return much easier and faster.
So with our combined efforts and more awareness form our cashiers, we were able to finally catch him yesterday. My cashier actually missed seeing him come in but saw him go out. She quickly called me to the front, and I called the police immediately. One officer came, and another went looking for the suspect. They arrested him on the prior warrant I had taken out on him, and while they worked on that, I took out a new one for the latest larceny. I had the list of items I suspected him of taking and I told the officer to look on the bottoms of the bottles for my specific Checkpoint Labels. And guess what?? They were there just like I said. I got my stuff back right there at the courthouse and brought it back with me. And as for my thief… he spent last night in jail.
For more information about Checkpoint Labels, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
I don’t normally find myself shopping for jewelry. For starters, I’m a guy. I don’t have any daughters and I hadn’t quite got to the point where I’m ready to “pop the question” to my girlfriend. I also don’t like chains, or watches myself. A few months ago, I got dragged… I mean, I accompanied said girlfriend to the mall. Love makes you do crazy things, right? I don’t care for malls either. It is funny for me to see how vastly different some retailers are in their strategies (or lack thereof) to prevent shoplifting. Some stores are like walking into Fort Knox, while others are basically an open field of daisies, just waiting for someone to come along and pick up and pocket whatever they wanted. Which style of retailer are you?
Hopefully, you’ve been able to find a balance. I chuckle at stores that go big on everything. Prevent shoplifting? Absolutely. Look ridiculous with giant ink tags on $4 items? Also, absolutely? We ended up in this store at some point in that wonderful day that, even if threatened with another day at the mall, I couldn’t tell you the name. I was however, quite impressed at their varied use of Alpha JewelLoks.
Throughout my professional career, I had come into contact with Alpha JewelLoks on a few occasions. In every platform that I’ve seen them used, it was to secure a piece of jewelry. With its hook made of hardened steel, this is the go-to tag for jewelry. Literally, you will break jewelry before you break the tag. I’ve seen it demonstrated (once on accident and once by an incredibly stupid thief). This store that I found myself in though, didn’t really carry jewelry.
These guys had figured out just how versatile the Alpha JewelLok was. Instead of placing a giant hulking tag on a small change purse, they simple used one of those tags through the pull tab on the zipper. Almost every item that was over $30 had an Alpha JewelLok. The tags are so small; you really didn’t notice them at all. I was impressed. They clearly were doing a heck of a job preventing shoplifting, all while maintaining a clean presentation of their product.
I thought back to my stores and what I could use these for. We have struggled for years with shrink in denim jeans. We’ve tried pencil tags, hard tags, soft tags and ink tags. All with varying degrees of success. When I got back to my store on Monday I ordered a case of these tags; I had an idea. Once in hand, I secured every single pair of denim jeans with them. I simply passed the hook through the pull tab on the zipper. I then tried really hard to cut the tag. First with scissors, then a nail clipper. Guess what? It hung in there! It’s been 3 months since I deployed the Alpha JewelLok and my shrink in denim has dropped nearly 2%. While this is definitely an unconventional use for them, I can say that it works. What other product can you secure in your store with these awesome little tags?
For more information about Alpha Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
