The holiday season is a wonderful time of year, especially for business owners. With the holidays comes a ton of shoppers. If you have been struggling to keep your business afloat, it is a chance to make a great profit. If you are a criminal shoplifter, it is a great time to have the odds in your favor, and lessen your chances of getting caught. It only seems fair that the odds be in favor of the house, your business, but when it comes to preventing shoplifting that isn’t necessarily the case. There are a few things you can do this holiday season to better your odds, prevent shoplifting and maintain profitability.
The first and most important thing you can do to protect your business is to secure your merchandise. Whether it is clothing, cocktails, or cardboard boxes, there is a great selection of items of Alpha Security tags, to EASy Bottles, to Alpha spider wraps. Implement these different devices by employing a consistent merchandise protection strategy. During the holidays, you probably don’t want to over-secure your stock, preventing some paying customers from buying. Ensure that you are aware of what products need the most protection. Using these security items to protect your merchandise, along with a sound and consistent protection strategy is the best first defense against theft during the fourth quarter.
Second, consider the placement of your merchandise in the store. I know that you want to entice buyers with some of your most popular items in the window. But are those popular items also popular for shoplifters? Typically, trends in shopping parallel trends in shoplifting; back to school shopping is paralleled by children’s clothing theft, summer swimsuit shopping is mimicked by bikini and board-short theft, etc. Make sure that if those items are potentially enticing to shoplifters that they are properly secured. Likewise, try to make sure that your employees will have a direct line of sight to those items from where they will be frequently working. Many retailers have merchandising associates folding clothing at the front of their shops, where they can greet customers and identify potential thieves from the get-go.
This leads to the third and final tip for preventing shoplifting during the holidays: ensure you are adequately staffed. Sure, you want to make sure that you are well staffed to meet the demands of more customers, and larger volume of stock. But being well staffed also means having more eyes to spot our possible pilferers. Couple this adequate staffing with some good loss prevention training. Whether the training be from a loss prevention seminar or from store management, training associates on what suspicious behaviors to look for will be important for protecting the store. Remember, employees can just provide great customer service statements, even to potential shoplifters, to deter them from stealing your stock.
While working loss prevention for a small clothing shop, I remember spotting two females in the back of our ladies’ department. The girls were looking at the ceiling and for anyone watching their activity, appearing very nervous. As they selected some sweaters (while looking around, and not at the sweaters), they quickly stuffed their bags. I knew they did it, but I wasn’t able to see their hands place the merchandise into their bags. I decided to offer them great customer service. I went to the area and asked if they would like me to hold those sweaters at the front for them. They declined, went around the corner, dumped the sweaters on the table, and quickly left the store.
For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
The holiday season is a wonderful time of year, especially for business owners. With the holidays comes a ton of shoppers. If you have been struggling to keep your business afloat, it is a chance to make a great profit. If you are a criminal shoplifter, it is a great time to have the odds in your favor, and lessen your chances of getting caught. It only seems fair that the odds be in favor of the house, your business, but when it comes to preventing shoplifting that isn’t necessarily the case. There are a few things you can do this holiday season to better your odds, prevent shoplifting and maintain profitability.
The first and most important thing you can do to protect your business is to secure your merchandise. Whether it is clothing, cocktails, or cardboard boxes, there is a great selection of items with Alpha Security. Tags, EASy Bottle, and Alpha spider wraps. Implement these different devices by employing a consistent merchandise protection strategy. During the holidays, you probably don’t want to over-secure your stock, preventing paying customers from buying. Ensure that you are aware of what products need the most protection. Using these security items to protect your merchandise, along with a sound and consistent protection strategy is the best first defense against theft during the fourth quarter.
Second, consider the placement of your merchandise in the store. I know that you want to entice buyers with some of your most popular items in the window. But are those popular items also popular for shoplifters? Typically, trends in shopping parallel trends in shoplifting; back to school shopping is paralleled by children’s clothing theft, summer swimsuit shopping is mimicked by bikini and board-short theft, etc. Make sure that if those items are potentially enticing to shoplifters that they are properly secured. Likewise, try to make sure that your employees will have a direct line of sight to those items from where they will be frequently working. Many retailers have merchandising associates folding clothing at the front of their shops, where they can greet customers and identify potential thieves from the get-go.
This leads to the third and final tip for preventing shoplifting during the holidays: ensure you are adequately staffed. Sure, you want to make sure that you are well staffed to meet the demands of more customers, and larger volume of stock. But being well staffed also means having more eyes to spot our possible pilferers. Couple this adequate staffing with some good loss prevention training. Whether the training be from a loss prevention seminar or from store management, training associates on what suspicious behaviors to look for will be important for protecting the store. Remember, employees can just provide great customer service statements, even to potential shoplifters, to deter them from stealing your stock.
While working loss prevention for a small clothing shop, I remember spotting two females in the back of our ladies’ department. The girls were looking at the ceiling and for anyone watching their activity, appearing very nervous. As they selected some sweaters (while looking around, and not at the sweaters), they quickly stuffed their bags. I knew they did it, but I wasn’t able to see their hands place the merchandise into their bags. I decided to offer them great customer service. I went to the area and asked if they would like me to hold those sweaters at the front for them. They declined, went around the corner, dumped the sweaters on the table, and quickly left the store.
For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
You have a great culture in your store, and a dedicated team that cares about preventing loss from happening in your store. Your employees are always on the lookout for shoplifting activity, but do they actually know what they are looking for when trying to spot a shoplifter? In order to ensure all of your employees are on the same page, it is important to conduct loss prevention training for your whole team. Regardless of how much your employees want to help you keep the products on the shelves, if they don’t know to spot the behaviors it may not be very helpful at all.
There are many things to look for when trying to spot a shoplifter. Keep in mind, there is no definitive indicator that someone is going to shoplift until you actually see them committing the theft, and just because a customer is displaying one of these examples doesn’t necessarily mean they are shoplifting.
There is an endless list of shoplifting methods that thieves will use to rip you off. I couldn’t possibly cover everything I have learned over the years in this article, but here are some red flags you can teach your team to look for: quick selection of merchandise, clothing that is out of season, and camera checking.
First off, we have quick selection. Think about when you are shopping. Do you just walk up to a display and immediately throw an item into the cart? There are obviously times when people know exactly what they want and are in and out of the store quickly, especially with grocery shopping. On the other hand, you probably wouldn’t do this when shopping for high dollar electronics. For example, if you see a store patron load up a shopping cart with a television, home theater system, and a laptop in under five minutes; that should give you a good idea that something isn’t right.
Out of season clothing is a good indicator that someone could possibly be partaking in dishonest activities. If it is 95 degrees outside and a person walks into your store wearing a big winter coat, you may want to keep an eye on them. They may be filling that coat faster than you can say sneaky scoundrel. This is an easy red flag to spot, so it would definitely be a great tip to include in your team’s loss prevention training.
Then there is camera checking, which means looking for cameras. It seems like this would be way too obvious, but it happens quite often. Some shoplifters actually look up at the cameras before, and while they are shoplifting. I’m assuming that they are attempting to figure out where the cameras are and if they are being watched, but in the process they are attracting unwanted attention.
Once again, this is in no way a complete list of potential indicators of theft. If you don’t feel that you have enough knowledge about shoplifting to provide guidance to your team, it’s a good idea to get a professional to come in and conduct a loss prevention seminar. They will also be able to help develop a training program that’s right for your specific needs.
For more information contact us: (loss prevention training) or call 1.770.426.0547
You have a great culture in your store, and a dedicated team that cares about preventing loss from happening in your store. Your employees are always on the lookout for shoplifting activity, but do they actually know what they are looking for when trying to spot a shoplifter? In order to ensure all of your employees are on the same page, it is important to conduct loss prevention training for your whole team. Regardless of how much your employees want to help you keep the products on the shelves, if they don’t know to spot the behaviors it may not be very helpful at all.
There are many things to look for when trying to spot a shoplifter. Keep in mind, there is no definitive indicator that someone is going to shoplift until you actually see them committing the theft, and just because a customer is displaying one of these examples doesn’t necessarily mean they are shoplifting.
There is an endless list of shoplifting methods that thieves will use to rip you off. I couldn’t possibly cover everything I have learned over the years in this article, but here are some red flags you can teach your team to look for: quick selection of merchandise, clothing that is out of season, and camera checking.
First off, we have quick selection. Think about when you are shopping. Do you just walk up to a display and immediately throw an item into the cart? There are obviously times when people know exactly what they want and are in and out of the store quickly, especially with grocery shopping. On the other hand, you probably wouldn’t do this when shopping for high dollar electronics. For example, if you see a store patron load up a shopping cart with a television, home theater system, and a laptop in under five minutes; that should give you a good idea that something isn’t right.
Out of season clothing is a good indicator that someone could possibly be partaking in dishonest activities. If it is 95 degrees outside and a person walks into your store wearing a big winter coat, you may want to keep an eye on them. They may be filling that coat faster than you can say sneaky scoundrel. This is an easy red flag to spot, so it would definitely be a great tip to include in your team’s loss prevention training.
Then there is camera checking, which means looking for cameras. It seems like this would be way too obvious, but it happens quite often. Some shoplifters actually look up at the cameras before, and while they are shoplifting. I’m assuming that they are attempting to figure out where the cameras are and if they are being watched, but in the process they are attracting unwanted attention.
Once again, this is in no way a complete list of potential indicators of theft. If you don’t feel that you have enough knowledge about shoplifting to provide guidance to your team, it’s a good idea to get a professional to come in and conduct a loss prevention seminar. They will also be able to help develop a training program that’s right for your specific needs.
For more information contact us: loss prevention training or call 1.770.426.0547
It is a common practice to protect your merchandise with clothing security tags to keep it out of the hands of thieves. Using electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags, ink tags, and other types of checkpoint tags are the most cost-efficient ways to secure your stock. If these devices are not used properly, however, they can become more of a burden than a blessing. It is important to make sure that a sound strategy is in place when it comes to using security tags on clothes.
First, make sure that when these security tags are ordered that the quantity purchased is great enough to apply them consistently to the product that you want to protect. Many organizations that use these tags effectively do so with a sound merchandise protection strategy. If there is a particular line of clothing that you want to be secured, because of price, popularity, or for whatever reason, make sure that you have enough tags to secure them all. It may seem like an obvious point but, all too often do retailers order an incorrect number of security tags leaving them under-protected or, almost as bad, with more than they need.
Secondly, make sure that part of your merchandise protection strategy includes a specific placement technique. If the tags are placed inconsistently all over different items, it will lead to confusion for other employees when it comes time to remove them. There is little less convenient for customers than arriving at home, discovering that the clothing security tags are still on their clothes, and that they must drive all the way back to the store to have them removed in order to wear them. This could especially be a nightmare for someone shopping for an outfit intended for a special occasion, only to find the tag on right before going out! A good rule of thumb is to locate the security tags as close to the merchandise scan tags, making it more noticeable for the employee ringing it up.
Nearly just as important, make sure employees are aware of the details of the merchandise protection strategy. Firstly, this will make associates aware of what items are more likely to be stolen. More awareness amounts to better protection and theft deterrence. Secondly, employees who process returns know what merchandise needs to be protected, and how, before it returns to the sales floor. Finally, and most obviously, it will allow employees to keep customers happy, by making sure those devices are removed for paying customers.
Even with the issues that clothing security tags sometimes bring, they are well worth the small investment to protect the items from shoplifters. The damage that could be done by a few shoplifters is likely to be much greater than that of a customer who ends up at home with a checkpoint tag on their clothes when they get home. What’s more, the latter situation is easily avoided with proper training. Just remember to implement a uniform, consistent merchandise protection strategy. Ensure that all employees who handle the merchandise, from the door to the floor and even upon returns, know what the strategy is. They must know which items need to be secured, where to secure them, and with what items. This will keep your merchandise around for those who want to buy it.
For more information contact us: Clothing Security or call 1.770.426.0547
It is a common practice to protect your merchandise with clothing security tags to keep it out of the hands of thieves. Using electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags, ink tags, and other types of Checkpoint tags are the most cost-efficient ways to secure your stock. If these devices are not used properly, however, they can become more of a burden than a blessing. It is important to make sure that a sound strategy is in place when it comes to using security tags on clothes.
First, make sure that when these security tags are ordered that the quantity purchased is great enough to apply them consistently to the product that you want to protect. Many organizations that use these tags effectively do so with a sound merchandise protection strategy. If there is a particular line of clothing that you want to be secured, because of price, popularity, or for whatever reason, make sure that you have enough tags to secure them all. It may seem like an obvious point but, all too often retailers order an incorrect number of security tags leaving them under-protected or, almost as bad, with more than they need.
Secondly, make sure that part of your merchandise protection strategy includes a specific placement technique. If the tags are placed inconsistently all over different items, it will lead to confusion for other employees when it comes time to remove them. There is little less convenience for customers than arriving at home, discovering that the clothing security tags are still on their clothes, and that they must drive all the way back to the store to have them removed in order to wear them. This could especially be a nightmare for someone shopping for an outfit intended for a special occasion, only to find the tag on right before going out! A good rule of thumb is to locate the security tags as close to the merchandise scan tags, making it more noticeable for the employee ringing it up.
Nearly just as important, make sure employees are aware of the details of the merchandise protection strategy. Firstly, this will make associates aware of what items are more likely to be stolen. More awareness amounts to better protection and theft deterrence. Secondly, employees who process returns know what merchandise needs to be protected, and how, before it returns to the sales floor. Finally, and most obviously, it will allow employees to keep customers happy, by making sure those devices are removed for paying customers.
Even with the issues that clothing security tags sometimes bring, they are well worth the small investment to protect the items from shoplifters. The damage that could be done by a few shoplifters is likely to be much greater than that of a customer who ends up at home with a Checkpoint tag on their clothes when they get home. What’s more, the latter situation is easily avoided with proper training. Just remember to implement a uniform, consistent merchandise protection strategy. Ensure that all employees who handle the merchandise, from the door to the floor and even upon returns, know what the strategy is. They must know which items need to be secured, where to secure them, and with what items. This will keep your merchandise around for those who want to buy it.
For more information contact us: Clothing Security or call 1.770.426.0547
