Checkpoint Systems-5 WC Blog 156
Stop shoplifting-3
Checkpoint tags-3
Checkpoint Systems Help Recover Stolen Merchandise – But For A Day, Not The Way You Might Think
Checkpoint systems have the tools to stop shoplifting. From electronic article surveillance antennas to deactivation units, hand verifiers and Checkpoint tags, I have had the pleasure of using all types of Checkpoint equipment. On one occasion I even used a piece of equipment to stop shoplifting but I don’t think it was the way anyone at Checkpoint systems had intended the device to work. The item I am speaking of is a DV1000 deactivation verifier.
The deactivation verifier is a small, gray box with a button on top that is pressed to determine if an EAS deactivation pad is working. When held over a functioning pad, and the button is pushed a small light on the front of the unit turns green. When pushed any other time the light turns red. The verifier is simple to use but extremely helpful in troubleshooting equipment to ensure it is operating correctly.
One day I was working and observed a young boy enter our store by himself. I recognized him as a regular in our store who was usually accompanied by friends. I had suspected the youngster of shoplifting for some time but our Loss Prevention Team could not catch him. This particular day I observed him when he entered and so I was able to keep surveillance on him his entire time in the store. I watched the boy as he walked around looking at merchandise and picking things up and putting them back down. The youngster eventually picked up a handful of collector cards/ball cards and continued through the store, opening the cards and selecting the ones he wanted. After several trips back to the cards, he was done with his “shopping” spree and headed for the exit.
I followed the young man when he walked out the store, stopped him and brought him back in. The cards that had been chosen had Checkpoint tags source tagged in the packages but our Checkpoint Systems antennas did not sound because the packages and some of the cards had been discarded in the store. I took the culprit to the security office and told him to return the cards to me. He told me he did not have any cards. I made every effort to get him to admit to the theft and give me the merchandise back but he was tough and wouldn’t crack.
At this point I decided it was time to pull out all of the stops. I reached in my desk drawer and pulled out my lie detector, which happened to also look suspiciously like a Checkpoint DV 1000 deactivation verifier. I told the young man that the item I was holding was a lie detector and if he told me a lie the light would turn red. My would-be criminal’s mouth dropped open and the look on his face was priceless. I asked him if he had any stolen cards in his pocket. He told me he did not and I held down the button on the verifier. The light turned red and I told the boy that the lie detector proved he was lying. At that the boy sheepishly pulled the cards from his pocket and gave them to me. He also admitted to his prior thefts, confirming what I had suspected. I contacted the boy’s mother who picked him up and took him up.
Checkpoint systems are designed to stop shoplifting starting with the deterrence value of the antennas at the front doors to the Checkpoint tags and labels placed on merchandise. Contact Checkpoint and find out how they can help you prevent theft, but don’t bother asking about their DV 1000 “lie detectors”, they probably won’t know what you are talking about.
Get more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Checkpoint systems have the tools to stop shoplifting. From electronic article surveillance antennas to deactivation units, hand verifiers and Checkpoint tags, I have had the pleasure of using all types of Checkpoint equipment. On one occasion I even used a piece of equipment to stop shoplifting but I don’t think it was the way anyone at Checkpoint systems had intended the device to work. The item I am speaking of is a DV1000 deactivation verifier.
The deactivation verifier is a small, gray box with a button on top that is pressed to determine if an EAS deactivation pad is working. When held over a functioning pad, and the button is pushed a small light on the front of the unit turns green. When pushed any other time the light turns red. The verifier is simple to use but extremely helpful in troubleshooting equipment to ensure it is operating correctly.
One day I was working and observed a young boy enter our store by himself. I recognized him as a regular in our store who was usually accompanied by friends. I had suspected the youngster of shoplifting for some time but our Loss Prevention Team could not catch him. This particular day I observed him when he entered and so I was able to keep surveillance on him his entire time in the store. I watched the boy as he walked around looking at merchandise and picking things up and putting them back down. The youngster eventually picked up a handful of collector cards/ball cards and continued through the store, opening the cards and selecting the ones he wanted. After several trips back to the cards, he was done with his “shopping” spree and headed for the exit.
I followed the young man when he walked out the store, stopped him and brought him back in. The cards that had been chosen had Checkpoint tags source tagged in the packages but our Checkpoint Systems antennas did not sound because the packages and some of the cards had been discarded in the store. I took the culprit to the security office and told him to return the cards to me. He told me he did not have any cards. I made every effort to get him to admit to the theft and give me the merchandise back but he was tough and wouldn’t crack.
At this point I decided it was time to pull out all of the stops. I reached in my desk drawer and pulled out my lie detector, which happened to also look suspiciously like a Checkpoint DV 1000 deactivation verifier. I told the young man that the item I was holding was a lie detector and if he told me a lie the light would turn red. My would-be criminal’s mouth dropped open and the look on his face was priceless. I asked him if he had any stolen cards in his pocket. He told me he did not and I held down the button on the verifier. The light turned red and I told the boy that the lie detector proved he was lying. At that the boy sheepishly pulled the cards from his pocket and gave them to me. He also admitted to his prior thefts, confirming what I had suspected. I contacted the boy’s mother who picked him up and took him up.
Checkpoint systems are designed to stop shoplifting starting with the deterrence value of the antennas at the front doors to the Checkpoint tags and labels placed on merchandise. Contact us and find out how we can help you prevent theft.
Get more information on Checkpoint Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Is it wrong to wear a piece of clothing once and return it for a refund? Some people would say, “No” to the question. Looking at various web sites there are some who mildly discourage the practice such as I found in a Market Watch column. The columnist, Quentin Fottrell responds in part to a query asking a similar question, “If you bought a dress that cost a lot of money, wore it to a party and realized you hated it and you would never wear it again, and it was still in pristine condition, then perhaps returning it would be understandable (though you might want to tell the sales staff that you did wear it once, to be 100% honest)”. He does go on to add, “But doing this regularly begins to cross a line”. If you are a clothing retailer, what is the impact of this practice, known as wardrobing on your business? Obviously the first thing to consider is can you sell the returned merchandise for full price? If you don’t sell it for full price, how much of a loss do you take on profit margin? One thing the writer pointed out that must be considered by retailers whose employees work on commission, is the negative impact on the sales person who sold the item being returned. How much of a game is played at their expense? Wardrobing isn’t harmless and retailers should make every effort to prevent it. One way to do so is by attaching Alpha Shark Tags to clothing.
Alpha Shark Tags prevent wardrobing because the retailers that use them can establish return policies that do not permit the return of clothing that has had Alpha Shark Tags removed. This works because the tag is a one-time use only device that clips onto articles of clothing, as well as shoes, purses, wallets, etc. The device is not to be removed by store employees at the time of the sale, as is the case with retail-anti theft devices. The Shark Tag has to be cut off by the purchaser after he or she leaves the store. A return can be denied when the tag has been removed, so long as the return policy is clearly stipulated. The tags are not going to interfere with the ability to try on merchandise, so clothing can be gifted and returned with a gift receipt and intact tag.
How big is the problem of wardrobing in the United States? According to The Retail Equation 2015 Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry Annual Return Survey, which incorporated the results of the National Retail Federation 2015 Return Fraud Survey Results, approximately 6.1% of returns in the U.S. were classified as Return Fraud and Abuse as a percent of total returns. The estimated amount of return fraud and abuse was 15.9 billion dollars. According to the loss prevention senior executives in the 62 retailer companies who were surveyed, 72.6% said their stores had experienced this type of fraud in the past year. One other key point from the report, “Fewer than half of retailers rated their return policies as effective” in deterring fraud.
Are the return policies in your store effective at preventing fraud? Do you even know if your store is experiencing return fraud? If 72.6% of Loss Prevention executives believe their stores have been impacted by wardrobing, then there is a strong likelihood it is taking place in your store(s) as well. By investing in Alpha Shark Tags and applying them to ALL of your clothing items and accessories, you can prevent being a victim of this activity. Keep you profits higher by reducing your exposure to fraud and having an “effective” return policy.
Return Fraud is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Anti-shoplifting-3 WC Blog 139
retail theft prevention-3
Retail Theft Prevention Efforts Spoil An Ice Cream Party
Retail theft prevention comes in all kinds of forms when you work in Assets Protection, sometimes the job is to stop shoplifting, on occasion it’s to prevent theft of time, in some situations the effort is to stop the theft of cash or company property. Every once in a while you see theft that is just odd and it makes you scratch your head wondering what in the world that person was thinking. I had just such a case when I worked as an Assets Protection Manager for a big box retail store.
One of the responsibilities of my position was to work an overnight shift once a month. Whether we had an active investigation or not, the idea was that we could monitor our overnight cleaning crew, our logistics team if we had an overnight or early morning unload or we could watch for opening and closing procedure compliance. Sometimes we would use the time to update retail theft prevention tactics such as moving cameras or inspecting anti-shoplifting devices and equipment such as Checkpoint deactivation pads and antennas. If you were having a good night you could potentially uncover a theft case and initiate a new investigation.
On one particular night I was able to sneak into the building prior to closing and get situated in the security office. The night began with an observation of the arrival of the cleaning crew and then the closing procedures of the store Leader On Duty and the team members. The employees finished recovering the store from a busy shopping day, closed out registers and then exited and secured the building, following the company best practices. In the meantime the cleaning crew began their preparations for vacuuming, sweeping floors, running the floor scrubber and emptying trash making the store ready for the next day.
My experience with cleaning crew cases was that after the store employees would leave for the night, the theft activity would begin. The key to catching theft during an observation was to try to focus on the person with opportunity to steal, watch areas that were known “hot spots” or to watch for behaviors that were indicative of someone intending to steal. Frequently food was a typical “hot spot” for cleaning crew theft. Check lane candy and snacks, soda coolers and in the case of our store, a food court area with a fast food type menu. This particular night I watched one of the cleaning crew members as he began sweeping and cleaning in our food service area. In anti-shoplifting efforts there are certain behaviors Loss Prevention personnel are trained to look for and this guy was displaying them.
The worker swept the floor and began collecting trash in the food court and after some time decided it was time for a break. Our food service sold ice cream by the scoop or in cones, so there was a freezer unit with tubs of ice cream in this area. Our hard working cleaning employee decided that he needed to re-energize with some sustenance and so, he opened the freezer, reached in and scooped out a refreshing ice cream desert. Did I mention a scoop? No, there was no scoop and this was my head scratching moment. The employee reached into the ice cream bin with his hand scooped out a handful of ice cream and ate it, not just once, but TWICE! YUCK! No anti-shoplifting device was going to stop THIS activity. After several more surveillances I did end up catching the employee stealing other small items and closed the case. And just in case anyone was curious, no, I did not leave the ice cream bin in place. I removed it and we took the loss on it, but I did stay away from the ice cream for quite some time afterwards.
Yes, retail theft prevention measures were possible in this situation. Keys for the ice cream display case were available but never used. I don’t think any of us ever thought someone would steal ice cream, let alone scoop it out like this character did. After the case was closed, displays were properly locked at the end of a shift.
Need more information on retail theft prevention? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Retail theft prevention comes in all kinds of forms when you work in Assets Protection, sometimes the job is to stop shoplifting, on occasion it’s to prevent theft of time, in some situations the effort is to stop the theft of cash or company property. Every once in a while you see theft that is just odd and it makes you scratch your head wondering what in the world that person was thinking. I had just such a case when I worked as an Assets Protection Manager for a big box retail store.
One of the responsibilities of my position was to work an overnight shift once a month. Whether we had an active investigation or not, the idea was that we could monitor our overnight cleaning crew, our logistics team if we had an overnight or early morning unload or we could watch for opening and closing procedure compliance. Sometimes we would use the time to update retail theft prevention tactics such as moving cameras or inspecting anti-shoplifting devices and equipment such as Checkpoint deactivation pads and antennas. If you were having a good night you could potentially uncover a theft case and initiate a new investigation.
On one particular night I was able to sneak into the building prior to closing and get situated in the security office. The night began with an observation of the arrival of the cleaning crew and then the closing procedures of the store Leader On Duty and the team members. The employees finished recovering the store from a busy shopping day, closed out registers and then exited and secured the building, following the company best practices. In the meantime the cleaning crew began their preparations for vacuuming, sweeping floors, running the floor scrubber and emptying trash making the store ready for the next day.
My experience with cleaning crew cases was that after the store employees would leave for the night, the theft activity would begin. The key to catching theft during an observation was to try to focus on the person with opportunity to steal, watch areas that were known “hot spots” or to watch for behaviors that were indicative of someone intending to steal. Frequently food was a typical “hot spot” for cleaning crew theft. Check lane candy and snacks, soda coolers and in the case of our store, a food court area with a fast food type menu. This particular night I watched one of the cleaning crew members as he began sweeping and cleaning in our food service area. In anti-shoplifting efforts there are certain behaviors Loss Prevention personnel are trained to look for and this guy was displaying them.
The worker swept the floor and began collecting trash in the food court and after some time decided it was time for a break. Our food service sold ice cream by the scoop or in cones, so there was a freezer unit with tubs of ice cream in this area. Our hard working cleaning employee decided that he needed to re-energize with some sustenance and so, he opened the freezer, reached in and scooped out a refreshing ice cream desert. Did I mention a scoop? No, there was no scoop and this was my head scratching moment. The employee reached into the ice cream bin with his hand scooped out a handful of ice cream and ate it, not just once, but TWICE! YUCK! No anti-shoplifting device was going to stop THIS activity. After several more surveillances I did end up catching the employee stealing other small items and closed the case. And just in case anyone was curious, no, I did not leave the ice cream bin in place. I removed it and we took the loss on it, but I did stay away from the ice cream for quite some time afterwards.
Yes, retail theft prevention measures were possible in this situation. Keys for the ice cream display case were available but never used. I don’t think any of us ever thought someone would steal ice cream, let alone scoop it out like this character did. After the case was closed, displays were properly locked at the end of a shift.
Need more information on retail theft prevention? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
USING RETAIL ANTI-SHOPLIFTING DEVICES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Do you ever walk around your store and wonder just how much of your product winds up in the hands of a criminal? Maybe you were researching an item for a customer and your computer said you had 5 of this particular item, but you couldn’t find a single one. Or, perhaps you may have walked down a secluded aisle and noticed several empty packages of merchandise tucked away behind a shelf or display. If this sounds like you, then chances are you have a shoplifting problem. Whether it be a loss of $10 or $10,000, every penny you lose to dishonesty is a penny less that’s going towards your bottom line. Thankfully, over the past several years, technology has kept pace with this growing issue and thus given the retail industry several tools that we can use to prevent shoplifting.
There is nothing that is safe in your store, trust me. Unless of course you display your entire stock behind a glass case that is! Over the last decade, I’ve worked as an area LP manager for a large big box retailer. I’ve seen everything there is to see in regards to shoplifters and the lengths they will go through in order to steal. Thankfully, my company invests heavily into retail anti-shoplifting devices. From the large cable wraps on game stations to delicately placed sensor tags on some of the most commonly stolen items, our program ultimately keeps our shrink in line to what’s expected. What’s best is that these simple methods aren’t just for the big box stores; but can be tailored to any size retail establishment and any budget.
The first thing I had to learn coming into this career is that I wasn’t going to prevent shoplifting completely. What I had to do was develop programs that would ultimately limit our store’s exposure to the risk of loss. When I first started, we had a very small LP department and we weren’t utilizing resources to our advantage. One of the very first things that I accomplished was using the store’s negative shrink data to determine what items were most commonly stolen. From there, we ultimately applied retail anti-theft devices that were tailored specifically for that item. Over time, we began to see a shift from what was once the most commonly stolen items (which the thieves could no longer easily target), to other items within the store that were an easier target. See, thieves are like water; they will follow the path of least resistance.
As the months and years pressed on, we continued to rely on shrink data to identify “hot” items, those that continued to post losses week after week. If a new style of shirt would come in and we’d immediately see shrink, we’d flag the item at the DC to be tagged with a retail anti-theft device that made sense for the purpose of shrink mitigation as well as customer service (customers usually don’t want to shop for an item that is locked up with a cable).
Even though I work for a large company with hundreds of stores, this principle can be applied to companies that may only have one store. As store managers, or business owners, you are uniquely positioned to know what is driving your sales, as well as your shrink. By knowing where your losses are coming from, you can react to those losses and use technology to better assist you in your efforts to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Retail Anti-Theft Devices contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Do you ever walk around your store and wonder just how much of your product winds up in the hands of a criminal? Maybe you were researching an item for a customer and your computer said you had 5 of this particular item, but you couldn’t find a single one. Or, perhaps you may have walked down a secluded aisle and noticed several empty packages of merchandise tucked away behind a shelf or display. If this sounds like you, then chances are you have a shoplifting problem. Whether it be a loss of $10 or $10,000, every penny you lose to dishonesty is a penny less that’s going towards your bottom line. Thankfully, over the past several years, technology has kept pace with this growing issue and thus given the retail industry several tools that we can use to prevent shoplifting.
There is nothing that is safe in your store, trust me. Unless of course you display your entire stock behind a glass case that is! Over the last decade, I’ve worked as an area LP manager for a large big box retailer. I’ve seen everything there is to see in regards to shoplifters and the lengths they will go through in order to steal. Thankfully, my company invests heavily into retail anti-shoplifting devices. From the large cable wraps on game stations to delicately placed sensor tags on some of the most commonly stolen items, our program ultimately keeps our shrink in line to what’s expected. What’s best is that these simple methods aren’t just for the big box stores; but can be tailored to any size retail establishment and any budget.
The first thing I had to learn coming into this career is that I wasn’t going to prevent shoplifting completely. What I had to do was develop programs that would ultimately limit our store’s exposure to the risk of loss. When I first started, we had a very small LP department and we weren’t utilizing resources to our advantage. One of the very first things that I accomplished was using the store’s negative shrink data to determine what items were most commonly stolen. From there, we ultimately applied retail anti-theft devices that were tailored specifically for that item. Over time, we began to see a shift from what was once the most commonly stolen items (which the thieves could no longer easily target), to other items within the store that were an easier target. See, thieves are like water; they will follow the path of least resistance.
As the months and years pressed on, we continued to rely on shrink data to identify “hot” items, those that continued to post losses week after week. If a new style of shirt would come in and we’d immediately see shrink, we’d flag the item at the DC to be tagged with a retail anti-theft device that made sense for the purpose of shrink mitigation as well as customer service (customers usually don’t want to shop for an item that is locked up with a cable).
Even though I work for a large company with hundreds of stores, this principle can be applied to companies that may only have one store. As store managers, or business owners, you are uniquely positioned to know what is driving your sales, as well as your shrink. By knowing where your losses are coming from, you can react to those losses and use technology to better assist you in your efforts to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Retail Anti-Theft Devices contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
I was covering my cashier for her break this past weekend, when this guy came up to buy three six-packs of beer. When he sat them down I noticed one of them was missing three bottles. The guy said he hadn’t seen it when he picked it up. I told him I would sell it to him for half price since it would take an act of congress to get the beer guy to give me credit for the package. That meant losing the profit I would have made from it too. I can justify it to myself since my beer section is a paltry two door reach in cooler, and we don’t really sell a lot of it anyway. I pay a lot more attention to my larger and more expensive wine selection. Bottle security in that section is paramount because it has more potential sales for my store. We have security cameras all around the store and the aisles are set up so that the wine section is close to the checkout so the cashiers can monitor the shoppers over there.
I have seen some other bottle security options used at stores that could be helpful. Some stores use empty bottles for place holders on the shelves. They place the price labels on the shelves just as they would if the real bottles were there. The customer takes that bottle up to the cashier and they retrieve the actual bottle that the customer wants to purchase. Another store used a similar approach. They took wood planks and laid them down end to end on the shelves and adhere pictures of the products to the boards. The customer takes the picture down and brings that to the front counter for the cashier. The biggest problem with both of these ideas is that there has to be a whole separate place for storage for the actual wine and spirits bottles. I manage a small retail pharmacy and we happen to sell wine, but do not have that kind of space. Another issue is that if there is only one clerk on duty, they have to leave the cash register unattended in order to get the customer’s selections for them. Some stores hire security guards if they have major theft issues. They’re not cheap though, so that’s is going to cost you. That could ultimately take payroll dollars away from your other employees.
If you don’t have that kind of space or extra money to drop, take a look at a bottle security option offered by Alpha Security. Bottle locks could be the answer. They are easy to apply and remove right at the checkout. The customer gets to browse your selection of wine and spirits on the shelf. They can pick up the bottles and compare them without the bottle locks impeding them. They don’t have to come to the checkout with some token and wait on the clerk to find the right choice. Alpha Security brought these to the table so you don’t have to worry about your valuable inventory being on display. Bottle locks fit over almost any size bottle and they are completely reusable. They offer a visible deterrent to the potential shoplifter. There is also the complete benefit denial for the rare times that you do suffer a loss. If someone gets brave enough to run out with a bottle that is still protected by a bottle lock, the bottle will shatter before they get the cap off. When you get your theft solutions from Alpha Security you are also getting peace of mind.
Bottle security is important and we can help. Contact us or call today 1.770.426.0547
As I was preparing to write this article, I spent some time reviewing the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Report. The report lists “North America Most Stolen Items – by vertical” in a chart. Items that show up are footwear, i-pads, laptop computers, wine and spirits, meat, and building supplies including lumber, but I was interested in something else. I wanted to know roughly how many categories were potentially items that stores would display on peg hooks. If there were enough peg hook merchandise categories, then I had to wonder if this could be an overlooked shortage problem that retailers should be addressing. Interestingly, of 25 most stolen items listed, as few as five and possibly as many as eight categories could include peg hook items. These include fashion accessories, batteries, screws and washers, mobile device accessories and razor blades. In some cases, I could include smaller power tools, small electric toothbrushes, and make-up products. Looking at these numbers the thought occurred to me that the Auto Peg Tag could help make a significant impact to stop shoplifting of these items.
Obviously, peg hook merchandise comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, but for the most part, they tend to be relatively small. This makes them prime targets for shoplifters. They are difficult to detect when someone is carrying them and they are easy to conceal in a pocket, purse or even a backpack. They can also be difficult to protect with soft EAS tags because they may cover up important product information. The Auto Peg Tag is a hard plastic, single piece design that goes over the packaging peg hole. It comes in a bright white or yellow color that makes it and the merchandise easy to see. A “security protected” warning and lock icon are printed on the tags to help deter and stop shoplifting by would-be thieves. The tags are radio frequency sensitive so they work with all Checkpoint electronic article surveillance antennas. One cost savings consideration is that the Auto Peg Tag is reusable so when removed at the point of sales, they are recycled and used on new products.
Having almost 25 years of combined retail experience, I know that many of these peg hook items mentioned are targeted not only by the opportunistic shoplifter, they are also the products desired by professional boosters. Razor blades, cosmetics, electric toothbrushes and batteries frequently turn up for sale at flea markets and warehouses.These Locations are where criminals resell the items they have stolen or where they store them for later sale. The 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Report confirms this on page 53, “Shoplifting continues to plague the retail industry due to escalating problem of ORC (Organized Retail Theft), easy sale of stolen merchandise through online sites, reduced sales floor coverage and the general perception of shoplifting as a “low risk/non-offensive” crime.
It is important to find ways to stop shoplifting while not hindering the shopping habits of good customers. Locking display cases and locking peg hooks may sound like the best method to curb theft, but they keep honest customers from getting access to merchandise and this can be extremely irritating to your shoppers. These measures may stop shoplifting for the most part but they also require employees to be immediately available to unlock a fixture. Any time customers have to wait for service, such as finding help to unlock a case, there is a good chance they will abandon a purchase. Not losing a sale in order to not lose merchandise is no way to do business. The Auto Peg Tag allows a store to display merchandise so it is accessible to customers and protected against theft with electronic article surveillance technology.
My father used to tell me “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, in the case of peg hook merchandise my advice is DO sweat the small stuff. The loss of little items can cost you big bucks. Use Auto Peg Tags and an electronic article surveillance system to stop shoplifting in your store.
Need more information on Auto Peg Tag? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
