Bottle Locks-5 WC blog 143
Liquor bottle security-3
Alpha Security-3
Are Staff Stealing Spirits? Bottle Locks Improve Liquor Bottle Security
Liquor store owners and managers are aware of the risk to the business from shoplifting, but how aware are you of the threat to your business from your employees? Along with the obvious chance of cash theft, employees can also steal product from your business. It can be difficult to identify and prevent cash shortages, but how do you prevent internal merchandise theft? Were you aware that in retail as a whole, employee theft accounts for more theft and shortage than shoplifting? Preventative measures for liquor bottle security can protect the business against both shoplifting and employee theft. Using bottle locks and electronic article surveillance antennas can prevent a lot of merchandise theft. In fact, it appears from the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Report that there is a strong correlation between the amount of money invested by a retailer on Loss Prevention spending and the amount of shortage experienced. Shortage tended to decline when money was invested in various Loss Prevention systems, including security personnel, closed circuit television and retail anti-theft devices.
Since we are focusing on liquor store businesses, the use of bottle locks is a valuable means of protecting against theft. Liquor bottles come in many different shapes and sizes and Alpha Security makes locks that can fit almost every bottle design on the market. The locks are placed over the cap and depending on the type of lock used they cover much of the neck of the bottle as well. The lock prevents a thief from being able to open a bottle or pry the cap off. Bottle locks are designed to activate to an electronic article surveillance antenna if a bottle with a lock on it is carried in range of the antenna. The alarm alerts store staff of an attempted breach. Whether it is a shoplifter or an employee trying to steal, liquor bottle security will protect merchandise.
If you are a small business owner, here are some interesting statistics for you from the website statisticbrain.com (research date September 7th, 2015):
Employee Theft Statistics:
– Amount stolen annually from U.S. Businesses by employees $50,000,000,000
– Percent of annual revenues lost annually to theft or fraud 7%
– Percent of employees who have stolen at least once from their employer 75%
– Percent of employees who have stolen at least twice from their employer 37.5%
– Percent of all business bankruptcies caused by employee theft 33%
Additionally, the report finds that the average time office fraud lasts before it is detected is two years. In my years of Loss Prevention experience, I found that the difficulty with employees was that frequently their theft started out in small amounts and often infrequently. It might be a dollar here or there from the register for a snack during break. It could be minor merchandise theft in the beginning, such as a candy bar from a checkout lane or a drink from a food service area. Over time employees tend to become bolder and test the store with theft that becomes more noticeable. Eventually the employee gets greedy and takes something substantial or more readily identified. For a small business owner of a liquor store, how long can you afford losses before employee theft puts you in the 33% declaring bankruptcy due to theft?
By installing EAS antennas at all store entrances and putting Alpha Security bottle locks on merchandise located both on the sales floor as well as the stock room you can quickly begin to deter liquor theft by employees. It is also important to ensure that owners and managers always staff the store, open to close with at least two employees as a check and balance. If one person is alone in the building, there is no one to be aware if bottles are removed through EAS antennas, setting off the alarm.
Make liquor bottle security a priority for your store. Find out about all of the bottle locks available to you from Alpha Security. Don’t let your employees send your business into bankruptcy.
Need information on liquor bottle security? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Liquor store owners and managers are aware of the risk to the business from shoplifting, but how aware are you of the threat to your business from your employees? Along with the obvious chance of cash theft, employees can also steal product from your business. It can be difficult to identify and prevent cash shortages, but how do you prevent internal merchandise theft? Were you aware that in retail as a whole, employee theft accounts for more theft and shortage than shoplifting? Preventative measures for liquor bottle security can protect the business against both shoplifting and employee theft. Using bottle locks and electronic article surveillance antennas can prevent a lot of merchandise theft. In fact, it appears from the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Report that there is a strong correlation between the amount of money invested by a retailer on Loss Prevention spending and the amount of shortage experienced. Shortage tended to decline when money was invested in various Loss Prevention systems, including security personnel, closed circuit television and retail anti-theft devices.
Since we are focusing on liquor store businesses, the use of bottle locks is a valuable means of protecting against theft. Liquor bottles come in many different shapes and sizes and Alpha Security makes locks that can fit almost every bottle design on the market. The locks are placed over the cap and depending on the type of lock used they cover much of the neck of the bottle as well. The lock prevents a thief from being able to open a bottle or pry the cap off. Bottle locks are designed to activate to an electronic article surveillance antenna if a bottle with a lock on it is carried in range of the antenna. The alarm alerts store staff of an attempted breach. Whether it is a shoplifter or an employee trying to steal, liquor bottle security will protect merchandise.
If you are a small business owner, here are some interesting statistics for you from the website statisticbrain.com (research date September 7th, 2015):
Employee Theft Statistics:
– Amount stolen annually from U.S. Businesses by employees $50,000,000,000
– Percent of annual revenues lost annually to theft or fraud 7%
– Percent of employees who have stolen at least once from their employer 75%- Percent of employees who have stolen at least twice from their employer 37.5%
– Percent of all business bankruptcies caused by employee theft 33%
Additionally, the report finds that the average time office fraud lasts before it is detected is two years. In my years of Loss Prevention experience, I found that the difficulty with employees was that frequently their theft started out in small amounts and often infrequently. It might be a dollar here or there from the register for a snack during break. It could be minor merchandise theft in the beginning, such as a candy bar from a checkout lane or a drink from a food service area. Over time employees tend to become bolder and test the store with theft that becomes more noticeable. Eventually the employee gets greedy and takes something substantial or more readily identified. For a small business owner of a liquor store, how long can you afford losses before employee theft puts you in the 33% declaring bankruptcy due to theft?
By installing EAS antennas at all store entrances and putting Alpha Security bottle locks on merchandise located both on the sales floor as well as the stock room you can quickly begin to deter liquor theft by employees. It is also important to ensure that owners and managers always staff the store, open to close with at least two employees as a check and balance. If one person is alone in the building, there is no one to be aware if bottles are removed through EAS antennas, setting off the alarm.
Make liquor bottle security a priority for your store. Find out about all of the bottle locks available to you from Alpha Security. Don’t let your employees send your business into bankruptcy.
Need information on liquor bottle security? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Checkpoint Hard Tags-5 WC blog 126
Checkpoint tags-3
electronic article surveillance-3
Stop shoplifting-4
Checkpoint Hard Tags Keep Softlines Secure From Shoplifters
There are a lot of ways to prevent clothing theft and in my experiences of more than 25 years working in retail I think I have seen most of them. I have seen limits on how many of a certain item will be placed on a sales floor. I have also seen shoes displayed as singles, with the matching shoe in the stockroom with all the other boxed shoes. Over the years I have also seen the evolution of clothing hard tags and the increased use of them in stores. Of all the anti-theft strategies, with a few rare exceptions, the best option to stop shoplifting, in my opinion, has always been the use of Checkpoint hard tags. I say this because there are several benefits of using Checkpoint tags over other strategies and I will discuss those benefits momentarily. First, it would be best to tell you what Checkpoint Hard Tags are and how they work.
Checkpoint hard tags are devices that are attached to clothing to stop shoplifting. The tags, specifically the Gen 3 Hard Tags, are electronic article surveillance two-piece discs that are attached to garments. The two pieces are pinned together almost seamlessly, making it nearly impossible for a shoplifter to pry them apart. These discs are well over an inch in diameter, giving them a strong visual deterrence to would-be thieves. And, for those retailers who may sell higher end clothing, the disc shape gives it a neat, clean visual effect that does not detract from the item it is attached to.
So what is the benefit of using Gen 3 Checkpoint Hard Tags over limiting the number of items on a sales floor? You may be thinking that limiting quantities means that shoplifters can’t get away with more than one or two items as opposed to a full fixture arm. As a former Loss Prevention Manager, I saw shoplifters clean off entire 4-way fixtures of clothes, so I am familiar with the concern. The issue is, those instances involved clothes that were not protected with Checkpoint Tags. Because they are electronic article surveillance compatible, most shoplifters don’t want to take the risk of activating a store alarm so they leave tagged clothing alone. Putting one or two items out that are not protected will simply lead to the eventual theft of those one or two items. The other negative of limiting quantities is the replenishment of the item(s). If the garment is sold and there are no more on the floor, how long does it take for someone to notice and fill the floor from the stockroom? If it’s not on the floor, there is the chance you lose sales since customers can’t look at it to buy it.
As for shoes being displayed as a single and the remainder being kept in a stockroom, such a strategy will stop shoplifting, but when I have seen it used it always requires a salesperson to be available to find the size and style of shoe I need. It also seems that inevitably there will be more customers that enter the department and therein lays the issue, there needs to be adequate staffing to be available to render immediate assistance to all the customers. Do you have the staff or payroll available to provide that level of service for one group of clothing? Checkpoint Tags allow for merchandise to be protected without the need to constantly run to the stockroom to retrieve shoes, let the customer try them on and re-stock them, if the customer chooses not to purchase them.
The combination of electronic article surveillance and Gen 3 Checkpoint Hard Tags are the best solution to stop shoplifting of your clothing lines. The tags can be placed on almost any garment so the more items you protect, the better your chances will be to boost sales and reduce shortage due to theft.
Get more information on Checkpoint Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
There are a lot of ways to prevent clothing theft and in my experiences of more than 25 years working in retail I think I have seen most of them. I have seen limits on how many of a certain item will be placed on a sales floor. I have also seen shoes displayed as singles, with the matching shoe in the stockroom with all the other boxed shoes. Over the years I have also seen the evolution of clothing hard tags and the increased use of them in stores. Of all the anti-theft strategies, with a few rare exceptions, the best option to stop shoplifting, in my opinion, has always been the use of Checkpoint hard tags. I say this because there are several benefits of using Checkpoint tags over other strategies and I will discuss those benefits momentarily. First, it would be best to tell you what Checkpoint Hard Tags are and how they work.
Checkpoint hard tags are devices that are attached to clothing to stop shoplifting. The tags, specifically the Gen 3 Hard Tags, are electronic article surveillance two-piece discs that are attached to garments. The two pieces are pinned together almost seamlessly, making it nearly impossible for a shoplifter to pry them apart. These discs are well over an inch in diameter, giving them a strong visual deterrence to would-be thieves. And, for those retailers who may sell higher end clothing, the disc shape gives it a neat, clean visual effect that does not detract from the item it is attached to.
So what is the benefit of using Gen 3 Checkpoint Hard Tags over limiting the number of items on a sales floor? You may be thinking that limiting quantities means that shoplifters can’t get away with more than one or two items as opposed to a full fixture arm. As a former Loss Prevention Manager, I saw shoplifters clean off entire 4-way fixtures of clothes, so I am familiar with the concern. The issue is, those instances involved clothes that were not protected with Checkpoint Tags. Because they are electronic article surveillance compatible, most shoplifters don’t want to take the risk of activating a store alarm so they leave tagged clothing alone. Putting one or two items out that are not protected will simply lead to the eventual theft of those one or two items. The other negative of limiting quantities is the replenishment of the item(s). If the garment is sold and there are no more on the floor, how long does it take for someone to notice and fill the floor from the stockroom? If it’s not on the floor, there is the chance you lose sales since customers can’t look at it to buy it.
As for shoes being displayed as a single and the remainder being kept in a stockroom, such a strategy will stop shoplifting, but when I have seen it used it always requires a salesperson to be available to find the size and style of shoe I need. It also seems that inevitably there will be more customers that enter the department and therein lays the issue, there needs to be adequate staffing to be available to render immediate assistance to all the customers. Do you have the staff or payroll available to provide that level of service for one group of clothing? Checkpoint Tags allow for merchandise to be protected without the need to constantly run to the stockroom to retrieve shoes, let the customer try them on and re-stock them, if the customer chooses not to purchase them.
The combination of electronic article surveillance and Gen 3 Checkpoint Hard Tags are the best solution to stop shoplifting of your clothing lines. The tags can be placed on almost any garment so the more items you protect, the better your chances will be to boost sales and reduce shortage due to theft.
Get more information on Checkpoint Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Eyewear Tag-5 WC Blog 117
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-3
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Designer Eyewear Frame And Sunglass Theft Making You See Red? The Eyewear Tag Is the Cure To Your Problem
I admit it, I am a cheapskate. When it comes to sunglasses or just about anything else, if it’s cheap enough I’ll probably buy it (and occasionally regret the decision later for not spending more). The sunglasses I have in each of our cars, $1 a pair. My “good” shoes, $19.99 a pair on sales, blue jeans, $10.00 a pair. I just don’t see a need to spend a lot of money for some things. However, there are people who are very insistent on quality when shopping, especially when it comes to eyewear. Many brands of eyeglass frames and sunglasses are very high priced. For example one popular sun glass company has glasses as high as $285.00 for a pair of “Aviator Titanium” on their web site. Another eyewear company has a pair of designer eyeglass frames for $310.00 on their website. When these glasses and frames are available in stores, the risk for theft is high. To prevent shoplifting of eyewear, retailers and optometrist offices should be securing their merchandise with the Alpha Eyewear Tag.
The Alpha Eyewear Tag is a retail anti-theft device designed to fit on the arm of a pair of glasses or sunglasses. The device is small enough to allow a customer to try on a pair of glasses but large enough to make it obvious that the merchandise belongs to the store. There is no room for a potential thief to try to say that the glasses were worn into the store. This tag also comes with radio frequency or acoustic magnetic protection based on what a store orders. Regardless of the system a store has, the electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas will detect the tags on the glasses (assuming the correct type of tag was ordered). Anyone attempting to walk out the door with a pair of glasses would set off the alarm at the doors.
Is theft of glasses a real concern for a retailer? According to the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer survey, sunglasses were the number four shortage category within the Apparel and Fashion Accessories category. When I worked in retail loss prevention, both in a department store and in a big box retail store we experienced a significant amount of theft in the sunglasses department. During the summer months especially it was easy to catch shoplifters simply by focusing attention on this area of the store. A “customer” would pick up a pair of sunglasses, try them on and if they liked them, they would pop the tag off and drop them in a purse or wear them out of the store. The EAS tag hanging from the glasses could not prevent shoplifting since the tag was easy to remove. The Alpha Eyewear Tag makes it much more difficult to remove since it is a hard tag and as I mentioned before, damage would probably result before the tag would come off.
If you still have doubts about whether you should use an Eyewear Tag on your merchandise, consider these stories. From Heraldcourier.com, Nov. 8, 2015, a man and woman were wanted in Burlington, North Carolina, according to police for going into a particular store twice and stealing 55 pairs of eyeglasses valued at $9,735. In a Jan. 19, 2016 report on Fox2now.com, it was reported that three men and a woman stole $900 worth of sunglasses and a few hours later they hit an eye care store and stole 12 pair of Ray Ban sunglasses totaling more than $2,700. The detectives handling the case said that, “It is very likely the expensive frames are sold for top dollar on the black market”. I believe the use of retail anti-theft devices used on these glasses would have prevented the theft at these locations.
The Eyewear Tag by Alpha Security can help prevent shoplifting of your sunglasses and designer eyewear frames. Your profits will climb as your shortage goes down when you use these retail anti-theft devices.
Need more information on Eyewear Tag? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I admit it, I am a cheapskate. When it comes to sunglasses or just about anything else, if it’s cheap enough I’ll probably buy it (and occasionally regret the decision later for not spending more). The sunglasses I have in each of our cars, $1 a pair. My “good” shoes, $19.99 a pair on sales, blue jeans, $10.00 a pair. I just don’t see a need to spend a lot of money for some things. However, there are people who are very insistent on quality when shopping, especially when it comes to eyewear. Many brands of eyeglass frames and sunglasses are very high priced. For example one popular sun glass company has glasses as high as $285.00 for a pair of “Aviator Titanium” on their web site. Another eyewear company has a pair of designer eyeglass frames for $310.00 on their website. When these glasses and frames are available in stores, the risk for theft is high. To prevent shoplifting of eyewear, retailers and optometrist offices should be securing their merchandise with the Alpha Eyewear Tag.
The Alpha Eyewear Tag is a retail anti-theft device designed to fit on the arm of a pair of glasses or sunglasses. The device is small enough to allow a customer to try on a pair of glasses but large enough to make it obvious that the merchandise belongs to the store. There is no room for a potential thief to try to say that the glasses were worn into the store. This tag also comes with radio frequency or acoustic magnetic protection based on what a store orders. Regardless of the system a store has, the electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas will detect the tags on the glasses (assuming the correct type of tag was ordered). Anyone attempting to walk out the door with a pair of glasses would set off the alarm at the doors.
Is theft of glasses a real concern for a retailer? According to the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer survey, sunglasses were the number four shortage category within the Apparel and Fashion Accessories category. When I worked in retail loss prevention, both in a department store and in a big box retail store we experienced a significant amount of theft in the sunglasses department. During the summer months especially it was easy to catch shoplifters simply by focusing attention on this area of the store. A “customer” would pick up a pair of sunglasses, try them on and if they liked them, they would pop the tag off and drop them in a purse or wear them out of the store. The EAS tag hanging from the glasses could not prevent shoplifting since the tag was easy to remove. The Alpha Eyewear Tag makes it much more difficult to remove since it is a hard tag and as I mentioned before, damage would probably result before the tag would come off.
If you still have doubts about whether you should use an Eyewear Tag on your merchandise, consider these stories. From Heraldcourier.com, Nov. 8, 2015, a man and woman were wanted in Burlington, North Carolina, according to police for going into a particular store twice and stealing 55 pairs of eyeglasses valued at $9,735. In a Jan. 19, 2016 report on Fox2now.com, it was reported that three men and a woman stole $900 worth of sunglasses and a few hours later they hit an eye care store and stole 12 pair of Ray Ban sunglasses totaling more than $2,700. The detectives handling the case said that, “It is very likely the expensive frames are sold for top dollar on the black market”. I believe the use of retail anti-theft devices used on these glasses would have prevented the theft at these locations.
The Eyewear Tag by Alpha Security can help prevent shoplifting of your sunglasses and designer eyewear frames. Your profits will climb as your shortage goes down when you use these retail anti-theft devices.
Need more information on Eyewear Tag? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Tablet/I-pad Theft-4 , CPN10-4 , Thunder Tag-3
Stop Theft In The Medical Field
Did you know there is an actual book called “How to Steal from a Medical Practice”? It’s true, and this guy knows all about it because he had a terrible experience with his office’s billing manager. She stole $20,000 from his practice in a year and a half. Her punishment: restitution only because it was her first offense. Then she got a billing manager job at another office in a neighboring town within a week of the hearing. Theft from medical offices has been a problem for decades and it is really growing out of hand. It’s not just internal theft of money either. The staff takes prescription drugs that are meant for patient samples. The patients themselves steal supplies from the exam rooms. In the age of technology, there is the threat of patients and staff alike stealing the devices that now hold medical records. Tablet and i-pad theft is a whole new issue for medical practices, and unless they have been equipped with some form of anti-theft device, they are near impossible to recover.
Many offices are converting their old records keeping systems over to newer, faster, and smaller hand held devices instead of having to be tied down to an old bulky desk top system. They can hold the devices and take notes on them, while still being able to make eye contact with the patient and make the experience much more personal. The devices take up much less space, and they are very user friendly. In fact, many offices have even made the switch from handing their patients a clipboard of papers to fill out their information and registration, to handing them an i-pad or tablet and allowing them to just type in what is needed and make updates and changes to their personal information. (I just went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, and wrote down the same stuff on three different forms so that would be awesome!)
Unfortunately, there could be major problems if the office discovers that there has been an I-pad or tablet theft. It really depends on the intentions of the thief, of course. They could be just stealing it to try and sell at a pawn shop. Or the tablet theft could have been for the purpose of attempting to hack the device for medical records or financial information. It’s one thing to have to just buy a new I-pad, but to have to deal with all the repercussions of identity theft is a whole huge issue.
Medical practices need product protection tools just like retailers. A nice combination that will protect those valuable electronic devices against theft are the Checkpoint N10 System and the Alpha Thunder Tag. Together, these two are unstoppable. The Checkpoint N10 is very similar to the systems that many stores use to prevent shoplifting. But, while it has the same theft detection power, this one is smaller, sleeker, and designed for the professional setting of the medical office. The Alpha Thunder Tag is the partner that protects your practice from i-pad theft. It adheres directly to the tablet, and it is the catalyst that will activate the alarm on the Checkpoint N10 if there is a theft attempt. If a patient or a staff member attempts to leave the premises with one of your devices, you will be immediately alerted. You don’t have to wait and hope it never happens to your office; take a look at the Checkpoint N10 System and the Alpha Thunder Tag.
Stopping theft in the Medical Field is important and we can help. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Did you know there is an actual book called “How to Steal from a Medical Practice”? It’s true, and this guy knows all about it because he had a terrible experience with his office’s billing manager. She stole $20,000 from his practice in a year and a half. Her punishment: restitution only because it was her first offense. Then she got a billing manager job at another office in a neighboring town within a week of the hearing. Theft from medical offices has been a problem for decades and it is really growing out of hand. It’s not just internal theft of money either. The staff takes prescription drugs that are meant for patient samples. The patients themselves steal supplies from the exam rooms. In the age of technology, there is the threat of patients and staff alike stealing the devices that now hold medical records. Tablet and i-pad theft is a whole new issue for medical practices, and unless they have been equipped with some form of anti-theft device, they are near impossible to recover.
Many offices are converting their old records keeping systems over to newer, faster, and smaller hand held devices instead of having to be tied down to an old bulky desk top system. They can hold the devices and take notes on them, while still being able to make eye contact with the patient and make the experience much more personal. The devices take up much less space, and they are very user friendly. In fact, many offices have even made the switch from handing their patients a clipboard of papers to fill out their information and registration, to handing them an i-pad or tablet and allowing them to just type in what is needed and make updates and changes to their personal information. (I just went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, and wrote down the same stuff on three different forms so that would be awesome!)
Unfortunately, there could be major problems if the office discovers that there has been an I-pad or tablet theft. It really depends on the intentions of the thief, of course. They could be just stealing it to try and sell at a pawn shop. Or the tablet theft could have been for the purpose of attempting to hack the device for medical records or financial information. It’s one thing to have to just buy a new I-pad, but to have to deal with all the repercussions of identity theft is a whole huge issue.
Medical practices need product protection tools just like retailers. A nice combination that will protect those valuable electronic devices against theft are the Checkpoint N10 System and the Alpha Thunder Tag. Together, these two are unstoppable. The Checkpoint N10 is very similar to the systems that many stores use to prevent shoplifting. But, while it has the same theft detection power, this one is smaller, sleeker, and designed for the professional setting of the medical office. The Alpha Thunder Tag is the partner that protects your practice from i-pad theft. It adheres directly to the tablet, and it is the catalyst that will activate the alarm on the Checkpoint N10 if there is a theft attempt. If a patient or a staff member attempts to leave the premises with one of your devices, you will be immediately alerted. You don’t have to wait and hope it never happens to your office; take a look at the Checkpoint N10 System and the Alpha Thunder Tag.
Stopping theft in the Medical Field is important and we can help. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Early in my Loss Prevention career a lot of my work focused on clothing security. I worked in a department store so we were constantly catching shoplifters stealing clothes from all departments. While we did have bedding, housewares and accessories departments, clothing always seemed to occupy most of our time. Frequently this led to some very interesting stories, not so much due to the merchandise being stolen but the actions of the shoplifter when confronted.
One time a had a rather large woman who was in the Women’s department and she was doing all the things to that make Loss Prevention officers know that a theft is going to happen. The woman was looking at the ceiling for cameras, and she was selecting merchandise without regard to size. She did take the time to remove hang tags because in my opinion, she may have thought there were security tags on clothes or on the hang tags. This customer was carrying a large purse and began filling it up. After she was done she began walking towards a set of exit doors going into our parking lot. I stopped the woman, identified myself and began escorting her to our security office. As I was about halfway to our first floor security office walking through the Women’s department, the shoplifter pulled away from me. Rather than run out of the store as most shoplifters would do, this woman began knocking over clothing racks. I called on the radio for our operator to call the police. In the meantime I stood in the main aisle and watched as this shoplifter was flinging metal 4-way racks and round racks around the department, clothing flying. The store Operations Manager came up to me and was shocked as I was casually observing the scene. In an agitated tone of voice he asked me if I was going to do anything about it. I looked at him and I looked at her as she was tossing racks like toys and told him, “No”. I then explained that the police were on the way, and we would charge her with damage to property but she wasn’t going anywhere so I would let the police restrain her. Well, police arrived and the woman was arrested and no one was hurt, except perhaps, the Operation Manager’s pride. In this case, customer and employee safety took precedence over clothing security. Oh and the fixtures? Turns out they were fine, just a lot of clothes to pick up.
In another incident I had a shoplifter walk into our Polo department, pull a black garbage bag out of his pocket and then quickly load it with Polo shirts from a display table. The shoplifter threw the bag over his shoulder like Santa Claus and he walked towards the doors. In those days the electronic article surveillance antennas were not as good as they are today and merchandise could be lifted high enough that any security tags on clothes would not activate the alarm. I attempted to stop the shoplifter as he exited the building and he ran from me and no, he didn’t drop his bag. At that time we were allowed to chase shoplifters and I chased this thief several blocks and lost him. Police were on foot helping to try to locate him. I should also mention, we live in a tourist area and we have a number of small local restaurant/bars near this area, close to the beach. The search was becoming fruitless until a waitress on the patio/bar of one restaurant saw me at the front of their business and the police at the back. She asked if I was looking for a tall gentleman carrying a black trash bag. I confirmed I was and she had me follow her to the kitchen. My “friend” was peeking out the back door watching the police look for him. I snuck up behind him and tackled him and the police saw us both tumble out of the building. They finished the arrest and over $500.00 of Polo shirts were recovered. The arrest was fun, but the looks on the restaurant customers and kitchen workers was priceless.
Today clothing security has made vast improvements in both tags and EAS systems. Security tags on clothes come in a variety of styles and are nearly impossible to tamper with and defeat. EAS antenna fields have improved and have expanded the distance from which they can read tags. Look into what clothing security tags can do for your company.
Clothing security is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Checkpoint Tags-4 WC blog 100
Checkpoint Systems-4
Preventing Theft With Checkpoint Systems Part 3
In this series of articles I have been discussing Checkpoint systems and how they work to prevent theft. I covered electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas, how they work and the impact on retail theft prevention. In the second part I reviewed Checkpoint tags, choices offered and how they deter theft. In this final installment I will be covering Checkpoint deactivation units, detection devices and the importance of ensuring proper operation to maximize the effectiveness of Checkpoint systems.
When EAS alarm antennas regularly sound due to Checkpoint tags not being deactivated or removed from merchandise after purchase, customers become annoyed and shoplifters become unafraid. Checkpoint deactivation pads integrate with most point of sale registers and it is at that point they “turn off” or detune EAS soft tags and labels. As a tag is passed over the pad it is desensitized and the cashier does not have to spend extra effort attempting to locate the tag. Hard tags are designed to not deactivate when passed over a pad, they are simply removed using a detachment tool secured at the register. Once removed the tags are collected and placed in a central location until more merchandise is received and ready to be tagged.
It is important to test your Checkpoint systems equipment daily. Deactivation pads can be tested with the DV1000 deactivation verifier. By holding the verifier near a deactivation pad and pressing a button you can quickly determine if your equipment is working. When a deactivation pad is not working, soft tags and labels are not “turned off”, and this causes a false alarm. False alarms, in turn, embarrass and even anger customers and if not handled properly, can lead to patron’s not returning and lost sales. I should note that failure to remove hard tags can also lead to false alarms, causing the same problems. Worse than this is the situation where a store fails to correct a problem and employees stop responding to alarm events. Shoplifters take notice of employees that simply wave to shoppers who set off an alarm or even ignore them. Complacency leads to increased theft and defeats the purpose of having an EAS system.
Checkpoint also offers an Omni Verifier/Deactivator that can verify if a deactivator is working. Additionally, there are situations in which a customer can bring merchandise into the store that has Checkpoint tags that were not deactivated from another retailer, setting off your antennas. The Omni verifier can help locate a hidden EAS tag somewhere in clothing or a bag and you can make the customer aware of the issue. If you can validate the item was purchased, you may opt to offer to deactivate the item as a customer courtesy (your customer will love you for it, trust me).
EAS test cards can also be supplied by Checkpoint to test your antennas. These are cards that have non-deactivating Checkpoint tags in them that are walked through EAS antennas daily to ensure the system is responding properly. It is possible for the antennas to stop working, possibly due to a power outage, a circuit breaker being tripped or just a faulty circuit. Identifying a non-working antenna system as soon as possible is crucial for getting a service call in and a technician to the store to get the system operational again. Needless to say, but the longer a unit is out of service the greater the opportunity for shoplifters to take advantage of the issue.
With proper, daily testing of your Checkpoint system you can ensure your customers have a distraction free shopping experience. Training employees how to test deactivation units and antennas, remove hard tags and respond to EAS alarms will decrease the theft in your store and enhance profits.
For more information on Checkpoint systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
In this series of articles I have been discussing Checkpoint systems and how they work to prevent theft. I covered electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas, how they work and the impact on retail theft prevention. In the second part I reviewed Checkpoint tags, choices offered and how they deter theft. In this final installment I will be covering Checkpoint deactivation units, detection devices and the importance of ensuring proper operation to maximize the effectiveness of Checkpoint systems.
When EAS alarm antennas regularly sound due to Checkpoint tags not being deactivated or removed from merchandise after purchase, customers become annoyed and shoplifters become unafraid. Checkpoint deactivation pads integrate with most point of sale registers and it is at that point they “turn off” or detune EAS soft tags and labels. As a tag is passed over the pad it is desensitized and the cashier does not have to spend extra effort attempting to locate the tag. Hard tags are designed to not deactivate when passed over a pad, they are simply removed using a detachment tool secured at the register. Once removed the tags are collected and placed in a central location until more merchandise is received and ready to be tagged.
It is important to test your Checkpoint systems equipment daily. Deactivation pads can be tested with the DV1000 deactivation verifier. By holding the verifier near a deactivation pad and pressing a button you can quickly determine if your equipment is working. When a deactivation pad is not working, soft tags and labels are not “turned off”, and this causes a false alarm. False alarms, in turn, embarrass and even anger customers and if not handled properly, can lead to patron’s not returning and lost sales. I should note that failure to remove hard tags can also lead to false alarms, causing the same problems. Worse than this is the situation where a store fails to correct a problem and employees stop responding to alarm events. Shoplifters take notice of employees that simply wave to shoppers who set off an alarm or even ignore them. Complacency leads to increased theft and defeats the purpose of having an EAS system.
Checkpoint also offers an Omni Verifier/Deactivator that can verify if a deactivator is working Additionally, there are situations in which a customer can bring merchandise into the store that has Checkpoint tags that were not deactivated from another retailer, setting off your antennas. The Omni verifier can help locate a hidden EAS tag somewhere in clothing or a bag and you can make the customer aware of the issue. If you can validate the item was purchased, you may opt to offer to deactivate the item as a customer courtesy (your customer will love you for it, trust me).
EAS test cards can also be supplied by Checkpoint to test your antennas. These are cards that have non-deactivating Checkpoint tags in them that are walked through EAS antennas daily to ensure the system is responding properly. It is possible for the antennas to stop working, possibly due to a power outage, a circuit breaker being tripped or just a faulty circuit. Identifying a non-working antenna system as soon as possible is crucial for getting a service call in and a technician to the store to get the system operational again. Needless to say, but the longer a unit is out of service the greater the opportunity for shoplifters to take advantage of the issue.
With proper, daily testing of your Checkpoint system you can ensure your customers have a distraction free shopping experience. Training employees how to test deactivation units and antennas, remove hard tags and respond to EAS alarms will decrease the theft in your store and enhance profits.
For more information on Checkpoint systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
