Wardrobing -4 WC Blog 361
Return Fraud -3
Alpha Shark Tags – 3
Clothing Retailers Closing Shops Due To Decreased Profits; Improve Profits And Prevent Wardrobing And Return Fraud With Alpha Shark Tags
I was walking through a mall in our area a few days ago and noticed a number of empty spaces where clothing stores once stood. I find it somewhat depressing to be quite honest. I was also alarmed that an anchor store in that same mall was on an initial list of store closings this major chain was going to shut down. Every indicator seems to point to these stores not being as profitable as they once were. Some are struggling due to theft, some are just not appealing to what the customers want or the prices are not competitive with online stores. I also wonder how much is due to return fraud that these stores may be experiencing. I know from my many years in Retail Loss Prevention that there is a significant amount of abuse of store return policies. A number of people purchases clothes, wear them and return them getting full refunds for their purchases. It happens frequently enough that there is even a name for it, wardrobing. For store managers it can be difficult to distinguish between clothes that have been worn a few times and those that were tried on. I found it disturbing that there are websites, discussion boards and blogs that discuss how items can be re-ticketed and returned.
For those who are unfamiliar with wardrobing it is quite simply the act of purchasing clothes with the intent of wearing it once or twice and returning the item for a full refund. Those who engage in this pretend to justify it by suggesting that they are staying within the policies the stores set up. This is simply an excuse. To purchase an item and try it on at home and decide you don’t like it is one thing. To purchase an item so you can wear it out and be seen in it and then return it is deceitful and does constitute return fraud (but is not necessarily illegal). There is one sure method to prevent this type of fraud and a few other steps a retailer can take to deter it. Placing Alpha Shark Tags on a garment is the sure method of prevention and can be used by online retailers and brick and mortar stores. A Shark Tag is not an anti-theft device, it is a one-time use brightly colored tag that is pinned to a garment. The tag stays on the clothes when they are bought and the customer cuts it off after they get home and decide they want to keep the item. The store return policy should stipulate that without the tag intact on the merchandise, no refund is permitted.
What else can retailers do to try to prevent wardrobing, in addition to using Alpha Shark Tags, especially since the internet is filled with tips for how to get around return policies?
• Have the store return policy clearly stated at the point of sale and if possible have it print as a message on the receipt.
• The internet provides tips on how to hide merchandise hang tags and reattach them. This means it is important for store personnel to look for other indicators the item was worn. Look for food or make-up stains. Smell for odors of cologne, perfume or cigarette smoke, all of which could point to the clothes having been worn out somewhere.
• Charge a restocking/cleaning fee for merchandise that has the signs mentioned above, smells, stains and possible rips or tears. Anything that would require a merchant to possibly suspect wardrobing has occurred and cause them to have to mark down merchandise would be included.
• Be consistent with your policies and back up your return desk team. If you or your managers become wishy washy or “do it this one time” you take away the credibility of your employees and undermine them. You also cannot track how many “one times” you gave someone.
Of course there is never a perfect system, but taking precautions can deter a lot of the return fraud that goes on in retail.
Is this the sole cause for the demise of many retailers? Certainly not, the internet has made shopping for clothes a very competitive business and people are going to go for the best value. But theft and fraud do take a toll on profits. Use Alpha Shark Tags on all clothing items, have a clearly stated return policy and stick by it. You’ll find you can remain very customer friendly and still be profitable without constantly fighting return fraud.
Get more information on wardrobing, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I was walking through a mall in our area a few days ago and noticed a number of empty spaces where clothing stores once stood. I find it somewhat depressing to be quite honest. I was also alarmed that an anchor store in that same mall was on an initial list of store closings this major chain was going to shut down. Every indicator seems to point to these stores not being as profitable as they once were. Some are struggling due to theft, some are just not appealing to what the customers want or the prices are not competitive with online stores. I also wonder how much is due to return fraud that these stores may be experiencing. I know from my many years in Retail Loss Prevention that there is a significant amount of abuse of store return policies. A number of people purchases clothes, wear them and return them getting full refunds for their purchases. It happens frequently enough that there is even a name for it, wardrobing. For store managers it can be difficult to distinguish between clothes that have been worn a few times and those that were tried on. I found it disturbing that there are websites, discussion boards and blogs that discuss how items can be re-ticketed and returned.
For those who are unfamiliar with wardrobing it is quite simply the act of purchasing clothes with the intent of wearing it once or twice and returning the item for a full refund. Those who engage in this pretend to justify it by suggesting that they are staying within the policies the stores set up. This is simply an excuse. To purchase an item and try it on at home and decide you don’t like it is one thing. To purchase an item so you can wear it out and be seen in it and then return it is deceitful and does constitute return fraud (but is not necessarily illegal). There is one sure method to prevent this type of fraud and a few other steps a retailer can take to deter it. Placing Alpha Shark Tags on a garment is the sure method of prevention and can be used by online retailers and brick and mortar stores. A Shark Tag is not an anti-theft device, it is a one-time use brightly colored tag that is pinned to a garment. The tag stays on the clothes when they are bought and the customer cuts it off after they get home and decide they want to keep the item. The store return policy should stipulate that without the tag intact on the merchandise, no refund is permitted.
What else can retailers do to try to prevent wardrobing, in addition to using Alpha Shark Tags, especially since the internet is filled with tips for how to get around return policies?
• Have the store return policy clearly stated at the point of sale and if possible have it print as a message on the receipt.
• The internet provides tips on how to hide merchandise hang tags and reattach them. This means it is important for store personnel to look for other indicators the item was worn. Look for food or make-up stains. Smell for odors of cologne, perfume or cigarette smoke, all of which could point to the clothes having been worn out somewhere.
• Charge a restocking/cleaning fee for merchandise that has the signs mentioned above, smells, stains and possible rips or tears. Anything that would require a merchant to possibly suspect wardrobing has occurred and cause them to have to mark down merchandise would be included.
• Be consistent with your policies and back up your return desk team. If you or your managers become wishy washy or “do it this one time” you take away the credibility of your employees and undermine them. You also cannot track how many “one times” you gave someone.
Of course there is never a perfect system, but taking precautions can deter a lot of the return fraud that goes on in retail.
Is this the sole cause for the demise of many retailers? Certainly not, the internet has made shopping for clothes a very competitive business and people are going to go for the best value. But theft and fraud do take a toll on profits. Use Alpha Shark Tags on all clothing items, have a clearly stated return policy and stick by it. You’ll find you can remain very customer friendly and still be profitable without constantly fighting return fraud.
Get more information on wardrobing, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Alpha Ink Tag-3 WC Blog 353
Retail Anti-Theft Devices – 3
An Odd Encounter With A shoplifter That Could Have Been Avoided By Using Alpha Ink Tags On Clothing
Most of the time shoplifters dress, act and look like you and me. There is nothing that necessarily stands out about them except the behaviors they are exhibiting. They may be looking at the ceiling for cameras, they shoot glances at employees who walk nearby or they seem to be overly friendly with staff. There are also shoplifters who dress unseasonably for the weather, they wear multiple layers of clothes or coats and jackets when it is far too warm. Some will wear ball caps and sunglasses into the store to keep from being recognized or to prevent Loss Prevention from catching their face on cameras. In my early days as a Loss Prevention Associate for a department store chain I had two different shoplifting incidents when the perpetrators went in the opposite direction. In the first instance the suspect was ‘shopping’ in our misses department and looking closely at the tags. It was obvious she was trying to locate retail anti-theft devices that would prevent shoplifting. It so happened our store used some soft tags but the only hard tags we used were similar to the Alpha Ink Tags on the market now. At the time this was a brand new protection item on the market. When my thief did not find a tag she would ball an item up and put it in her purse. If she was suspicious that an electronic article surveillance (EAS) soft tag was present she would generally leave the item alone.
To clarify for those who may not be familiar with them. EAS tags come in hard and soft versions and both work with EAS towers, usually located near entrances/exits of stores. Tags operate using a radio frequency signal that transmits from the tag and is detected by the tower. When a tag is carried too close to a tower an alarm in the tower sounds and employees are alerted and respond to conduct receipt checks and recover merchandise. Some tags, like the Alpha Ink Tag have the EAS capability AND dye packs in them. If a shoplifter attempts to pry a dye tag off, the packets of dye break and stain the merchandise rendering it useless. This was one of the retail anti-theft devices our store had started to use on some high theft clothing like ball caps, swimwear and blue jeans.
Back to my story. So the shoplifter was being selective, looking for any retail anti-theft devices and filling her purse with items that were not protected. My supervisor maintained camera surveillance and I went to the salesfloor to be closer and to observe. When the would-be thief was done she walked towards the exit doors. I stopped her and identified who I was and asked a female area supervisor to meet me at the security office where I was taking the suspect. We arrived at the room and entered and I told the woman to take the stolen merchandise out of her purse. After hemming and hawing for a few minutes and trying to deny she had anything she said she had to go to the bathroom. Often shoplifters will try to use this ploy as an excuse to run or dump merchandise in the restroom. When I told her she would have to wait for the police she started to squat over a trash can and threatened to use it. The supervisor I had with me and I were both shocked but I told her I would add additional charges if she did (I’m not sure what I would charge her with but I was flabbergasted at that point). She stood back up (thank goodness) and I finally got her to give me the clothes out of her purse. It was at that point my boss, still in the camera room called over my radio and said he thought she had also put merchandise under her clothes and to make sure I had the police check when they arrived. Well, that set the shoplifter off and she lifted her dress all the way over her head and yelled, “I don’t got nothing else!” Well, she wasn’t lying about that. I told her to put the dress down and sit in a chair. The police did arrive and took her to jail without further incident. She was a known crack addict and had multiple shoplifting charges on her record. Needless to say this was one of the strangest shoplifting incidents I have ever dealt with.
To store managers and owners today, I recommend you use Alpha ink tags on ALL of your clothing items to stop shoplifting. You’ll deter thieves and you will avoid strange and awkward encounters like mine.
Alpha Ink Tags are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Most of the time shoplifters dress, act and look like you and me. There is nothing that necessarily stands out about them except the behaviors they are exhibiting. They may be looking at the ceiling for cameras, they shoot glances at employees who walk nearby or they seem to be overly friendly with staff. There are also shoplifters who dress unseasonably for the weather, they wear multiple layers of clothes or coats and jackets when it is far too warm. Some will wear ball caps and sunglasses into the store to keep from being recognized or to prevent Loss Prevention from catching their face on cameras. In my early days as a Loss Prevention Associate for a department store chain I had two different shoplifting incidents when the perpetrators went in the opposite direction. In the first instance the suspect was ‘shopping’ in our misses department and looking closely at the tags. It was obvious she was trying to locate retail anti-theft devices that would prevent shoplifting. It so happened our store used some soft tags but the only hard tags we used were similar to the Alpha Ink Tags on the market now. At the time this was a brand new protection item on the market. When my thief did not find a tag she would ball an item up and put it in her purse. If she was suspicious that an electronic article surveillance (EAS) soft tag was present she would generally leave the item alone.
To clarify for those who may not be familiar with them. EAS tags come in hard and soft versions and both work with EAS towers, usually located near entrances/exits of stores. Tags operate using a radio frequency signal that transmits from the tag and is detected by the tower. When a tag is carried too close to a tower an alarm in the tower sounds and employees are alerted and respond to conduct receipt checks and recover merchandise. Some tags, like the Alpha Ink Tag have the EAS capability AND dye packs in them. If a shoplifter attempts to pry a dye tag off, the packets of dye break and stain the merchandise rendering it useless. This was one of the retail anti-theft devices our store had started to use on some high theft clothing like ball caps, swimwear and blue jeans.
Back to my story. So the shoplifter was being selective, looking for any retail anti-theft devices and filling her purse with items that were not protected. My supervisor maintained camera surveillance and I went to the salesfloor to be closer and to observe. When the would-be thief was done she walked towards the exit doors. I stopped her and identified who I was and asked a female area supervisor to meet me at the security office where I was taking the suspect. We arrived at the room and entered and I told the woman to take the stolen merchandise out of her purse. After hemming and hawing for a few minutes and trying to deny she had anything she said she had to go to the bathroom. Often shoplifters will try to use this ploy as an excuse to run or dump merchandise in the restroom. When I told her she would have to wait for the police she started to squat over a trash can and threatened to use it. The supervisor I had with me and I were both shocked but I told her I would add additional charges if she did (I’m not sure what I would charge her with but I was flabbergasted at that point). She stood back up (thank goodness) and I finally got her to give me the clothes out of her purse. It was at that point my boss, still in the camera room, called over my radio and said he thought she had also put merchandise under her clothes and to make sure I had the police check when they arrived. Well, that set the shoplifter off and she lifted her dress all the way over her head and yelled, “I don’t got nothing else!” Well, she wasn’t lying about that. I told her to put the dress down and sit in a chair. The police did arrive and took her to jail without further incident. She was a known crack addict and had multiple shoplifting charges on her record. Needless to say this was one of the strangest shoplifting incidents I have ever dealt with.
To store managers and owners today, I recommend you use Alpha ink tags on ALL of your clothing items to stop shoplifting. You’ll deter thieves and you will avoid strange and awkward encounters like mine.
Alpha Ink Tags are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Employee Background Checks-3 WC Blog 348
Pre-employment Screening-3
Stressful Workplaces Can Be Improved When Employee Background Checks Are Used Part 1
I haven’t had a good rant in a while so maybe this is the perfect time for me to go on one. My rant today is about stress in the workplace. It came up in at least two of my conversations this week and it caused me to recall times I went through my own stressful situations. It also made me start thinking about solutions to those situations. The first conversation was about the lack of accountability for employees who work in a friend’s store. Employees choose to call out on a regular basis, they don’t get work complete, some have a tendency to question directions of managers and roll their eyes when they don’t want to do something. Recently the store manager decided to bring back an employee who had at least 5 no-call no-shows on her record and had been let go. Is it any wonder there is stress in this store? I approached the second person about the possibility of applying for a temporary job where I work that would not interfere with his primary job. He is an assistant manager in my part time job. Having seen his work ethic and manner of dealing with personnel and customers I know he would be a good fit on my other team. He declined my offer because his wife was considering leaving her job due to stress in a management position at a campground. They have a young child and a new car payment and work their schedules around caring for their child. It’s a shame that stress in the workplace is influencing them to this degree. Life happens. Car payments, bills, school, house/rent payments, food, utilities, etc. it all is a fact of life, but how much easier would it be if work wasn’t so stressful on us? I can’t offer solutions to every issue but you KNOW I have a solution to part of the problems and suggestions for fixing other parts. It might surprise you but I think one way to start fixing stressful workplaces is to conduct pre-employment screening of employees.
By conducting employee background checks on prospective new hires, it is possible to identify red flags that could very well raise questions about whether someone should be on your team. It is possible to find that an applicant has been misleading about the length of time they worked for a company. Sometimes people will exaggerate how long they worked somewhere in order to hide gaps in employment. They may also use this technique to cover up that they worked somewhere else between jobs and were fired from there for one reason or another. A company that completes pre-employment screening can confirm if someone is eligible for rehire for a former place of employment. Though there are laws that can prevent a company from revealing why an employee was fired from a position, companies ARE allowed to confirm if that employee is eligible for rehire as a yes or no response. You as the prospective employer can use the information gathered from background checks in addition to any interview and hiring questionnaire results to make hiring decisions.
By vetting your candidates through pre-employment screening you can reduce the chances the candidate has been able to lie to you in the application process. Frequently those who are job hopping or are considered ineligible for rehire are problem performers in one fashion or another. It may be they have been the person who frequently calls out for shifts or has excessive no call/no shows on their record. There is a strong possibility that this is the person who is the gossiper and rumor-monger that stirs up strife in the workplace. You may not learn what the underlying causes were that led to the employment gap or lie, but if a discrepancy in employment history is found through employee background checks you can avoid bringing on that person who could be the cause of a stressful workplace. In Part 2 I will continue my rant and a few additional suggestions for making your workplace productive AND a place employees want to work at.
Need information on Employee Background Checks? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I haven’t had a good rant in a while so maybe this is the perfect time for me to go on one. My rant today is about stress in the workplace. It came up in at least two of my conversations this week and it caused me to recall times I went through my own stressful situations. It also made me start thinking about solutions to those situations. The first conversation was about the lack of accountability for employees who work in a friend’s store. Employees choose to call out on a regular basis, they don’t get work complete, some have a tendency to question directions of managers and roll their eyes when they don’t want to do something. Recently the store manager decided to bring back an employee who had at least 5 no-call no-shows on her record and had been let go. Is it any wonder there is stress in this store? I approached the second person about the possibility of applying for a temporary job where I work that would not interfere with his primary job. He is an assistant manager in my part time job. Having seen his work ethic and manner of dealing with personnel and customers I know he would be a good fit on my other team. He declined my offer because his wife was considering leaving her job due to stress in a management position at a campground. They have a young child and a new car payment and work their schedules around caring for their child. It’s a shame that stress in the workplace is influencing them to this degree. Life happens. Car payments, bills, school, house/rent payments, food, utilities, etc. it all is a fact of life, but how much easier would it be if work wasn’t so stressful on us? I can’t offer solutions to every issue but you KNOW I have a solution to part of the problems and suggestions for fixing other parts. It might surprise you but I think one way to start fixing stressful workplaces is to conduct pre-employment screening of employees.
By conducting employee background checks on prospective new hires, it is possible to identify red flags that could very well raise questions about whether someone should be on your team. It is possible to find that an applicant has been misleading about the length of time they worked for a company. Sometimes people will exaggerate how long they worked somewhere in order to hide gaps in employment. They may also use this technique to cover up that they worked somewhere else between jobs and were fired from there for one reason or another. A company that completes pre-employment screening can confirm if someone is eligible for rehire for a former place of employment. Though there are laws that can prevent a company from revealing why an employee was fired from a position, companies ARE allowed to confirm if that employee is eligible for rehire as a yes or no response. You as the prospective employer can use the information gathered from background checks in addition to any interview and hiring questionnaire results to make hiring decisions.
By vetting your candidates through pre-employment screening you can reduce the chances the candidate has been able to lie to you in the application process. Frequently those who are job hopping or are considered ineligible for rehire are problem performers in one fashion or another. It may be they have been the person who frequently calls out for shifts or has excessive no call/no shows on their record. There is a strong possibility that this is the person who is the gossiper and rumor-monger that stirs up strife in the workplace. You may not learn what the underlying causes were that led to the employment gap or lie, but if a discrepancy in employment history is found through employee background checks you can avoid bringing on that person who could be the cause of a stressful workplace. In Part 2 I will continue my rant and a few additional suggestions for making your workplace productive AND a place employees want to work at.
Need information on Employee Background Checks? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Checkpoint Tags-4 WC Blog 343
Clothing Security Tags -3
Clothing Security Tags Can Help Or Hinder Customer Service; Tips To Ensure You Are Keeping Customers Happy – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article I talked about the frustrations customers have expressed on websites about getting clothing home and finding clothing security tags left on them. I also touched on what a security tag is and how it can improve merchandise shortage and therefore keep prices lower creating a positive customer experience. In Part 2 I want to discuss the issues that lead up to the customer service problem of Checkpoint tags being left on clothing and how it can negate the positive shopping experience your customers had while visiting the store.
To refresh some who may have missed the first part of the series, Checkpoint tags are built with electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology that allow them to protect clothing. Soft versions of the tags have an adhesive backing that makes it easy to stick the devices to hang tags, plastics, even to the cloth inside a handbag, wallet, slacks pockets, etc. Checkpoint Hard Tags are reusable anti-theft devices that are pinned to garments and require a special removal tool to take them off. Hard tags and soft tags placed in visible locations are deterrents to potential shoplifters. Thieves prefer not to risk setting off alarms or damaging merchandise in an attempt to pry or force tags off of clothing. The EAS technology in the tags makes them effective in stopping shoplifting by activating EAS pedestal alarms set at building entrances.
So the question becomes, “How does missing clothing security tags hamper customer experience levels and isn’t it a matter of just following up with a cashier?” The fact is it is easy to automatically point the finger at the cashier and say it is a training issue. I would argue there may be a other underlying issues that lead up to the problem.
1. Tagging consistency – When merchandise comes in to the store there needs to be specific guidelines for where tags will be placed. For example, you may direct whoever tags your merchandise to place a tag on the right sleeve of every shirt. Slacks may be tagged in the right leg seam at hip level. Consistent placement of tags and communication to employees will mean cashiers will always look in the same location for tags. This minimizes the opportunity for errors at the register.
2. Complete Tagging – Many stores set price points on what will or won’t be tagged or they decide only certain brands of merchandise will be tagged. Imagine you are the cashier that has to remember which items are and are not tagged! By tagging everything you eliminate the shoplifters looking for alternative items to take and you make it easier for cashiers to know they have to remove all tags from everything.
3. Measuring cashier speed times – Is your store the one that tracks cashier productivity and “ability” by how fast they can complete transactions? YOU may be contributing to your own problem. When cashiers feel pressured to rush through transactions so they don’t get penalized, they tend to make errors. Guess what frequently gets overlooked because the employee is trying to keep their score “green”? That’s right, clothing security tags not deactivated or missed removals. I understand you can’t have lines building up because a cashier wants to chit chat, but pressuring them to hurry can lead to all kinds of errors including cash shortages…did I get your attention on that one?
4. EAS alarm activation complacency – Are your employees immediately responding to alarms or are they waving at a customer and telling them they are “OK”? Perhaps your supervisors or employees are ignoring the alarms all together. I mentioned this in Part 1, the question arising, “If Checkpoint tags work and set off alarms, how could a customer get merchandise home with the tags still on them?” Here is my answer. Management is responsible for allowing complacency to set in and not addressing the problem. Prompt alarm follow-up can catch errors and show the paying customers you are concerned. It can keep them from feeling embarrassed or upset by the alarm. It is also your opportunity to coach the cashier that missed the tag or find out if there was a tagging problem on the floor. By the way, your shoplifters see how your teams respond to alarms. If they ignore them, the shoplifters know it and you’ve lost the deterrent effect of tagging.
Checkpoint Tags are effective in deterring theft. Shoplifters tend to go elsewhere to steal when confronted with security tags on clothes and this leads to improved shortage. Customers benefit with lower prices and better instocks. Keep your customers happy with a strong tagging program.
Get more information on Checkpoint Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
In Part 1 of this article I talked about the frustrations customers have expressed on websites about getting clothing home and finding clothing security tags left on them. I also touched on what a security tag is and how it can improve merchandise shortage and therefore keep prices lower creating a positive customer experience. In Part 2 I want to discuss the issues that lead up to the customer service problem of Checkpoint tags being left on clothing and how it can negate the positive shopping experience your customers had while visiting the store.
To refresh some who may have missed the first part of the series, Checkpoint tags are built with electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology that allow them to protect clothing. Soft versions of the tags have an adhesive backing that makes it easy to stick the devices to hang tags, plastics, even to the cloth inside a handbag, wallet, slacks pockets, etc. Checkpoint Hard Tags are reusable anti-theft devices that are pinned to garments and require a special removal tool to take them off. Hard tags and soft tags placed in visible locations are deterrents to potential shoplifters. Thieves prefer not to risk setting off alarms or damaging merchandise in an attempt to pry or force tags off of clothing. The EAS technology in the tags makes them effective in stopping shoplifting by activating EAS pedestal alarms set at building entrances.
So the question becomes, “How does missing clothing security tags hamper customer experience levels and isn’t it a matter of just following up with a cashier?” The fact is it is easy to automatically point the finger at the cashier and say it is a training issue. I would argue there may be a other underlying issues that lead up to the problem.
1. Tagging consistency – When merchandise comes in to the store there needs to be specific guidelines for where tags will be placed. For example, you may direct whoever tags your merchandise to place a tag on the right sleeve of every shirt. Slacks may be tagged in the right leg seam at hip level. Consistent placement of tags and communication to employees will mean cashiers will always look in the same location for tags. This minimizes the opportunity for errors at the register.
2. Complete Tagging – Many stores set price points on what will or won’t be tagged or they decide only certain brands of merchandise will be tagged. Imagine you are the cashier that has to remember which items are and are not tagged! By tagging everything you eliminate the shoplifters looking for alternative items to take and you make it easier for cashiers to know they have to remove all tags from everything.
3. Measuring cashier speed times – Is your store the one that tracks cashier productivity and “ability” by how fast they can complete transactions? YOU may be contributing to your own problem. When cashiers feel pressured to rush through transactions so they don’t get penalized, they tend to make errors. Guess what frequently gets overlooked because the employee is trying to keep their score “green”? That’s right, clothing security tags not deactivated or missed removals. I understand you can’t have lines building up because a cashier wants to chit chat, but pressuring them to hurry can lead to all kinds of errors including cash shortages…did I get your attention on that one?
4. EAS alarm activation complacency – Are your employees immediately responding to alarms or are they waving at a customer and telling them they are “OK”? Perhaps your supervisors or employees are ignoring the alarms all together. I mentioned this in Part 1, the question arising, “If Checkpoint tags work and set off alarms, how could a customer get merchandise home with the tags still on them?” Here is my answer. Management is responsible for allowing complacency to set in and not addressing the problem. Prompt alarm follow-up can catch errors and show the paying customers you are concerned. It can keep them from feeling embarrassed or upset by the alarm. It is also your opportunity to coach the cashier that missed the tag or find out if there was a tagging problem on the floor. By the way, your shoplifters see how your teams respond to alarms. If they ignore them, the shoplifters know it and you’ve lost the deterrent effect of tagging.
Checkpoint Tags are effective in deterring theft. Shoplifters tend to go elsewhere to steal when confronted with security tags on clothes and this leads to improved shortage. Customers benefit with lower prices and better instocks. Keep your customers happy with a strong tagging program.
Get more information on Checkpoint Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Employee Theft -4 WC Blog 389
Stop Shoplifting -5
Looks Can Be Deceiving And Criminals May Be Stealing Without Your Knowledge; Training To Prevent Employee Theft And Stop Shoplifting Is Available
Quiz time! You are watching your checkout lanes and you see a customer checking out with one of your cashiers. They seem to know each other from their friendly banter. The customer pays with cash, receives change and takes several bags and leaves. A few days later you see the same customer going through the same cashier’s line again. There are several available registers but he waits for this cashier. After everything is rung up the customer pays cash, gets change and leaves with his bags. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Let’s try another one, a couple of young women come in the store with a baby stroller and a baby is in the stroller. They walk around for a bit and begin picking out clothing in the young women’s department. One young lady picks up the baby and carries him in her arms. They don’t have a shopping cart and they have a lot of clothes they have picked up. They place the clothes in the baby stroller rather than bothering with a shopping cart. Do you see anything that bothers you about this? Last one, a customer is looking at merchandise in a display case. He asks an associate to show him a piece of merchandise. He is allowed to hold the item and asks to look at another item. The employee selects a second item. All the while he is chatting with the associate. The customer asked to look at a third item from the showcase and the employee reaches for it to show the customer. Is this okay or not? The answer for each of these is they were real types of theft that I dealt with as a Loss Prevention Manager. Store managers and owners running small businesses rarely have the experience or training to deal with employee theft or stop shoplifting. Those small retail store owners also don’t have budgets for trained Loss Prevention Associates. In order to address this problem Loss prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) offers training to reduce employee theft and training to stop shoplifting.
With training designed to teach managers how to protect merchandise, identify vulnerabilities and develop programs to reduce shrinkage smaller stores can keep up profits in a world of ever-increasing criminal activity. Additionally, employers often don’t consider all of the ways employees may be stealing from them or from their customers. They also don’t know that there are signals that they can look for that may be warnings that an employee intends to or is stealing. LPSI’s programs will instruct owners and managers on various methods employees use to steal, from giving merchandise to friends, under charging family members for merchandise to keeping receipts from customers for fraudulent returns. Armed with the right tools and knowledge, managers can stop shoplifting and employee theft.
So what happened in each of the scenarios I presented earlier? In the first one, the cashier was having a friend come to the checkout line and would ring up the merchandise presented. Some of the merchandise was voided from the transaction and still bagged for the friend. Other items were rung up but then the price was changed to a lower amount. Because there was a balance to pay and it looked like the customer was charged and paid properly. Looks were deceiving. Live surveillances then showed the same friend coming back over the course of several days, establishing for my case that it was not a fluke or an accident. In the second scenario two young women were in the department store where I worked, pushing a baby stroller. One girl was holding the baby and they were filling the carriage with blue jeans and covering them up with a blanket inside the stroller. As a Loss Prevention Officer I was trained on identifying suspicious signs or signals shoplifters give off so I had a reason to watch them, otherwise I would not have caught them. In the final scenario the suspect was a known iPod thief and was clever at distracting employees and getting them to take too many items out of a showcase. The employee lost track of how many iPods he had removed from the case and the suspect was able to conceal one in his waistline while the employee was reaching for a third iPod. We lost that one. Unfortunately I was not working so I could not stop shoplifting in that instance. It was found on video review after an audit of the i-Pods found a discrepancy.
Can’t afford a trained Loss Prevention staff? Need more training for you and your managers to prevent shortage? Get LPSI training to reduce employee theft and stop shoplifting.
Need information on employee theft? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Quiz time! You are watching your checkout lanes and you see a customer checking out with one of your cashiers. They seem to know each other from their friendly banter. The customer pays with cash, receives change and takes several bags and leaves. A few days later you see the same customer going through the same cashier’s line again. There are several available registers but he waits for this cashier. After everything is rung up the customer pays cash, gets change and leaves with his bags. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Let’s try another one, a couple of young women come in the store with a baby stroller and a baby is in the stroller. They walk around for a bit and begin picking out clothing in the young women’s department. One young lady picks up the baby and carries him in her arms. They don’t have a shopping cart and they have a lot of clothes they have picked up. They place the clothes in the baby stroller rather than bothering with a shopping cart. Do you see anything that bothers you about this? Last one, a customer is looking at merchandise in a display case. He asks an associate to show him a piece of merchandise. He is allowed to hold the item and asks to look at another item. The employee selects a second item. All the while he is chatting with the associate. The customer asked to look at a third item from the showcase and the employee reaches for it to show the customer. Is this okay or not? The answer for each of these is they were real types of theft that I dealt with as a Loss Prevention Manager. Store managers and owners running small businesses rarely have the experience or training to deal with employee theft or stop shoplifting. Those small retail store owners also don’t have budgets for trained Loss Prevention Associates. In order to address this problem Loss prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) offers training to reduce employee theft and training to stop shoplifting.
With training designed to teach managers how to protect merchandise, identify vulnerabilities and develop programs to reduce shrinkage smaller stores can keep up profits in a world of ever-increasing criminal activity. Additionally, employers often don’t consider all of the ways employees may be stealing from them or from their customers. They also don’t know that there are signals that they can look for that may be warnings that an employee intends to or is stealing. LPSI’s programs will instruct owners and managers on various methods employees use to steal, from giving merchandise to friends, under charging family members for merchandise to keeping receipts from customers for fraudulent returns. Armed with the right tools and knowledge, managers can stop shoplifting and employee theft.
So what happened in each of the scenarios I presented earlier? In the first one, the cashier was having a friend come to the checkout line and would ring up the merchandise presented. Some of the merchandise was voided from the transaction and still bagged for the friend. Other items were rung up but then the price was changed to a lower amount. Because there was a balance to pay and it looked like the customer was charged and paid properly. Looks were deceiving. Live surveillances then showed the same friend coming back over the course of several days, establishing for my case that it was not a fluke or an accident. In the second scenario two young women were in the department store where I worked, pushing a baby stroller. One girl was holding the baby and they were filling the carriage with blue jeans and covering them up with a blanket inside the stroller. As a Loss Prevention Officer I was trained on identifying suspicious signs or signals shoplifters give off so I had a reason to watch them, otherwise I would not have caught them. In the final scenario the suspect was a known iPod thief and was clever at distracting employees and getting them to take too many items out of a showcase. The employee lost track of how many iPods he had removed from the case and the suspect was able to conceal one in his waistline while the employee was reaching for a third iPod. We lost that one. Unfortunately I was not working so I could not stop shoplifting in that instance. It was found on video review after an audit of the i-Pods found a discrepancy.
Can’t afford a trained Loss Prevention staff? Need more training for you and your managers to prevent shortage? Get LPSI training to reduce employee theft and stop shoplifting.
Need information on employee theft? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
As a child I grew up watching the television series Emergency! The show was about firemen and what we would call today, paramedics. The main characters would respond to fires, vehicle crashes, all of the incidents you would expect fire fighters to respond to. The thing that was unique back in those years was that the firefighters/paramedics were administering first aid and life support service to keep patients/victims alive. The main characters, John and Roy would evaluate a patient and call Rampart General Hospital and give a description of their patient’s condition. Emergency room staff doctors and nurses would then provide guidance over the radio on treatments. Today, paramedics and emergency medical technicians can use i-Pads and Tablets to consult with doctors and doctors can see the condition of the patient, as well as get the first-hand description from the care giver on scene. This does bring up one concern and that is the potential of i-Pad theft or medical tablet theft at the hospital.
The issue of medical i-Pad theft or tablet theft is very real. When such devices are stolen there is a risk of patient information compromise, placing in jeopardy patient health information, billing information (including insurance provider account and group numbers), prescription medication information and more. There is a black market where such information is sold and the information is then used for fraudulent purposes and identity theft. A facility that experiences a breach or potential breach of patient information is subject to investigations and fines levied by the Department of Health and Human Services. So how can theft be prevented? By using a Bug Tag on mobile medical devices that are maintained in hospitals, clinics and medical facilities. The Bug Tag is an anti-theft device that uses radio frequency (rf) waves to interact with Checkpoint electronic article surveillance pedestals. The Bug Tag is attached directly to the mobile device and if the device is carried too close to the pedestals, located next to the entry/exit doors, alarm with lights and a loud beeping noise. Staffs respond to the alarms and recover the device before it is removed from the building thereby averting the potential stolen patient data.
This leads me back to the beginning of this article and how i-Pads came to be prevalent among first responders today. What was happening in the world of first responders that led to the creation of paramedics and emergency medical technicians in the first place? Before the 1960’s, ambulance services varied between states and even within the states themselves. Some of the responders had no medical training making the ambulance service a transportation unit only and others had highly trained staffs to treat injuries. According to Legislative Intent Service, Inc. in an article titled, “Origins of California’s Paramedics”, a 3 year study was completed by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, on accidental deaths in the United States. Titled, “Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society.” “The study noted another striking find: Statistically, soldiers in a warzone were faring better than the American civilian public regarding emergency care.” As a result of the study, In 1970 the, “Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act” was sent to the desk of then California Governor Ronald Reagan. One of the interesting points of the bill included, the ability of the paramedics to administer a number of intravenous drugs or agents, “Where voice contact or a telemetered electrocardiogram is monitored by a physician or a certified mobile intensive care nurse where authorized by a physician, and direct communication is maintained, may upon order of such physician or such nurse do any of the following:…” In other words, in Emergency!, when the paramedics were calling “Rampart” and talking to the emergency room doctor on duty, this was in line with the 1970 California bill. Today, paramedics have even more training and better tools at their disposal. The improvement in communications using i-Pads and tablets over radios has dramatically changed initial diagnosis and stabilization until a patient can reach a medical facility. Doctors can be virtually in the field with the EMT and the patient through Skype and the cameras built into i-Pads.
While guarding against i-Pad Theft or Tablet Theft in the field may be difficult. In the hospital setting it is possible when the Bug Tag is attached to each hospital owned mobile device. Doing so ensures patients will continue to receive the best treatment possible from first responders.
Get more information on a Bug Tag, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
