Alpha Keepers-4 , Protect Razor Blades-2 , Prevent Shoplifting-2
Shave Off Some Stress With Alpha Keepers
I have worked for the same small retail pharmacy business for just over fifteen years. I have seen some new ideas come and go. Some of them have worked out great and some have not made it. One year our boss said that we should get rid of our “Next Register Please” signs. She said they were negative messages and that we should just talk to our customers and tell them where to check out. That was a great idea, but she also said we needed to be out on the sales floor when we did not have customers at the counter, in order to answer questions and be visible to prevent shoplifting. However, she did realize that while we were out on the floor, helping a customer find something, that another customer could walk up and not know which register to go to put their items down. Then, we would come back to the counter and have to move all their merchandise to the one we were actually using. That was very frustrating for us and them, to say the least. Needless to say, we had to order new signs not long after that.
That was just one of their least bad ideas. They have done much worse. About a month ago, a different manager decided that we should no longer keep our razor blades in Alpha Keepers. They said they had decided that they were not needed any longer since razor blades were not being stolen like they had been in the past. (If you just slapped your own forehead, you had the same reaction I had…) The original reason our company chose to protect razor blades with Alpha Keepers was because thefts were rampant in that category. We would put them out for sale, and they would disappear before the day was over. I am not even exaggerating either. I was actually having inventory one day, with counters all around the store, and had every peg wiped out. The flea market thieves don’t play. When they need a particular item to sell at their booths, they will take everything you have. So, in order to prevent shoplifting in this section, we encased all our razor blade packages in Alpha Keepers. And BOOM! Problem solved. The clear cases still allowed our honest, cash paying, customers access to the products without having to ask for them. But, they made it extremely difficult for the criminals to come in and help themselves. They could no longer just stuff the packages down in their clothes, because the cases made them heavier and harder to conceal. They also worked in conjunction with the Checkpoint system, so they would cause the alarm to activate if there was a theft attempt.
How’s this new idea going, you ask? Well, it turns out word spread really fast in the flea market community about our newest idea. And in less than two weeks, we have had four major losses in our area stores. Thousands of dollars gone in minutes because we no longer protect razor blades. So, last night after I read on our store managers only Facebook page that yet another store got hit. I have decided to take a stand and put all my razor blade packages back into Alpha Keepers. I know it’s just a matter of time before my own store becomes their next victim and I am not just going to wait and hope I don’t lose too much. Enough is enough, and this change was another obvious failure. Change is good, but not when it’s bad.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call today: 1.770.426.0547
I have worked for the same small retail pharmacy business for just over fifteen years. I have seen some new ideas come and go. Some of them have worked out great and some have not made it. One year our boss said that we should get rid of our “Next Register Please” signs. She said they were negative messages and that we should just talk to our customers and tell them where to check out. That was a great idea, but she also said we needed to be out on the sales floor when we did not have customers at the counter, in order to answer questions and be visible to prevent shoplifting. However, she did realize that while we were out on the floor, helping a customer find something, that another customer could walk up and not know which register to go to put their items down. Then, we would come back to the counter and have to move all their merchandise to the one we were actually using. That was very frustrating for us and them, to say the least. Needless to say, we had to order new signs not long after that.
That was just one of their least bad ideas. They have done much worse. About a month ago, a different manager decided that we should no longer keep our razor blades in Alpha Keepers. They said they had decided that they were not needed any longer since razor blades were not being stolen like they had been in the past. (If you just slapped your own forehead, you had the same reaction I had…) The original reason our company chose to protect razor blades with Alpha Keepers was because thefts were rampant in that category. We would put them out for sale, and they would disappear before the day was over. I am not even exaggerating either. I was actually having inventory one day, with counters all around the store, and had every peg wiped out. The flea market thieves don’t play. When they need a particular item to sell at their booths, they will take everything you have. So, in order to prevent shoplifting in this section, we encased all our razor blade packages in Alpha Keepers. And BOOM! Problem solved. The clear cases still allowed our honest, cash paying, customers access to the products without having to ask for them. But, they made it extremely difficult for the criminals to come in and help themselves. They could no longer just stuff the packages down in their clothes, because the cases made them heavier and harder to conceal. They also worked in conjunction with the Checkpoint system, so they would cause the alarm to activate if there was a theft attempt.
How’s this new idea going, you ask? Well, it turns out word spread really fast in the flea market community about our newest idea. And in less than two weeks, we have had four major losses in our area stores. Thousands of dollars gone in minutes because we no longer protect razor blades. So, last night after I read on our store managers only Facebook page that yet another store got hit. I have decided to take a stand and put all my razor blade packages back into Alpha Keepers. I know it’s just a matter of time before my own store becomes their next victim and I am not just going to wait and hope I don’t lose too much. Enough is enough, and this change was another obvious failure. Change is good, but not when it’s bad.
Get more information on Alpha Keepers, contact us or call today: 1.770.426.0547
