I don’t normally find myself shopping for jewelry. For starters, I’m a guy. I don’t have any daughters and I hadn’t quite got to the point where I’m ready to “pop the question” to my girlfriend. I also don’t like chains, or watches myself. A few months ago, I got dragged… I mean, I accompanied said girlfriend to the mall. Love makes you do crazy things, right? I don’t care for malls either. It is funny for me to see how vastly different some retailers are in their strategies (or lack thereof) to prevent shoplifting. Some stores are like walking into Fort Knox, while others are basically an open field of daisies, just waiting for someone to come along and pick up and pocket whatever they wanted. Which style of retailer are you?
Hopefully, you’ve been able to find a balance. I chuckle at stores that go big on everything. Prevent shoplifting? Absolutely. Look ridiculous with giant ink tags on $4 items? Also, absolutely? We ended up in this store at some point in that wonderful day that, even if threatened with another day at the mall, I couldn’t tell you the name. I was however, quite impressed at their varied use of Alpha JewelLoks.
Throughout my professional career, I had come into contact with Alpha JewelLoks on a few occasions. In every platform that I’ve seen them used, it was to secure a piece of jewelry. With its hook made of hardened steel, this is the go-to tag for jewelry. Literally, you will break jewelry before you break the tag. I’ve seen it demonstrated (once on accident and once by an incredibly stupid thief). This store that I found myself in though, didn’t really carry jewelry.
These guys had figured out just how versatile the Alpha JewelLok was. Instead of placing a giant hulking tag on a small change purse, they simple used one of those tags through the pull tab on the zipper. Almost every item that was over $30 had an Alpha JewelLok. The tags are so small; you really didn’t notice them at all. I was impressed. They clearly were doing a heck of a job preventing shoplifting, all while maintaining a clean presentation of their product.
I thought back to my stores and what I could use these for. We have struggled for years with shrink in denim jeans. We’ve tried pencil tags, hard tags, soft tags and ink tags. All with varying degrees of success. When I got back to my store on Monday I ordered a case of these tags; I had an idea. Once in hand, I secured every single pair of denim jeans with them. I simply passed the hook through the pull tab on the zipper. I then tried really hard to cut the tag. First with scissors, then a nail clipper. Guess what? It hung in there! It’s been 3 months since I deployed the Alpha JewelLok and my shrink in denim has dropped nearly 2%. While this is definitely an unconventional use for them, I can say that it works. What other product can you secure in your store with these awesome little tags?
For more information about Alpha Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
SEE MORE CLEARLY WITH ALPHA EYEWEAR TAGS
What’s the first thing you reach for when you start driving each morning? For me, it’s my pair of sunglasses. Not because I want to look cool (which I do, anyway), but they serve a very essential role in maintaining a healthy eye. Prolonged sun exposure is not a good thing when you’re talking about long term vision health. That’s why I spent a few extra dollars to make sure my vision is protected. I also got a really great discount, since my stores carry an enormous selection of sunglasses. This is why we also use the Alpha eyewear tag.
First lesson in retail is this; if you want to sell something, you need to let your customers touch it, feel it and try it on. This is especially true if that customer is going to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $300-$700 on a pair of sunglasses. There are plenty of you out there that run/manage stores that sell the same product, so you know what I’m talking about. There’s a huge market for these specialized lenses and frames, which also makes them a prime target for sticky fingers. So can you balance a store display with the need to prevent shoplifting?
I’ve said it once and I’ll go ahead and say it again. Just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean you should lock it up in a case. I get so frustrated when I go to a store and find the product I want is locked and in-accessible to me, the paying customer. I want to be in and out of the store. Like most people out there, I really don’t want to wait on an associate, as that can sometimes take what seems to be hours. If your store is in the designer sunglass business, you should know how important each customer and each sale is to your bottom line.
We first dabbled into the eyewear business years ago. Like so many others, we thought we needed to keep these in a glass showcase. That was our method to prevent shoplifting. The first couple of years, our sales were terrible. We found some floor displays and moved the majority of our sunglasses to the sales floor. We quickly learned the value of Alpha eyewear tags. At first, we did nothing to prevent shoplifting. That was a costly mistake. It was quite simple for a thief to walk right out with a brand new pair of sunglasses.
Using the Alpha eyewear tag, I found that we could find that balance that is oh, so important. The tags applied very smoothly and did not obstruct the wearer at all as they were trying them on. They also wear a great deterrent to any would-be thief. We should have used these tags from the very start. Dare I say, I could see clearly now, the thieves are gone! I could now put those sunglasses in the hands of my customers, and out of the hands of my thieves.
For more information, contact us: Alpha Hard Tags, or call 1.770.426.0547
What’s the first thing you reach for when you start driving each morning? For me, it’s my pair of sunglasses. Not because I want to look cool (which I do, anyway), but they serve a very essential role in maintaining a healthy eye. Prolonged sun exposure is not a good thing when you’re talking about long term vision health. That’s why I spent a few extra dollars to make sure my vision is protected. I also got a really great discount, since my stores carry an enormous selection of sunglasses. This is why we also use the Alpha eyewear tag.
First lesson in retail is this; if you want to sell something, you need to let your customers touch it, feel it and try it on. This is especially true if that customer is going to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $300-$700 on a pair of sunglasses. There are plenty of you out there that run/manage stores that sell the same product, so you know what I’m talking about. There’s a huge market for these specialized lenses and frames, which also makes them a prime target for sticky fingers. So can you balance a store display with the need to prevent shoplifting?
I’ve said it once and I’ll go ahead and say it again. Just because it’s expensive, doesn’t mean you should lock it up in a case. I get so frustrated when I go to a store and find the product I want is locked and in-accessible to me, the paying customer. I want to be in and out of the store. Like most people out there, I really don’t want to wait on an associate, as that can sometimes take what seems to be hours. If your store is in the designer sunglass business, you should know how important each customer and each sale is to your bottom line.
We first dabbled into the eyewear business years ago. Like so many others, we thought we needed to keep these in a glass showcase. That was our method to prevent shoplifting. The first couple of years, our sales were terrible. We found some floor displays and moved the majority of our sunglasses to the sales floor. We quickly learned the value of Alpha eyewear tags. At first, we did nothing to prevent shoplifting. That was a costly mistake. It was quite simple for a thief to walk right out with a brand new pair of sunglasses.
Using the Alpha eyewear tag, I found that we could find that balance that is oh, so important. The tags applied very smoothly and did not obstruct the wearer at all as they were trying them on. They also were a great deterrent to any would-be thief. We should have used these tags from the very start. Dare I say, I could see clearly now, the thieves are gone! I could now put those sunglasses in the hands of my customers, and out of the hands of my thieves.
For more information about Alpha Hard Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
In any retail store, you have to have a good plan in place to help prevent shoplifting if you want to stay profitable. When you place items on display for customers to be able to look at before making a purchase, there is always a risk that someone will take one of those products without paying for it. With this in mind, of course you have to do something to prevent shoplifting from occurring in your store. Your plan should obviously include the use of retail anti-theft devices, like the Alpha Spider Wrap, but you also have to ensure your team is properly trained on the proper use of these devices if you want to see a return on your investment. If your employees aren’t all on board with the program you have place, it may all be for nothing.
If the training for the use of retail anti-theft devices isn’t kept up, your new hire employees will likely not understand how to use them as they were intended. For example, if you put five of an item on the same shelf, and ensure that they are all protected, that’s great, but the challenge is with keeping all of the product protected. When the next employee comes along to restock the product without placing retail anti-theft devices on all of the items, which one do you think the shoplifter is going to steal? Of course, the shoplifter will go for the unprotected item because it will be so much easier for them to get the merchandise and get out of the store unnoticed. It’s very simple, if there are two items next to each other and one has an Alpha Spider Wrap attached, and the other doesn’t, the one without it is getting stolen. You have to be consistent if you want your plan to have any chance of being successful.
I can remember several shoplifting cases in which merchandise protection consistency would have saved the store a lot of money and stress. At a store I previously worked for, we were using several different types of merchandise protection devices in the store as a way to help prevent shoplifting in the store, but we were still experiencing quite a bit of theft. There was on shoplifter I recall that would come into the store looking to steal merchandise like electric shavers and electric toothbrushes. He would go into the department and look for merchandise that could be easily resold, and wasn’t protected. One more occasions than one, he found items that should have had protection devices on them, but unfortunately for the store, did not.
The day we finally caught him was no exception. The guy came into the store and headed straight for the electric shavers. Once he entered the aisle, he selected one that didn’t have an Alpha Spider Wrap attached to it, but this time I was waiting for him to come into the store. I saw him take the shaver out of its package, put it into the front of his pants, and pull down his shirt. He was definitely surprised to see us when we finally caught him leaving the store with our products, because he had gotten away with it in the past. We were lucky enough to be there and actually see the theft happen that day, but it could have been a much different outcome. The lesson here is that if you are going to use retail anti-theft devices, be consistent and do it right.
For more information about retail anti-theft devices contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
BF09
Alpha Keepers- 4
Protect health and beauty products- 4
Protect razor blades- 3
Protect infant formula- 3
Prevent shoplifting- 4
ALPHA KEEPERS TURN THE TIDE AGAINST THIEVES TARGETING COMMONLY TARGETED ITEMS
It’s not an assumption but rather a predictable trend that shows that certain thieves have an affinity for specific products from retail and grocery stores nationwide. Some of these popular items are products that you may not even realize are ‘hot’ with shoplifters. However if you’re going to prevent shoplifting altogether, you need to learn how to protect health and beauty products in your store. Let’s examine with two of the most commonly targeted products.
Razor Blades
We’ve all seen them and most of us use them. Those expensive yet essential packs of disposable razor blade refills you see in the health and beauty aisle. I personally cringe every time I have to buy them because of two particular reasons. One of those is the price of the blades and the other is the way you have to access the blades to buy them. Being a loss prevention person, I fully understand that in order to profit from them, you have to protect razor blades in stores. High prices go hand in hand with the need to secure them with products like Alpha brand Alpha Keepers! This product works by completely encasing your product and making it completely inaccessible to the customer without removal. If they aren’t removed before leaving the store, they will trigger the stores EAS system by sending a RF (Radio Frequency) signal to it, alerting store personnel.
Thieves target these razor blade refills because of the retail price versus the size of the product itself. They know that a typical 8 pack of blades can retail for $17 or more and they also know that they are really small in size. If a shoplifter has recognized that a retailer has failed to protect razorblades in their store, they will steal as many of them as possible with one grab. After all, they are very small and command a high resale price on the black market. This black market may include flea markets, online resale websites and small ‘mom and pop’ corner stores.
Infant Formula
Another hot product for thieves is infant formula. The theft of these essential products has forced virtually every retail store to protect infant formula on their shelves. In order to prevent shoplifting of these highly valuable products, essential to young babies, retailers have used Alpha Keeper products to deter would be thieves. When stores choose to display infant formula on their shelves, they often choose Alpha Products keepers to protect infant formula.
Thieves realize the value of infant formula similarly in the way they know the value of the aforementioned razor blades. It’s all the more reason to focus on ways to protect health and beauty products in your store. Shoplifting low lives know that infant formula and razor blades are often found within feet of each other on the shelves within stores. They get a two for one ‘shopping’ trip this way. The get the small expensive blades by the arm loads and the pricey tubs of infant formula by the cart load!
By the way, knowledgeable crooks know that the powdered infant formulas are not only good for resale but the powdered version is also known to be used to ‘cut’ cocaine. Because cocaine in its purest form is often deadly, drug dealers often add powdered baby formula to the cocaine to thwart the toxicity of it. Stealing infant formula for addition to cocaine is more common around Border States in the southern portions of the U.S., however the practice is found in all areas.
So it is exceptionally important to protect infant formula in your store not only to cushion the ‘bottom line’ of profitability in your store but to prevent the product from being used in the deadly widespread use of drugs in the United States. It’s double the reason to protect health and beauty products in your store. When you prevent shoplifting in your store, you may also be contributing to the war on drugs. The use of Alpha Keepers by Alpha High Theft Solutions is a huge preventative and excellent starting point towards keeping these products on your shelves and revenue flowing in your favor. I’ve seen it first hand in many grocery environments that I’ve worked loss prevention in.
Take the step to not only to protect infant formula in your store but also to protect razor blades too. You won’t regret it. You’ll put a frown on the faces of would be thieves and do your part to prevent shoplifting in your store!
For more information on how to protect health and beauty products with Alpha Keepers contact us at 1-770-426-0547.
It’s not an assumption but rather a predictable trend that shows that certain thieves have an affinity for specific products from retail and grocery stores nationwide. Some of these popular items are products that you may not even realize are ‘hot’ with shoplifters. However if you’re going to prevent shoplifting altogether, you need to learn how to protect health and beauty products in your store. Let’s examine with two of the most commonly targeted products.
Razor Blades
We’ve all seen them and most of us use them. Those expensive yet essential packs of disposable razor blade refills you see in the health and beauty aisle. I personally cringe every time I have to buy them because of two particular reasons. One of those is the price of the blades and the other is the way you have to access the blades to buy them. Being a loss prevention person, I fully understand that in order to profit from them, you have to protect razor blades in stores. High prices go hand in hand with the need to secure them with products like Alpha brand Alpha Keepers! This product works by completely encasing your product and making it completely inaccessible to the customer without removal. If they aren’t removed before leaving the store, they will trigger the stores EAS system by sending a RF (Radio Frequency) signal to it, alerting store personnel.
Thieves target these razor blade refills because of the retail price versus the size of the product itself. They know that a typical 8 pack of blades can retail for $17 or more and they also know that they are really small in size. If a shoplifter has recognized that a retailer has failed to protect razorblades in their store, they will steal as many of them as possible with one grab. After all, they are very small and command a high resale price on the black market. This black market may include flea markets, online resale websites and small ‘mom and pop’ corner stores.
Infant Formula
Another hot product for thieves is infant formula. The theft of these essential products has forced virtually every retail store to protect infant formula on their shelves. In order to prevent shoplifting of these highly valuable products, essential to young babies, retailers have used Alpha Keeper products to deter would be thieves. When stores choose to display infant formula on their shelves, they often choose Alpha Products keepers to protect infant formula.
Thieves realize the value of infant formula similarly in the way they know the value of the aforementioned razor blades. It’s all the more reason to focus on ways to protect health and beauty products in your store. Shoplifting low lives know that infant formula and razor blades are often found within feet of each other on the shelves within stores. They get a two for one ‘shopping’ trip this way. The get the small expensive blades by the arm loads and the pricey tubs of infant formula by the cart load!
By the way, knowledgeable crooks know that the powdered infant formulas are not only good for resale but the powdered version is also known to be used to ‘cut’ cocaine. Because cocaine in its purest form is often deadly, drug dealers often add powdered baby formula to the cocaine to thwart the toxicity of it. Stealing infant formula for addition to cocaine is more common around Border States in the southern portions of the U.S., however the practice is found in all areas.
So it is exceptionally important to protect infant formula in your store not only to cushion the ‘bottom line’ of profitability in your store but to prevent the product from being used in the deadly widespread use of drugs in the United States. It’s double the reason to protect health and beauty products in your store. When you prevent shoplifting in your store, you may also be contributing to the war on drugs. The use of Alpha Keepers by Alpha High Theft Solutions is a huge preventative and excellent starting point towards keeping these products on your shelves and revenue flowing in your favor. I’ve seen it first hand in many grocery environments that I’ve worked loss prevention in.
Take the step to not only to protect infant formula in your store but also to protect razor blades too. You won’t regret it. You’ll put a frown on the faces of would be thieves and do your part to prevent shoplifting in your store!
For more information on how to protect health and beauty products with Alpha Keepers contact us or call 1-770-426-0547.
BF011
Alpha cable lock- 4
Alpha security- 3
Prevent shoplifting- 4
STOP JACKET AND COAT THEFT WITH ALPHA CABLE LOCK
The winter time might be a joy for people who like the snow, the cold and all of the Holiday shindigs they get to attend. However the colder months pose a different challenge to retailers like you that carry winter jackets and coats. Thieves know that they can count on high dollar leather coats to be on display in your store and they know they can grab them by the half dozen and run out the front door with them. Yes, that’s a problem but the Alpha cable lock can make it a whole lot harder for shoplifters to do it.
Alpha security has developed this enduring product to be extremely versatile and rugged. First, the Alpha Cable lock (properly branded CableLok) is made with two elements of protection in mind. One of the key elements is the actual cable itself. Available in varying sizes from 3.5 inches to 72 inches, the cable portion of the device is made from high strength commercial grade aircraft cable. It’s designed to stand up to shoplifters that try to cut through the cable using typical tools. Should a thief succeed in getting through the cable itself, it will trigger the loud 95dB alarm that’s the heart of the unit. Either way it goes, the Alpha cable lock is one of the best choices to prevent shoplifting of your expensive winter coats and jackets. If the innovative Alpha security cable doesn’t deter them, the extremely loud alarm should be enough of a ‘buzz kill’ not to shoplift.
Another way to prevent shoplifting of your coats and jackets this winter is be sure to merchandise them away from the front of the store. Sometimes, the more blatant thieves (more professional ones) will literally not care whether you have security measures in place of not on your garments. If your coats and jackets are too close to the front doors this winter, they won’t have a problem grabbing a half dozen and bolting out the front door with them. Again it won’t matter if you have an Alpha cable lock attached to each of them or not. So, merchandising them in the middle to rear of the store is an optimal deterrent to thieves as well.
I personally recall on time where a store manager actually decided to display her stock of $300 leather winter coats up front, right by the doors. It turns out to be a funny story actually. See, the manager decided that it would be okay for them to merchandise them by the doors because they were using the 72” long Alpha security cable locks. The coats were not only protected themselves but they were attached securely to the display rack themselves! While attaching high value coats and jackets to the displays themselves are a great way to prevent shoplifting, in this case it still didn’t deter a particular thief. One decided that since they didn’t have something strong enough to cut through each Alpha cable lock, they were just going to take the entire rack of coats!
So the entire rack of coats went trailing out the door behind the shoplifter. Yes, winter coats are that hot of an item to thieves. The resale value of a $300 leather coat can still be above the $100 range on the street. Imagine what the shoplifter who stole the entire rack of coats eventually got for their take? Likely over $1,000 depending on where they pawned them off at. When you think about how to merchandise your winter coats this season, just remember that you should consider them in your anti-shoplifting agenda. They are absolutely sought after, especially the leather and popular name brand ones. Place them away from the front of the store and without a doubt; secure them with a good Alpha security measure like an Alpha cable lock. This small investment can help you save thousands of dollars in loss this season. It’s an excellent way to not only prevent shoplifting but give would be thieves a nice head ache.
For more information in Alpha security please contact us at 1-770-426-0547.
The winter time might be a joy for people who like the snow, the cold and all of the Holiday shindigs they get to attend. However the colder months pose a different challenge to retailers like you that carry winter jackets and coats. Thieves know that they can count on high dollar leather coats to be on display in your store and they know they can grab them by the half dozen and run out the front door with them. Yes, that’s a problem but the Alpha cable lock can make it a whole lot harder for shoplifters to do it.
Alpha security has developed this enduring product to be extremely versatile and rugged. First, the Alpha Cable lock (properly branded CableLok) is made with two elements of protection in mind. One of the key elements is the actual cable itself. Available in varying sizes from 3.5 inches to 72 inches, the cable portion of the device is made from high strength commercial grade aircraft cable. It’s designed to stand up to shoplifters that try to cut through the cable using typical tools. Should a thief succeed in getting through the cable itself, it will trigger the loud 95dB alarm that’s the heart of the unit. Either way it goes, the Alpha cable lock is one of the best choices to prevent shoplifting of your expensive winter coats and jackets. If the innovative Alpha security cable doesn’t deter them, the extremely loud alarm should be enough of a ‘buzz kill’ not to shoplift.
Another way to prevent shoplifting of your coats and jackets this winter is be sure to merchandise them away from the front of the store. Sometimes, the more blatant thieves (more professional ones) will literally not care whether you have security measures in place of not. If your coats and jackets are too close to the front doors this winter, they won’t have a problem grabbing a half dozen and bolting out the front door with them. Again it won’t matter if you have an Alpha cable lock attached to each of them or not. So, merchandising them in the middle to rear of the store is an optimal deterrent to thieves as well.
I personally recall a time where a store manager actually decided to display her stock of $300 leather winter coats up front, right by the doors. It turns out to be a funny story actually. See, the manager decided that it would be okay for them to merchandise them by the doors because they were using the 72” long Alpha security cable locks. The coats were not only protected themselves but they were attached securely to the display rack themselves! While attaching high value coats and jackets to the displays themselves are a great way to prevent shoplifting, in this case it still didn’t deter a particular thief. One decided that since they didn’t have something strong enough to cut through each Alpha cable lock, they were just going to take the entire rack of coats!
So the entire rack of coats went trailing out the door behind the shoplifter. Yes, winter coats are that hot of an item to thieves. The resale value of a $300 leather coat can still be above the $100 range on the street. Imagine what the shoplifter who stole the entire rack of coats eventually got for their take? Likely over $1,000 depending on where they pawned them off at. When you think about how to merchandise your winter coats this season, just remember that you should consider them in your anti-shoplifting agenda. They are absolutely sought after, especially the leather and popular name brand ones. Place them away from the front of the store and without a doubt; secure them with a good Alpha security measure like an Alpha cable lock. This small investment can help you save thousands of dollars in loss this season. It’s an excellent way to not only prevent shoplifting but give would be thieves a nice head ache.
For more information in Alpha security please contact us at 1-770-426-0547.
