Alpha Keepers-5 WC Blog 173
Prevent Shoplifting-3
Using Alpha Keepers To Their Fullest Potential Promotes Sales And Customer Service
I admire business owners who take a risk and open a small retail store or a small chain of stores. Having spent twenty-six years in retail I have a love for the business and a desire to see people succeed. Much of the advice I can give is from first-hand experience working with retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting. As I former retail Security Officer, Retail Loss Prevention Manager and Logistics Manager, I have seen the things that are successful to grow a business. One of those things is the use of Alpha Keepers to protect merchandise and still make them available to customers.
Alpha Keepers are hard, solid, clear plastic boxes that allow retailers to secure product while keeping it available for customers to handle. The boxes are built to activate Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) alarms if carried through an EAS antenna. Merchandise is placed in the box and the hinged door of the box is locked and can only be opened by a detachment key at a point of sale or a handheld key carried by an associate.
Sometimes the cases are not used to their fullest advantage. Take for example the retail store I currently work for. We carry products that we do place in Alpha Keepers, such as some ink cartridges, most jump drives, and the majority of SD cards. On the other hand we also carry external computer hard drives we do not place in keepers. Instead, the store has cardboard pictures of the hard drives in the box, but no actual units. The hard drives are maintained in a locked stockroom, and can only be retrieved by someone with a key. Frequently customers want to purchase a hard drive and if the associate providing assistance does not have the set of keys for the stockroom, a call has to be made for further assistance.
We pride ourselves on providing great customer service, but it could be improved if we allowed the Alpha Keepers to work as intended. The purpose of the anti-theft devices is to prevent shoplifting while still giving customers access to merchandise. The Keepers allow the customers to read details on the item to be purchases, see actual size and also read warning labels. I have assisted a number of patrons who had very specific questions about a hard drive they were looking at and the only way to answer the question was to read the information printed on the box. For example, one question I am asked is, “Does this come with a USB cable?” I have to look for the information on the box. The problem is that the information is not on the card inside the Keeper and my handheld portable scanner does not give me all the information on the item needed to answer the question. I have to get into the stockroom, find the merchandise and then look at the box for the information. If the merchandise were in the Keepers there would be no need for the extra trip to the stockroom and further delay for the customer.
One of the things we strive to do in our store is close a sale by getting merchandise into the hands of the customer. This helps to overcome any objections customers may have to making a purchase. Getting merchandise out of lock-up cases and into Alpha Keepers is a great way to put the merchandise in the customer’s hands while promoting customer service and preventing shoplifting. This is a win for retailers all the way around.
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
I admire business owners who take a risk and open a small retail store or a small chain of stores. Having spent twenty-six years in retail I have a love for the business and a desire to see people succeed. Much of the advice I can give is from first-hand experience working with retail anti-theft devices to prevent shoplifting. As I former retail Security Officer, Retail Loss Prevention Manager and Logistics Manager, I have seen the things that are successful to grow a business. One of those things is the use of Alpha Keepers to protect merchandise and still make them available to customers.
Alpha Keepers are hard, solid, clear plastic boxes that allow retailers to secure product while keeping it available for customers to handle. The boxes are built to activate Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) alarms if carried through an EAS antenna. Merchandise is placed in the box and the hinged door of the box is locked and can only be opened by a detachment key at a point of sale or a handheld key carried by an associate.
Sometimes the cases are not used to their fullest advantage. Take for example the retail store I currently work for. We carry products that we do place in Alpha Keepers, such as some ink cartridges, most jump drives, and the majority of SD cards. On the other hand we also carry external computer hard drives we do not place in keepers. Instead, the store has cardboard pictures of the hard drives in the box, but no actual units. The hard drives are maintained in a locked stockroom, and can only be retrieved by someone with a key. Frequently customers want to purchase a hard drive and if the associate providing assistance does not have the set of keys for the stockroom, a call has to be made for further assistance.
We pride ourselves on providing great customer service, but it could be improved if we allowed the Alpha Keepers to work as intended. The purpose of the anti-theft devices is to prevent shoplifting while still giving customers access to merchandise. The Keepers allow the customers to read details on the item to be purchases, see actual size and also read warning labels. I have assisted a number of patrons who had very specific questions about a hard drive they were looking at and the only way to answer the question was to read the information printed on the box. For example, one question I am asked is, “Does this come with a USB cable?” I have to look for the information on the box. The problem is that the information is not on the card inside the Keeper and my handheld portable scanner does not give me all the information on the item needed to answer the question. I have to get into the stockroom, find the merchandise and then look at the box for the information. If the merchandise were in the Keepers there would be no need for the extra trip to the stockroom and further delay for the customer.
One of the things we strive to do in our store is close a sale by getting merchandise into the hands of the customer. This helps to overcome any objections customers may have to making a purchase. Getting merchandise out of lock-up cases and into Alpha Keepers is a great way to put the merchandise in the customer’s hands while promoting customer service and preventing shoplifting. This is a win for retailers all the way around.
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
