Loss Prevention

If you lose your product through shoplifting or employee theft or a combination of the two having your merchandise stolen will sharply cut into your profit and not make your day. American Retail Supply is dedicated to helping you to Sell more, lose less, and protect your investment.

The three major parts of an Electronic Article Security system, and how they function in a retail enviroment. 

Loss Prevention, like most challenges in running your store, is a constant battle.   Keep this in mind when choosing an EAS system for your store. The two major brands in EAS are Sensormatic for AM and Checkpoint for RF. Checkpoint and Sensormatic both invest in research and development (R & D) to help fight things like shoplifting bags, "front carry" (a way to defeat many EAS systems) and other methods that shoplifters are using to get around EAS systems. The majority of the off-brand systems do not make these investments, so they are more easily defeated.  Another problem with off-brand systems is they tend to go off without cause, and this can be insulting to good paying customers and frustrating for your employees. Too many false alarms and the system will either be turned off or ignored, neither of which is good for business.

Over the next several Loss Prevention Newsletters I will discuss Electronic Article Surveillance aka EAS. EAS is a highly effective method of reducing shoplifting and increasing profit. EAS is a technological method for preventing shoplifting from retail stores. Special tags are fixed to commonly stolen items. These tags are removed or deactivated by the clerks when the products are purchased.

DIY = Bad Outcome

With the advent of YouTube, many people are attempting to do all sorts of things. A YouTube search of “DIY tooth removal” came up with over 900,000 hits, YIKES! Sure money could be saved pulling my teeth, but something tells me that is not a wise way to save money. While DIY EAS may not be as physically painful as tooth extraction, it could be excruciating if decreasing theft and increasing customer satisfaction is your goal. Having highly trained EAS technicians in your store makes it easy for you to maintain installs, updates and even training your staff which is all a key point to a functional and effective system that will reduce theft.

Loss Prevention, like most challenges in running your store, is a constant battle. In other words, the fun never ends. Keep this in mind when choosing an EAS system for your store. The two major brands in EAS are Sensormatic for AM and Checkpoint for RF. Checkpoint and Sensormatic both invest in research and development (R & D) to help fight things like shoplifting bags, "front carry" (a way to defeat many EAS systems) and other methods that shoplifters are using to get around EAS. The majority of the off-brand systems do not make these investments, so they are more easily defeated. Another problem with these off-brand systems is they tend to alarm when they should not be alarming, and this can be insulting to good paying customers and frustrating for your employees.

 My Top Five Ways to Reduce Shoplifting in Your Store

5. KEEP YOUR STORE CLEAN; WELL ORGANIZED and AVOID FIXTURES THAT YOUR BLOCK VIEW A clean, well-lit and well-organized store will tell the shoplifter that you pay attention to detail and pay attention to them! Avoid fixtures that block the view, if you use gondola shelving, I suggest no more than 46” tall

Here is our top five countdown on how to reduce shoplifting in your store.

I would love to hear from you on what your store does to decrease either internal or external theft. If you reply to these loss prevention newsletters with an idea or example you will get $5.00 off an order of any size. One coupon per customer, please.

Employee theft accounts approximately 1/3rd of all loss in a typical retail store according to the NRTA and other sources. While employers like to believe that their employees are honest, employee theft is a huge problem. There is no logical reason to conclude that employee theft is not a problem at your store.