When I was a Loss Prevention Officer many years ago for a department store we carried a lot of high ticket merchandise, clothing, china, shoes, even candy. We were using retail anti-theft devices sparingly and only on some of our clothing. Those were mainly hard tags designed to prevent shoplifting through deterrence and alarm activations when would-be thieves would try to sneak tagged items out of the store. There was hesitation to use the tags on items made of silk or leather out of concern for the material. This made it difficult for my Loss Prevention Manager and me to protect special shipments of leather coats we would get from time to time. The store manager wanted them displayed but did not want to risk “damaging” leather with a hole from the pin that clipped the tag to the jacket. At the same time he also wanted people to try on coats to see if they liked them and to encourage sales. Talk about a task! That didn’t leave many options so my boss had a special fixture ordered that consisted of wire strands that looped into an alarm box on the fixture. If someone pulled a coat off and tried to run with it the idea was that the fixture alarm would sound. That was great as long as we regularly checked the 9 volt batteries to be sure they weren’t dying on us. It also required a sales associate to unlock the fixture, turn off the alarm and get a jacket off for a customer to try on. It was a barrel of laughs when two or more people wanted to try on coats. Try monitoring that! Oh, and the alarm was off while the coats were being tried on. Granted we did not have many alternatives back then but today the Alpha Cable Lock would be a super choice to use on leather coats.
An Alpha Cable Lock comes in several sizes a retailer can choose from to prevent shoplifting. There are small sizes that are outstanding to use on purses, wallets, shoes, backpacks, etc. Larger sizes are available to be used on bicycles, infant strollers, and yes, leather coats. The locks have a built in LED light that flashes and let’s bad guys know the merchandise is protected and that deters theft. The locks also have a tamper alarm that sounds if the retail anti-theft device is tampered with in the store and workers can respond and find out what the commotion is about. You can believe me when I tell you it is a commotion when that alarm sounds! These locks also have electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology in them that sets off EAS towers set up at a store entrance and exit. Should a criminal decide they want to attempt to walk out with any merchandise protected with a lock the tower alarm would be set off. As with the tamper alarm employees will be alerted by the sound and respond to the door to stop a theft.
You may be wondering in our situation why wasn’t an associate required to allow just one customer at a time to try on a leather coat and then re-arm the fixture? Couldn’t the other customers wait until it was their turn? We did want the fixtures to be re-armed but the reality was and is in any store, when there is more than just the one customer and you are trying to do your best to help you don’t always think things through. Could more employees have helped? Anyone who has worked in retail knows there are moments when there aren’t enough people to cover every place they are needed. Sometimes we feel like we are putting out one fire and the next one pops up. The beauty of the Alpha Cable Lock is that is removes the requirement for an employee to stand by while a customer tries on an item. The cable allows enough room for freedom of movement to try on a coat or jacket while providing optimal security should someone attempt to sneak out of the store with merchandise that has one of these retail anti-theft devices on.
Did we lose any leather coats? Yes unfortunately even with the “alarm” fixture we didn’t have 100% procedure compliance by all of our associates. Of course that never looks good at inventory time. Make sure you give your customers access to merchandise while you prevent shoplifting and guard your goods with EAS security. Use Alpha Cable Locks and Let your employees focus their attention on the customers that truly need assistance. See what Alpha Security can do for your bottom line.
Get more information on Alpha Cable Lock, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.