Low-cost Loss Prevention Tips and Suggestions

August 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment

The retail industry loses an approximate $45 billion a year due to shoplifting, organized retail crime, merchant, and clerical errors. For the small retail owner, any loss due to shoplifting puts a financial strain on their ability to do business, hire more personnel or invest and grow their business.

The competition in every industry is brutal, and the retail industry is no different.  The online option the customer has of buying whatever they need or want with the click of a button is especially hard for a small retail owner.  Their inventory and profit margins they’re dealing with are nothing compared to the big-box chains’, and any loss they suffer is particularly painful for their profits.

There are many businesses that cannot afford to invest in new technology to deter or prevent shoplifting, and they are left with the option of losing more cash and inventory or close their doors permanently, all due to this crime. But, if they cannot invest in technology, and they cannot hire more personnel, what are some low-cost options they can implement in their store to deter or prevent shoplifting?

  1. Customer Service

One of the great assets these small retail stores have compared to the big chains or online stores is the customer service they can provide to their customers.  Providing the customer with a greeting when they walk into your store and offering them great customer service has shown to decrease shoplifting and increase customer satisfaction.

A satisfied customer is also more likely to promote your business.  In today’s social network platforms, a bad experience can potentially reach thousands of customers with disastrous backlash for you and your store, but a good experience can also do the same, it can reach many potential customers that want to do business with you.  Treat your customers as a business ambassador for your business, and you will see the results in your profits.

2. Inventory

Keeping a good inventory of what’s selling and the number of items you are missing-whether they were sold or stolen-from the shelves can help you keep an accurate count of the merchandise.

Do you know at a minute’s notice what inventory you have on hand? There are software solutions that help retailers keep track of such matters, and allows them to have reports daily and online to help them make adjustments, order more inventory if necessary, and know at a moment’s notice the state of their inventory.

3. Organization

The design, cleanliness and how well your product displays are kept are important in keeping shoplifting at a minimum.  Well lit aisles, merchandise displayed properly and organized can make the shelves look pretty and the items displayed can allow you and your employees to account for the merchandise with a quick look to the shelves.

4. Diligence

Your employees are your best bet to deter and prevent shoplifting.  Research has shown happy employees are the best asset your company has for success, and in this case to deter and prevent shoplifting.  Salaries are not the only incentive your employees look for when entering a new business, treating them with respect and allowing them the ability to prove and express themselves are key to the success of any business.

Shoplifting affects every citizen and every member of society. The way you respond to a shoplifting accident and the way you treat shoplifters reflect on how you conduct yourself and your business.

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Is There A Real Difference: EAS Tags & Labels?

August 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

You think that you may be scoring a great deal on cheap, knock-off Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) hard tags and labels, however, over time you find that you are missing shoplifters due to poor pick rates or hard tags that are easy to defeat. Why? To make real, quality EAS hard tags and labels it takes more effort and time. The materials and sophistication of the circuit is not something that can be easily done by a slave laborer in some dark factory in a third world nation. The labels we sell are all high-quality EAS labels and tags that are both Sensormatic and Checkpoint Systems compatible.

For example, we see hard tags that can be simply pried apart with a screwdriver. Or labels that fall off when the adhesive dries up. So what standards should you be applying to both EAS labels and hard tags?

LABELS:

  • High-quality labels have a high pick rate (sensitivity) at your EAS system. Our labels have some of the highest pick rates around.
  • Quality control is critical! Not every label manufactured meets the high standards that we set. That’s why Loss Prevention Systems’ labels that do not pass QC are marked. Those labels will probably work but we suggest that you do not use them. However, every roll of our labels has 2000+ labels. How do we do that? See the next point.
  • Better value! Because the QC mark does show up from time to time, we want to make sure that you get at least 2000 labels on a roll. To achieve that target we actually add approximately 2% more labels to each roll. It is rare to have 2% marked labels on a roll and so you end up with more good labels.
  • Aggressive adhesive! When you put our label on your merchandise, it is there to stay. After about an hour the adhesive sets up and that label is not going to fall off.
  • Variety! We stock many sizes and shapes labels that are Sensormatic or Checkpoint Systems compatible. One type of Checkpoint compatible RF label you should check out is our clear label. It can be applied directly over your merchandise barcode and your scanner can scan right through it. This helps disguise the label and it does not cover up vital information such as directions on your merchandise packaging.
  • Our labels will not reactivate after they have been deactivated! When you pass our label over a quality deactivation unit, it kills the label and the label stays dead. It will not reactivate after your customer leaves the Point-Of-Sale (POS) cash register and before your front door. Cheap labels can and will do this in many cases at an alarming rate. This causes an unnecessary alarm that you have to deal with, embarrassing your good customers.
  • Most of our labels are faced with Thermal Transfer (TT) paper. That means you can print on them with your TT printer which you use to print your store pricing labels. This also helps disguise the EAS label.

HARD TAGS:

  • Look at the seams of a hard tag. Are the seams welded together so that they are smooth and cannot be pried apart with a tool? Our hard tags have a tightly welded seam.
  • Snag clothing? Poorly made hard tags can have a rough seam that will snag your clothing merchandise.
  • Our hard tags come in a wide range of unique styles, sizes, and colors.
  • The clutch mechanism in our hard tags grabs the pin and does not let go easily. The best hard tag in the world is useless unless the tag can securely hold the pin.
  • We have some of the smallest hard tags on the market. They can not only be used for protecting many types of jewelry but can be used on any other product that you can clip it onto.

So don’t cut yourself short. You paid for and installed an EAS system; do not let your investment give you an inadequate return because you use cheap labels or tags. Interested in samples of Loss Prevention Systems’ labels and hard tags? Contact us for a free sample pack.

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Influences That Made A Difference In My L.P. Career

August 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

In every career, there are people, places, and things that help to shape who you become in that career. A Retail Loss Prevention career is no different. My career in Loss Prevention goes back nearly 27 years. A long time ago in a department store not far away I was hired as a Loss Prevention Associate with only my military experience and a college degree in hand. I had absolutely no Loss Prevention background. There have been lessons learned along the way that shaped the way I approached Loss Prevention and the way I developed my style of working with people and managing others.

     Coming from a military police background I first approached Loss Prevention with a law enforcement perspective. Unbeknownst to me, a former supervisor of mine from my old unit was working part-time at the store to which I was applying for a job. He saw my application and encouraged the L.P. Manager to hire me. I was trained by this co-worker and the L.P. Manager who also had a military background. We formed a strong team and were very good at catching shoplifters. I learned a lot about identifying suspects and even learned some aspects of investigating an internal crime. What we didn’t do as well I learned later in my career was having a more global outlook on the role of L.P. in the store.

     A little over four and a half years later I found myself hired as a Loss Prevention Manager for another company. Because I was in the same city I brought along my police partnerships, knowledge of the crime in the area and my same perspective. I viewed the work as closely related to police work. It was in this store that I found I had to earn the trust and respect of a Store Manager who had over twenty years of experience with this company. I did not report directly to this manager but rather to a District L.P. Manager who did not get along well with the store manager. I was new to the company, opening a brand new store in a remote market and caught between these two bosses. There were a number of lessons I learned during the tenure of these two. I found there are times you have to learn how to do a delicate balancing act between two managers making demands of you and your team. I learned from the store manager to expect excellence from your team. From the District LPM, I learned to be confident in my interactions.

     After a year a new DLPM took over and from him, I learned that there is more to the L.P. business than saving money. I found out that based on my experience and degree I was hired at a much lower salary than I should have been when I was made a job offer. This new manager went to bat for me and got a mid-year pay increase for me that I had not sought and learned were rarely awarded. While I often disagreed with this supervisor over some of his directions I always respected him for what he did for me though he had only known me a brief time.  Being fair and treating people with respect were valuable takeaways from this manager that I never forgot.

      As the years went by I found my own perspective on what the role of Loss Prevention in stores should be and it changed how I interacted with the others in the store management team. I began to see our department as less a policing department and more of a shortage reduction department. That included the traditional efforts to deter and/or catch shoplifters as well as investigating dishonest employee activity. I also focused on many of the factors that impacted operational shortage, the markdown process, product out of date issues and even employee best practices with freight unloading. As I spent time in other departments I learned more ways to make an impact on overall store shortage.

     Today, my Loss Prevention experiences are used to help me drive sales and deter theft as a retail sales associate. I have carried the management skills into a library supervisor position. I also have the opportunity to provide insights into Loss Prevention and improving sales and how Loss Prevention Systems Inc. can assist businesses in becoming more profitable. As you read this article I would challenge you to look at your own career, whether it is in Loss Prevention or in retail or just in life and reflect on how you have adapted your style and who has influenced your career.

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Seasonal checklist of items to increase sales and/or help with inventory

August 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

  How many times have you caught yourself in a conversation with another manager or a supervisor discussing a seasonal merchandise question or an inventory preparation question and found yourself saying, “I think we did it this way” or “ It seems to me customers were buying such and such last year”? It can be frustrating, especially when the discussion may influence whether an item should be carried or if it was carried the prior year was it a flop? The same thing happens with inventory. Did we start prepping 5 days out? No? Maybe it was 3 days out. Having checklists can make these conversations fewer in number and improve productivity as well as sales performance.

     How do you get those checklists? There has to be a starting point and that is going to be a brainstorming session with the management team. If you have no empirical data saved from the past year you will need to begin anew and then establish a baseline for what information you will collect over the next year. Planning will be easier and you can modify your checklist at next year’s planning meeting making adjustments based on what worked and what didn’t work (you may even call it a “What Worked/What Didn’t Work” session. Begin this season start listing the things you have done to prepare for this year. Here is a short list of some of those things you might consider placing on that list:

  • What seasonal merchandise did you bring in? Sunglasses, coolers, flip-flops, swimwear might be items some of the items you normally would not carry but added to your store in April or May. If you carry groceries you may have added more sports drinks, cold desserts or traditional summer favorites such as watermelon, cantaloupe, corn on the cob, or apples. Maybe you tried some vendor suggested drinks in your front checkout lane coolers. List those items and keep track of your sales for them.
  • Where is your product placement for new/seasonal items? Have you set up new fixtures? Did you have fixtures stored and if so where did you store them? It is important to sketch these things out. If a change in personnel takes place by next year someone should be able to pull out those plans and understand them assuming those plans worked and incorporate them in next year’s checklist.
  • If you have brought in new seasonal merchandise, what did you do to make room for it? Did you relocate other goods to a stockroom? How did you do that and where did you place it? Map out where goods are stored in the stockroom so your team can replicate it next summer.
  • Did you change or extend your hours of operation for the summer to increase sales? If so you need to review the sales data and determine if those extended hours truly helped increase sales. When did you start the hours and when will you resume standard operating times? If extended hours did not make a big difference don’t rule out the strategy until you take a look at how you advertised those time changes. Question results whose outcomes were not what you were hoping to achieve. If you have thoroughly reviewed the strategy and it could not have been improved then discard it. Don’t be afraid to try new things just be honest about results and don’t make excuses if you don’t see the results you expected. Pride can bring down a store quickly.
  • Look at staffing. Did you hire additional summer help and if so, when did you hire them and how many? Prior to deciding to just release them look at your sales information, including dollars per transaction and your total transactions. You may release them this year but keep that information and use it for future planning.

As you and your management team begin strategizing and asking these questions you will find you open doors to more questions that will help drill down further. The more points you can identify the better your checklist will be.

     Once the plans are made, it will be easier to know which numbers you are going to track. You will have documentation that will serve as the blueprints for building a winning strategy that will be a basis for future years. You and your team will find it a less challenging task when it is time to identify and discard losing strategies. Come inventory time or the next summer sales season your store will be ready to roll out a playbook that will make your store a success!

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Make Inventory Preparation Fun For Everyone

August 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

     “It’s INVENTORY time let’s go have FUN!” There’s a phrase you will never hear. Let’s face it anyone who has been through an inventory knows that it is drudgery. Aside from the counting of merchandise, there is all the preparation that leads up to it. If done properly it is time-consuming and tedious. You and your team are standing on ladders looking on top of fixtures, digging through boxes, in cabinets, and behind fixtures for items that have been misplaced. There is also kneeling to look under gondola base decks, cashier stands or under soft drink coolers for that one little piece of merchandise that rolled under there months ago. Then there are the painstaking tasks that need to be completed such as going through merchandise to make sure everything is properly ticketed. Someone should be spending some time contacting vendors with cut-off dates for bringing in a new product or providing credits for merchandise they are removing. Store managers have to make sure all of the tasks are being planned out, assigning who will complete them and follow up on them. ALL of this is BEFORE inventory night even takes place. Oh did I mention you still have to keep your store operating while you get these projects done? No, it really is not a fun prospect and if your employees get grumpy or dirty and dusty while doing these things they may not be thorough in their assignments. Do your inventory overnight and employees get tired and frazzled and you could wind up having more shortage than you should. Finding methods to get your team on board and keeping them fired up requires making inventory fun.

     How do you make inventory fun and interesting for your employees? There is a variety of ideas store managers can introduce to make the process more engaging for their staff.

  • Almost every business has that one person who is creative and let’s face it super-energetic about fun activities. Find that person, make them your inventory “Fun Captain” and cut them loose. You may even give them a small budget to work with so it is more fun for them too and they feel empowered to make decisions. It will be a load off of your plate. Just be sure that there are brief status meetings you two hold so you can help keep things on track. Sometimes these folks can have grandiose ideas that can be tough to reign in if you don’t stay a little involved.
  • FOOD! Everyone loves food and it can pump up the mood of a team. If you have a “Fun Captain”, ask them to come up with a week of food ideas for each day of prep and inventory night. It doesn’t have to be fancy maybe “Doughnut Monday”, “Candy Corn Tuesday”, “Pretzel Wednesday” and so on, you get my drift. Inventory day should be a bit more special. I have seen everything from fruit, coffee, and soda brought in for energy overnights to sub sandwiches and chips. One place I worked for the store manager brought in breakfast foods at the start of the day and pizzas that afternoon. Be creative!
  • Music. I saw one store that did inventory overnight and since there were no customers they played upbeat music over the P.A. system. Someone from that store would occasionally get on the microphone or phone and pretend to be a DJ. It was lively, it didn’t cost anything and the “DJ” was entertaining and funny.
  • Hold contests. Who doesn’t enjoy being part of a contest? It may be giving a prize to the person who can find merchandise stuck in the oddest location. Maybe it is retail trivia questions focused on shortage and safety issues. A correct answer can be rewarded with a “fun-sized” candy bar. You can purchase those bags in any grocery store and if you sell them then requisition a bag.

There are other ideas you or your “Fun Captain” will come up with, the key is to make it enjoyable for your team. Remember, the more engaged your team is and the more they understand why they are preparing for inventory the better the overall results will be when shrinkage numbers come back.

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Preventing Shoplifting The Right Way

July 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment

The laws in the United States concerning shoplifting undergo changes that in some instances put the strain on the retailers and their profit margins.  The shoplifting law changes in 2014, in California, for example, let retailers in the state feel a sense of vulnerability and hopelessness.  They expressed concerns about the fact that the laws allowed individuals to feel empowered to go into a store and shoplift without getting into too much trouble. 

Those losses are not only detrimental to the profit margins of the store but can mean an increase in the number of shoplifters that can enter the store feeling embolden to steal. Such an increase comes with an increase in violence, and retailers are feeling the change. Proposition 47 passed in 2014 that reduce the penalties for many crimes, shoplifting included a law change that has left many retailers feeling vulnerable.

On the other hand, big retailers such as Wal-Mart, Bloomingdales, and Krogers are being sued for extorting customers.  They accuse customers of shoplifting and then charging them money for the “courtesy” of not calling the police. The customers are bullied into paying for an online class by a company called Corrective Education Company and then the company pays Wal-Mart, Bloomingdales, and Krogers a cut of what they are charging these accused customers.  The practice is insidious and wrong according to the legal company carrying the lawsuit, and customers and retailers have to be aware of this insidious and amoral practice.

Shoplifting is a crime, and retailers are arguably upset by the law changes that make it for them more difficult to do business. But, accusing customers that do not have the financial means to hire legal counsel is preying upon the poor and defenseless, and that is morally wrong.

Protecting a business from shoplifters is the responsibility of the owner and the management team, and no one understands the travail the loss prevention team goes through every day when the store opens its door for business. If, as a store owner, you are asking yourself what is a good solution for the prevention of shoplifting, we have to tell you, you have many.

But, one of the most effective solutions you have at your disposal for the prevention of shoplifting in your businesses is training your personnel and management team.  Research has shown time and again that having trained personnel in your store or business decreases your losses thus increasing your profits.

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Stopping Shoplifters Is As Much Attitude As It Is Equipment

June 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

We supply and install the best anti-shoplifting equipment made. Checkpoint Systems is the gold standard of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) equipment. Support is off the chart. Checkpoint Systems has factory Tech’s everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. They have to since the majority of the top retailers in the world are using Checkpoint equipment. These Techs are not sub-contractors. They are skilled EAS, Radio Frequency (RF) experts. As an example, my Sr. Tech Dan is a former Navy Electronics Technician; he worked on highly advanced systems that protect our country.

That’s all good and well but we can install the best equipment using the best people out there but if you do not have the right attitude, you will not have solved your shoplifting problem. You will simply have spent money and felt good about what you purchased but YOUR SHOPLIFTING PROBLEM WILL COME BACK.

You have to instill the right attitude about shoplifting prevention in yourself and your staff. Shoplifters are not afraid of the Checkpoint equipment all by itself. But, they are very afraid of the Checkpoint equipment when it is supported by a trained, knowledgeable staff. The equipment will work. It will notify you when someone tries to steal a protected piece of merchandise. But you have to be on your game long before this happens. Do you know what shoplifters look like? Do you know how to spot them before they steal? You can easily expose a shoplifter in your store with the proper customer service techniques. These skills will not make the shoplifter transparent but will delight your good customers and increase your sales. Good customers love attention, shoplifters hate it.

I believe this so deeply that we at Loss Prevention Systems include free, live shoplifting training as often as you reasonably need it. Staff changes, new manager or supervisor, new employees that are new to retail or your store? Let us train them, free of charge, for the life of your Checkpoint System when you buy it from Loss Prevention Systems.

So you get actual LP training from a former Director of Loss Prevention with over 35 years of experience. FREE!

So if training is the key, why do you still need the Checkpoint System? That is a great question and the answer is simple. The equipment is there to support you when you cannot be everywhere at the same time. Retailers’ biggest expense is labor. If we can keep labor dollars down, we are more profitable. The fact of the matter is that shoplifters seek out and even create situations where they steal when you cannot pay the attention required to spot and deter every shoplifter. By the way, one in ten people that are in your store right now is there to steal from you. That is where the Checkpoint System comes into play. It is working 24/7, does not take breaks, vacations, sick-leave or simply not show up. Checkpoint equipment has a great attitude and is always looking for shoplifters.

Now, what are YOU going to do to change your attitude and start getting the margins from your sales that you deserve? Contact Loss Prevention Systems now and make it happen. Chances are we will actually be able to assist you to begin stopping shoplifters before the system is even delivered and our amazing Techs can install it.

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Good Intentions With Bad Outcomes; Retailers Must Prepare For Increased Violence From Shoplifting Gangs

June 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Actions based on good intentions don’t always have good results. One of the most famous of missteps was the Coca-Cola attempt to improve its formula and market “New” Coke. The idea was well-intentioned but the public reception was cool if not outright hostile. According to the website INVESTOPEDIA, “ “Classic Coke” returned to the shelves less than three months after it had been retired.” In the same article, they point out that in 2008 the manufacturer of Motrin found out that there was a problem with the medicine not dissolving properly. Reportedly they did not want to “incur the associated negative publicity, the firm sent out secret shoppers to buy the products off of store shelves, which resulted in a lawsuit in Oregon in 2011.” (“8 Good Intentions With Bad Outcomes”, Lisa Smith, updated December 15, 2017). Laws can have the same problems of unintended consequences, helping one constituency while hurting another.

In an article in LPM Magazine, “Retail Crime In Los Angeles”, May 1, 2018, An example of a law that was intended to help “reduce prison crowding in California’s overwhelmed prisons and provide treatment rather than jail time to qualifying drug offenders” was Proposition 47. How could such a program go wrong? Who would not benefit from such a law? Apparently, retailers are bearing the burden of unforeseen consequences in this case. According to the article part of Proposition 47 also converted “many non-violent offenses, including shoplifting from felonies to misdemeanors.” The story goes on to say that shoplifting offense under $950 result only in a citation to show up in court. Inevitably career and habitual shoplifters are going to learn what the lines are between a misdemeanor and a felony and they are going to take advantage of those delineations.

It seems that shoplifting has dramatically increased in Los Angeles as criminals have found that it is lucrative for them to engage in the crime with minimal cost if they are caught. The ramifications that are being felt include increased monetary losses for retailers due to theft-related shrink. Worse, the story states that violent behavior from shoplifters is seemingly on the rise. Danger has always been a concern for retailers and especially Loss Prevention professionals when stopping a shoplifter(s). Now that potentially violent criminals have been released because of the reclassification of certain crimes the stakes are higher. The story points out that gangs are becoming more active in shoplifting. As mentioned criminals are quick to learn and they learn rapidly when penalties for a crime become less severe.

Violence in shoplifting cases is becoming more pronounced and not simply in Los Angeles. A story on ketv.com by the reporter, Michelle Bandur, Dec. 20, 2017, referenced a group of women boosting merchandise from retailers in the Omaha area. Detective Galloway interviewed in the report, “said they don’t avoid confrontation and may resort to violence.” He said they have received reports that these women will, “… load bags in front of employees and sometimes I’ve been told by employees they will taunt them.” He went on to describe incidents of the members of the group knocking people to the floor. They have attempted to run over others in a parking lot if they noticed a person trying to take a picture of their license plate. These incidents support data from the National Retail Federation 2017 Organized Retail Crime Survey. According to the survey, 98.5% of responding retailers reported “ORC (Organized Retail Crime) gangs are just as aggressive or more aggressive and violent when compared with last year. 26.5% said that gangs are much more aggressive than in the previous year (pg. 10). If these numbers from the NRF Survey are true, when coupled with Proposition 47 retailers in L.A. may be in for some very rocky times in years to come.

Retailer owners must become familiar with methods to prevent shoplifting without endangering employees in the process. Tried and true methods such as aggressive customer service may not be effective deterrents any longer. Adjustments by Managers may include carefully reviewing hours of operation and not staying open as late at night. If cameras are not in place owners may want to install them to have quality video and pictures for police in case of a serious incident. Starting a Retail Crime Prevention organization in partnership with local police can help identify theft trends and organized and violent persons. Finally, retail theft prevention training from Loss Prevention Systems Inc. can provide more information on how to stop theft and keep your employees safe from harm.

Prop. 47 may have been well-intentioned but it has opened up a Pandora’s Box of problems for California retailers.  Through proper training, owners and managers can position store teams to be ready for security and safety issues now and in the future.

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Inventory Software

June 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Inventory in a retail store can offer the management and the loss prevention team a clear picture of whether their efforts are working or they need to modify something entirely different. 

After a busy day or during the holidays, inventory plays a very important role in your store.  A visual inventory can give you only a glimpse of what is happening, but a true inventory can offer you a real picture, even if it’s more expensive for your store. 

There are many software programs that can aid you with the inventory of your store, and even if that becomes a little costly for you, it will pay to know what’s selling, what is not, and what is being stolen.

A software program will aid you by tracking packages that are being delivered, on transit, items which expiration dates are approaching, and items that are selling well and need to be re-stocked. An inventory software program can help you make decisions that otherwise could take weeks to put in place.  What items to display, or put on sale, which items to have discounted and which items are selling so well you need to put an order in place.

A simple Google search can deliver a list of the most promising software inventory programs that can help you.  Those programs can offer an array of features you may not even know you need, and the companies selling those software programs can offer you pricing for you to compare other programs and their features. Do you know an owner of a retail store that is using a software program? Have you asked them how they like it? If you know someone that is already using an inventory software program, you are in luck.  It can save you time and perhaps money when you decide you are ready to purchase one yourself.

There are many small business owners that own a retail store that has many issues they do not know how to solve. Starting with problems with personnel, management, and loss prevention techniques, the issues can be many and varied.

Address those issues before you buy any software programs to help you with the inventory of your store. What are some of the strength and weaknesses you need to address with the personnel of your store? Is the management team coordinating with the loss prevention team? Is there a loss prevention team? Are they addressing the issues or just pushing them aside for other people to tackle? Not all problems can be solved by buying software or by hiring more employees.  There are many problems that can be solved by being vigilant and by addressing those problems without hesitation. A software program can help, but that is only one key aspect of running a store.

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A Checkpoint System Is Now More Important Than Ever

May 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Shoplifters seem to be getting bolder than ever. Much of this is greed. Many people simply want stuff and have no moral compass. Others are emboldened by lax law enforcement or Politicians that pass laws that do little to protect you. Whatever the case be, it has a negative impact on Retailers. We are expected to open our stores, compete, pay employees, pay expenses, taxes…. And make a profit. Shoplifting theft is yet another pressure on us.

The key to stopping shoplifting is prevention! You have to keep the losses from occurring. Once the shoplifter has stolen merchandise, even if you catch them, you lose money in labor, unsellable merchandise, sales and the like. This is where a Checkpoint System shines. This is high-quality commercial grade equipment that works 24/7. However, like anything else, you must get as much value out of any equipment you have. A piece of equipment that can pull double and triple duty for the same investment brings a better return on investment. Consider what Loss Prevention Systems offers.

First, when our customers purchase a system from us, they get FREE anti-shoplifting training for the life of the system. This is live training by a Loss Prevention professional as often as you reasonably need it. I actually spend a fraction of that time on the Checkpoint System itself. Most of the time is spent teaching you and your staff how to detect and dissuade shoplifters from even entering your store. You can actually have fun with shoplifters. Drive them crazy and they will get frustrated and simply leave you alone.

Next, there is a whole world of new innovations in the Checkpoint Systems line. People/Customer counting is one. Your system can count customer traffic. You then receive a weekly report that details your traffic by the hour of the day, day or the week. This data can be merged into your sales data to give you a more complete picture. Customers use this data to help with decisions on staffing levels, open/close times and more. The system will also report on the Checkpoint System alarms. How and when they occur. This further feeds into your decisions about staffing levels. You may say that my cash register tells me traffic. Not so, as not every customer that comes into your store makes a purchase. Why is that? Possibly because you do not have enough staff on at the times when you really need it.

How about remote control of your Checkpoint System from your mobile device while inside your store? This feature notifies you of alarms, maintenance issues, and real-time stats. You can be in your office, stock room or anywhere in your store and the system will notify you of an alarm. Immediately. This also gives you control of the system itself. Checkpoints systems are already ECO-friendly in their power consumption. But you can set up a schedule that tells your system to power down during the hours you are closed. Over a year that money adds up.

Marketing? Our systems have AD Panel capability either built-in or as an add-on. The antennas are there at the front door anyway, why not have them greet your customers with signage that you can change out as often as you wish. Promote an item, a sale, a special or simply say “welcome”. Print whatever you want and slide it into the clear acrylic frame. Now you get double duty without taking up any more floor space.

How about control of items you do not want to leave the store under any circumstances? Key rings, customer hand baskets, notebooks, documents, tools, equipment or supplies. Simply put a tag or label on them.

Contact Loss Prevention Systems today and we will help set you on the path to higher profits!

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