An honest, hard working business man believed in giving the best possible service to his customers. The prices were good, plus the work environment was exceptional for his employees. After almost thirty years in retail he was close to closing up for good. The losses had snowballed over the last several years. He understood that shoplifters were pushing him out of business. There were no conscience people with no regard for the good he was doing in the community. As a final resort, the business man started an Electronic Article Surveillance initiative.
The sin of stealing from stores is an ancient evil that will not go away. It creates stress for owners, associates, and soon the customers who pay inflated prices because of this evil. With the big holiday selling season around the corner, shoplifting looms as a greater concern.
Electronic Article Surveillance, or EAS, is a system that identifies products, usually with a tag. There is a portal at the exits of the store. If the tagged item passes through this portal the alarm will sound. The alarm can either be a buzzer or siren that sounds. It can even be a programmed voice saying, stop you have activated the store security system. Please wait until an associate can assist you.
There are usually two types of tags that can be used. One is an EAS tag that is attached to the product. This has to physically removed before the product can be taken from the store. There are also disposable paper tags that can be deactivated by the scanning process. In any event, without removal or deactivation a customer cannot take the product from the store without the alarm sounding.
Huge opportunities retailers face with this system are false alarms. The associate could have forgotten to deactivate or remove the tag during the checkout process. Or it is possible that the portal needs servicing. A paying customer activates the alarm, slightly deteriorating a favorable buying experience. If this persists, the alarm will be viewed as a boy which cried wolf. Everyone, thieves and paying customers, could be given a free pass to go on past the system. This inevitably creates dual losses. The expense of the system continues along with the cost of the shoplifted goods.
The system works, but it needs to be maintained properly. Before a store opens, the system needs to be taken through a preventive maintenance procedure. If the store is open around the clock, the procedure needs to be executed when the customer volume is lowest.
All employees need to be properly trained. Expectations should be absolutely firm and clear. Employees should take extra care by making sure all tags are removed or deactivated. Store employees are always the core of any system that prevents theft.
The hard working businessman received great results from the Electronic Article Surveillance unit. In a year the store was turned around. Profits began to flow again. With his continued levels of quality and service it seems he would be around for years to come. He stayed in business because he got tough on shoplifting.
The sin of stealing from stores is an ancient evil that will not go away. It creates stress for owners, associates, and soon the customers who pay inflated prices because of this evil. With the big holiday selling season around the corner, shoplifting looms as a greater concern.
Electronic Article Surveillance, or EAS, is a system that identifies products, usually with a tag. There is a portal at the exits of the store. If the tagged item passes through this portal the alarm will sound. The alarm can either be a buzzer or siren that sounds. It can even be a programmed voice saying, stop you have activated the store security system. Please wait until an associate can assist you.
There are usually two types of tags that can be used. One is an EAS tag that is attached to the product. This has to physically removed before the product can be taken from the store. There are also disposable paper tags that can be deactivated by the scanning process. In any event, without removal or deactivation a customer cannot take the product from the store without the alarm sounding.
Huge opportunities retailers face with this system are false alarms. The associate could have forgotten to deactivate or remove the tag during the checkout process. Or it is possible that the portal needs servicing. A paying customer activates the alarm, slightly deteriorating a favorable buying experience. If this persists, the alarm will be viewed as a boy which cried wolf. Everyone, thieves and paying customers, could be given a free pass to go on past the system. This inevitably creates dual losses. The expense of the system continues along with the cost of the shoplifted goods.
The system works, but it needs to be maintained properly. Before a store opens, the system needs to be taken through a preventive maintenance procedure. If the store is open around the clock, the procedure needs to be executed when the customer volume is lowest.
All employees need to be properly trained. Expectations should be absolutely firm and clear. Employees should take extra care by making sure all tags are removed or deactivated. Store employees are always the core of any system that prevents theft.
The hard working businessman received great results from the Electronic Article Surveillance unit. In a year the store was turned around. Profits began to flow again. With his continued levels of quality and service it seems he would be around for years to come. He stayed in business because he got tough on shoplifting.
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