Nov 2006 Shoplifting Alerts

Att: Store Owner/Manager

*CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHT WARNING: It is the time of year when the stores start to decorate with blinking or small strings of lights. If your security system is not on a dedicated line (directly back to a breaker – the ONLY thing on that breaker), you may have difficulties with Christmas tree lights. Your system will respond in one of two ways: FALSE ALARM OR NOT ALARM AT ALL. Again, another good reason to test the system everyday to see that new things in the environment have not affected the security of your products. Look for a series of outlets that are not on the same breaker as the system to plug your Christmas lights into. Do not have any extension cords attached to your system. If you need a longer cord we will gladly wire one up for you so that your system works at its best to protect your valuable inventory.

*SPECIAL INK TAG OFFER EXTENDED: We have had such an excellent response from our offer of .25 ink tag pins to be used instead of regular pins in your security tags to protect high theft items, that we have decided to extend this offer through the end of November. Thanks for reading the alerts and letting us know you appreciate all the good ideas. If you have a suggestion please do not hesitate to let us know for future alerts.

*EYEGLASS TAG WARNING: We have had a call to alert us that some of the eyeglasses with a black shinny surface may be affected by the foam used to snug up the eyeglass tags that are hard plastic. When left for more than a month they seem to dull or even remove part of the finish. We recommend you consider on this type finish using a small piece of paper or cloth to cover the foam. If you need additional foam to make the tags tighter you can acquire it at any office supply store. It is the foam type tape with the removable sticky backing. You can easily cut it with scissors and replace lost or worn foam or add more to secure a difficult pair of glasses. We have 2 new styles of eyeglass disposable tags as well if you are having problems securing the newer style glasses that have a very wide frame at the temple. Again just call for free samples. 800-934-7080

*VISA MASTERCARD SPECIALS: It has been shown that you can increase your sales some 12-15% by placing stickers on the dressing room mirrors that you accept credit cards. The decision to buy is not made at the front door but in the dressing room. You can get free stickers by ordering them through your credit card company. They even have some you can put on the doors and in the parking lot now. Following up with this idea of saving you money, security system orders with tags (a complete system) can qualify for free freight if purchased with a visa/MasterCard or check by phone, thanks to a new merchant offer we have.

*REFERRAL BONUS: Refer a customer that buys a system to us and you will receive a $100 credit toward merchandise for your store. Spread the cheer and help a friend protect their valuable merchandise this busy holiday season.

*NEW INVISIBLE SYSTEMS: Some malls are making it harder for stores to secure their products by not allowing the normal security towers. These upper scale malls will however usually allow the new banner system (looks like a store sales banner but is a security system) or the invisible system for glass doors (a security system made with a film that goes onto glass business doors). For more info on these systems please visit our site www.sensortags.com and click on upper left block (retail security towers) then scroll down. Call for a free quote 800-934-7080

*Thanksgiving is around the corner and your stores will be very busy. It is a common trick for shoplifters to work in pairs. One will distract the cashier with conversation while the other gathers items and places them in a strategic spot to be shoplifted all at the same time. Sometimes a third person will come and pick up the pile of goods, hide them in a coat and walk out of the store. For peace of mind here is what you can do: 

1. Test your Doorway Security System daily to be sure it is functioning. (have the opening personnel keep a record of this).

2. Post stop shoplifting signs or decals in appropriate places such as entrance, corners that are hard to see from the cash register & dressing rooms. See our page on the web to give you ideas of how you can make these yourself on your computer for FREE. Suggestions of some signs we have seen are posted at:

3. Caulk around mirrors in dressing rooms to keep thieves from shoving tags and labels behind the mirrors. Also check under the seat in the dressing room for sticky tags. Dressing room seats should be laminated or wood not cushions. Cushions will get holes cut in them and tags stuffed inside or underneath. Watch for empty hangers on racks and have personnel report them.

4. Watch people entering with large bags or baby strollers. Maybe consider a policy of putting packages from other stores in a certain area behind your counter while they are shopping. A lot of the college book stores make you leave your backpack in a locker outside the store. If you have a radio frequency system (checkpoint type), booster bags (foil lined bags) can block the signal of the tags. If you have an acustomagnetic (sensormatic ultramax) system, stratrigically placed magnets can kill the tags. A professional will be able to over-ride any system, but the majority of shoplifters are not professionals and are just taking advantage of the moment when your back is turned. Having your items tagged and towers at the door will usually be enough to deter them. A good trick is to have store clerks ring the system when they suspect shoplifters are in the store, to make them aware that it does work. This is easily done by pretending to re-arrange a rack next to the door and getting a hangered garment too close to the system. This is a trick we learned from a Plato’s Closet in Indiana.

5. If you are having problems with items that can not be secured with regular hard tags (boxed & gift items, shoes & handbags), consider ordering some lanyards to loop around the item which then pins into your security tag. Call us toll free if you would like a sample of the various lanyards we carry. 800-934-7080 Also, one time use disposable labels are good for this.

Shoplifting Alerts is a FREE Service delivered to you once a month by fax &/or email (your preference) as subscribed to at sensor.com or received if you are a client of security outlet inc. We appreciate your business and will gladly remove or change your subscription as needed. If you need removed from the fax list or would like to change your subscription to email just fax us a note with the fax number to be removed or the email to add at 812-298-9442. If you have received this as an email please forward it back to mary@sensortags.com (do not hit reply), with a note in the subject line “remove” or “change” as needed. This is a monthly publication and any change notifications received will be updated for next months issue.