Holiday season 2020

This year’s holiday season is expected to be different from the norm, with consumers remaining cautious about social distancing in the wake of Covid-19.

The National Retail Federation notes that means making predictions about forecast holiday shopping trends and spending is more challenging than normal, but an uptick in spending and retail foot traffic is expected.

With that welcome rise in traffic comes the increased risk of shoplifting. In previous years data has indicated almost half of all US retail theft (46 per cent) occurs in winter, while the Global Retail Theft Barometer notes 81 per cent of that is during the holiday period.

Who is shoplifting?

The combination of busy stores, busy staff, and additional products on display means the holiday retail period attracts both opportunistic shoplifters and those involved in Organized Retail Crime.

Importantly, this theft can be easier for the perpetrator to justify because they either feel it’s an item they need or because stores appear to be making a profit and the sale won’t be missed.

Together, this means retailers need to be on their game in the lead-up to the holiday shopping period, which spans the six weeks prior to Christmas.

So, here’s is a list of the most commonly stolen items and the best protection methods.

Top 10 stolen items

1. Electronics accessories

Whether it’s the latest earbuds, chargers, or a phone case, electronics accessories are frequently targeted due to their small size and appeal as a Christmas present.

They also tend to be sold and displayed in high volumes in stores where the sales associate’s watchful gaze is more likely to be guarding the high-value electronics they come with.

Protecting electronics accessories

Electronics accessories can be protected in a number of ways, including security labels, stop locks, or lockable displays which showcase the accessory behind glass. They can also be secured to the electronic gadget they come with as part of an engaging display.

 

2. Leather clothing

Frequently shoplifted leather clothing ranges from jackets to footwear and caps, but these items are often sought after due to their appeal as both a present and their high resale value on the black market.

Protecting leather clothing

Leather clothing is best protected using EAS security tags with a lanyard or cable that secures the tag to the product. The lanyard or cable avoids the need for the tag pin to pass through the item.

 

3. Electronics

Electronics, like cell phones, tablets, laptops and gaming devices, consistently rank on most consumer’s gift list, while their resale value is also high. That means they are targeted by both organized crime rings and opportunistic shoplifters.

Protecting electronics

The challenge with electronics such as smartphones is that legitimate customers often seek to engage with them prior to purchase. These items are best protected through lockable displays where the device is tethered to a countertop, while additional stock is secured in locked cabinets or drawers.

 

4. Accessories

Spanning a whole gamut of products – from sunglasses to costume jewellery, scarves and more- accessories tend to be easy to steal because of their size and the volume of items on display.

Protecting accessories

The loss prevention method used depends on the type of accessory. Sunglasses can be protected using optical tags, jewelry is protected by a lockable display for high-value items and security labels for low-value products, while scarves might best be protected using clothing security tags.

 

5. Winter clothing

When it comes to shoplifting, winter clothing is frequently stolen by concealing it underneath other garments. That said, it is one of the easiest items to protect.

Protecting winter clothing

Fashion security tags should be deployed on all winter clothing, while retailers should also turn their attention to security in the fitting room, utilising additional EAS tools like the Apparel Guard.

 

6. Meat and seafood

Meat and seafood are of course celebratory food staples throughout the holiday period, and they can be a target of theft by opportune shoplifters looking to save money where possible.

Protecting meat and seafood

Purpose designed food grade tags are available for packaged meats and seafood, while CCTV can assist, along with positioning these items where staff can oversee them.

 

7. Liquor

Liquor is a common target throughout the year, but the festive nature of the holiday season sees theft of alcohol spike.

Protecting Liquor

Top shelf liquor should be protected with purpose-designed liquor security tags, while high volume liquor can be protected by labels.

 

8. Perfume and cologne

Small, often valuable and a popular present, perfumes and cologne are also frequently stolen items, while their resale value also makes them a target for organized crime.

Protecting perfume and cologne

High-value perfumes are generally secured in lockable glass cabinets with only testers on display. Lower value, high volume fragrances are best protected with security labels.

 

9. Children’s toys

It’s hardly surprising to find children’s toys on the shoplifting hit list at Christmas, but protection strategies vary depending on their size, shape and value.

Protecting children’s toys

High value boxed toys can be protected by spider wraps and tags, lower value items are protected with labels, while plush toys of high value can be secured using apparel tags.

 

10. Chocolate

Like liquor, meat and seafood, chocolate is a staple of the festive season and it’s frequently shoplifted as a result.

Protecting chocolate

As chocolate is considered a grocery item of high volume, labels are the loss prevention method of choice.

 

You can order your security tags to protect frequently stolen items this holiday season here, and security labels here.

Meanwhile, our holiday loss prevention checklist is available here.

Loss prevention in the right places

Protecting a store against shoplifting, organized retail crime, and employee theft is all about ensuring the right security in the right places, and often that involves a multi-layered approach.

Items should be protected at a product-based level through tools such as electronic article surveillance including security tags and labels, while the whole store should be guarded by CCTV, staff training, good layout, and perhaps even loss prevention personnel.

The key here is to maintain a balance that treads a fine line between protecting products and the retail outlet while still enticing customers in.

That means the right security in the right places, and it involves factoring in the level of security that a reasonable customer would expect to find in a particular store.

In department stores and electronics outlets for example, you might expect to see a security guard at the door. In your average apparel outlet, that could prove overkill and actually deter patrons from entering.

In some stores where theft is a persistent problem, obvious CCTV might be required to deter shoplifting, but in others, the approach to surveillance would need to be more subtle.

Meanwhile, there are additional security options that allow you to protect products without a display of obvious security.

Subtle yet secure

Recent innovations in the world of electronic article surveillance (EAS) allow the antennas that guard the store to be concealed within the doorway, under the floor, or even overhead.

In boutique stores, upmarket retailers and even department stores, this seamless entryway helps create a warm, welcoming environment which entices the customer in.

Rather than being evident and obvious, the entryway is kept clear and can be designed to really cater to the customer experience.

In the interim, concealed EAS still allows labels and tags to be monitored, protecting products against shoplifting and theft.

In addition, there are also new EAS tools available for the fitting room. These notify staff when a tag is being tampered with in the private environment of the change room, or when a product is being concealed beneath the patron’s clothing or in booster bags.

The right tag or security label for the right job

As effective as security tags and labels are at protecting products, there is such a thing as security overkill, where the tag or label is too cumbersome, large or distracting to effectively protect the product and instead deters customers from actually interacting with it.

That’s why it’s important to source the right security label or tag for the job at hand.

As a quick rule of thumb:

• Apparel is best protected by tags which should be positioned so as not to interfere when customers try on clothing

• High-value accessories like handbags and brand label sports shoes are best protected with cables or lanyards and tags

• High-value eyewear and sunglasses should be protected by specific optical tags

• High-value liquor can be protected with bottle top tags

• High volume, low-value products like pharmaceuticals, books, DVDs, games and perfumes are best protected by labels, as are non-perishable groceries and small hardware products.

The above is just a brief guide, however, and you can learn more about selecting the right tag or label for the job at hand here.

Cabinets and displays

For commonly targeted items including electronics like tablets, computers, and cell phones, secure displays are the ideal choice.

These displays allow the item to be accessible to the consumer, yet protect the product against theft. They also help entice the customer in to experience the product and allow for interaction, playing to the ‘touch, feel and experience’ strength of real-world retail.

Meanwhile, additional products can be secured in lockable cabinets or glass displays, but the key here is to ensure they can quickly be accessed by staff to serve the customer.

Smart keys which can be allocated to a staff member and programmed to open multiple cabinets in their section are recommended to streamline this process.

The final word

Loss prevention is always a balance, but this year creating an appealing retail environment matters more than ever before.

You can order your security tags and labels with is directly, or see our holiday security checklist here.

This year retailers could be forgiven if the holidays were the furthest thing from their mind, but in 12 short weeks, it will officially be Christmas.

Although holiday shopping may look a little different to years gone by, like any other year the lead-up is likely to result in increased foot traffic and increased shoplifting.

So as retailers order products and ready to stock their shelves now is also the time to turn their attention to the electronic article surveillance system protecting their products to ensure it’s ready for the retail rush.

Here is our pre-holiday checklist for EAS.

EAS antenna and infrastructure

Like any piece of technology, the EAS antenna that guards the store requires regular servicing. Now’s the time to ensure the system is working as it should, that false alarms are minimised, and your staff know how to use the system properly.

It could be time to call in the technician if your antenna is regularly sounding false alarms (the sensitivity might be too high) or the system is failing to identify tags in its vicinity.

Meanwhile, as part of general store operations, staff should perform a daily test of the system based on the manufacturer’s instructions prior to opening the retail outlet each morning.

In addition, EAS antenna has an exclusion zone of around three feet around them. This zone should be kept free of displays, products, and even metal or foil decorations to eliminate false alarms. Ensure staff are educated about this.

Checklist

• Have your EAS antenna serviced to ensure it is working properly

• Train staff on the daily procedure of testing the system in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions

• Consider whether you need additional EAS infrastructure such as a system that guards the changeroom against tag tampering.

Security tags

In the lead-up to the holiday season, retailers should ensure they order sufficient security tags to protect the increased inventory that is held during the holiday shopping period.

This is also a good time to consider whether the strength of your security tags is adequate. Tags come in different locking strengths that range from standard to superlock, hyperlock and multipolar.

If your store is a frequent target of shoplifting, or tags are found on the floor or in the change room, it’s time to upgrade the tag strength.

Similarly, the pinheads that attach the tag to an item are available in different sizes and shapes. The larger the pinhead, the less likely it is to be forced through an item for the tag to be removed.

Meanwhile, additional strategies like benefit denial ink tags can mitigate the potential for shoplifters to tamper with tags

Checklist

• Order any additional tags that will be required

• Upgrade tags to at least superlock strength to mitigate tampering

• Order larger pinheads to minimise tampering and tag removal

• Ensure you have the right tag for the right product – there are tags designed for specific items like eyewear, golf clubs, footwear etc

• Consider whether an additional layer of security may be required in the form of ink dye pinheads

Security labels

With more products passing through your retail outlet, additional security labels will be required to protect high-volume products or items that aren’t suited to tags.

Checklist

• Consider what type of products need protection, and whether you want labels with barcodes included, or wish to print on them yourself

• Order a sufficient number of labels

• Train staff on the positioning of labels – they should be positioned near the barcode for ease of deactivation at the point of sale

Deactivators and detachers

Labels require deactivating, while tags need to be detached. Retailers should ensure there is a sufficient number of tag detachers for all staff manning the Point of Sale, while the label deactivators need to be positioned correctly for swift transactions.

Meanwhile, detachers should be protected to ensure they are not the target of theft.

Checklist

• Check deactivators are working correctly

• Ensure detachers are suited to the strength of tag being used

• Order any additional detachers and deactivators

• Secure detachers at the POS

Staff training

Staff should be properly trained in the use of the EAS system and the positioning of labels and tags. With additional staff likely to be employed prior to the holidays, that makes now the time to look at your training procedures and ensure EAS is covered.

Checklist

• Ensure EAS is covered as part of staff induction

• Management staff should know how to test the antenna system daily

• Do staff know what to do when an alarm sounds?

• Can they identify a real alarm versus tag pollution?

• Are they abreast of the product exclusion zone around the EAS antenna?

• Have you trained them in the positioning of tags and labels?

Retail security labels – they’re so simple and commonplace, you could probably make it through a lifetime without giving them a second thought.

But dive a little deeper into their history and the innovations which led to their popularity in retail, and there’s so much more to the humble security label than meets the eye.

From the invention of general labels to the innovation of tiny transmitters, here’s a quick insight into the fascinating history of security labels.

General label beginnings

General labels officially owe their origins to the 1700s when they first popped up on medical containers in the form of handmade paper that was printed on using a wooden press, and was then glued to bottles.

The trend quickly caught on elsewhere including the winemaking world, where every respectable winemaker began rolling them out as a way to differentiate their brand.

Fast forward to the end of the century and a couple of innovations made the label-making process a little easier – the paper machine and lithography.

By the mid-1850s color was widely employed and labels were being utilised as a way to draw the customer’s eye.

Self-adhesive labels

One of the biggest innovations in the label-making world was the creation of self-adhesive varieties. First invented by R Stanton Avery (of Avery label fame) in 1932, they allowed people to quickly attach labels to all manner of products.

Although a popular concept, self-adhesive labels weren’t adopted on a mass scale until about the 1960s when advances in the type of adhesives allowed them to be secured to different types of materials.

Then in the 1980s, the arrival of the laser printer made custom printing more affordable, so labels began rolling out anywhere and everywhere – from baggage tags to offices.

Security labels

First invented in the 1980s, security labels owe their genesis to both adhesive label technology and improvements in Electronic Article Surveillance.

Like EAS tags, security labels house transmitters that remain in contact with an antenna at the entryway to a store. When an item with a label attached comes too close to that antenna, an alarm sounds, alerting staff that theft might be taking place.

The key innovation that spurred on the invention of security labels was the creation of transmitters which were small enough to be accommodated within a sticker.

The second key component was that this transmitter needed to ‘break’ on contact with a deactivator, rather than requiring the label to be removed.

This in itself is a fascinating story of invention and innovation, with three of the leading EAS companies at the time all racing to release the first sticker in the mid-1980s.

Ultimately, they each delivered stickers based on the different EAS frequencies of Radio Frequency, Acousto Magnetic and Electromagnetic, and their invention revolutionised retail loss prevention.

Security labels allowed retailers to quickly and cost-effectively affix secure high-volume products that were not suited to tags, such as perfumes, pharmaceuticals, hardware, DVDs, books and so much more.

Security labels also allowed for source tagging where a product supplier would affix the security label at the point of manufacture, rather than the retailer utilising labour in-store.

Improvements since

In the years since their invention, security labels have developed to accommodate the changing needs of retail.

Now they extend to:

• Barcode labels – which accommodate a barcode and EAS transmitter in one single label, thereby improving store efficiency and speeding up the checkout process

• Food grade labels – which can be affixed to commonly stolen consumable products like meat, yet meet stringent food and hygiene standards.

• RFID labels – which allow products to be tracked from the point of manufacture and throughout the supply chain right through to the shop floor.

Along the way they’ve also embraced stronger adhesives, become smaller, more accurate, and one of the most widely adopted loss prevention strategies in retail.

So yes, they’re simple, they’re commonplace and they’re an obvious solution to an age-old shoplifting problem, but the history of security labels is fascinating indeed.

You can view our comprehensive range of retail security labels here.

These days retailers have a wealth of tools available to them when it comes to understanding where loss is occurring and how it can be combatted.

But while the tools and data abound, how do you best employ them? What are the small steps you need to take to make the giant leap towards securing your bottom line?

Well, that’s a $61.7 billion question the retail sector frequently asks. So, here are the steps to smarter loss prevention.

Measure to manage

In order to understand your loss, you need to measure it. That means understanding whether you are losing products in the supply chain, via shoplifting, through internal theft, or due to error.

Tools that tell you this information include stock takes, inventory reconciliation on delivery, Point of Sale data, and more, but the reality is retailers are gathering data every minute of every day.

From sales reports to inventory counting, this data paints a picture, but there’s also more to look for than just what’s going missing.

This includes gathering information about when your store is busiest and therefore more likely to be prone to theft, who’s on duty during that time, when products might be more likely to go missing, or the types of products that are more prone to loss.

Traffic counting can assist with this as can tools such as RFID inventory counting, which enables retailers to accurately count inventory within a matter of minutes.

Together, this data paints a picture of the leaks that need to be plugged.

Set KPIs

Once you know what’s actually occurring in terms of loss, a retailer should say Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to really get specific about combatting shrink.

These KPIs assist by helping you home in further on what’s happening in a bid to find the right tools to address it.

Loss prevention KPIs might include:

• EAS alarms by hour

• EAS alarms by traffic

• The tag deactivation success rate (as in how often staff fail to detach a tag or deactivate a label)

• Organized retail crime events

• Inventory inaccuracies

• Staff access to cabinets and displays versus loss

• Gift card and return activity per staff member

• And more

Set policies

In a bid to meet these KPIs, systems and procedures should be employed in-store. These will encompass areas like what to look for in terms of shoplifting, return and gift card policies, customer service procedures, stock counting routines etc.

They will also extend to EAS system checks and appropriate application and deactivation of EAS security tags and labels.

All these policies and procedures help establish an accountable expectation in-store that works to eliminate human error. They also serve to set an expectation for staff behaviour when it comes to reducing loss.

Deploy technology

Loss prevention technology continually evolves and improves, meaning there are now more effective tools available than ever before when it comes to mitigating loss.

EAS is an obvious example here as one of the most popular theft prevention methods, and like all technology, it requires regular upgrades.

Retailers should revisit their EAS systems on a regular basis to determine whether stronger tags might be required, whether additional tools like EAS in the fitting room needs to be employed, or whether the right tag or label is being used for the right product.

Other tools that can assist include RFID, which enables a store to track product location and information in real-time, higher resolution CCTV to identify thieves, mobile POS with detailed analytics, and smart keys which are allocated to specific staff members allowing retailers to track who opens cabinets and drawers.

Rinse and repeat

Once a retailer has worked through each of these steps, the circle begins again in a bid to further combat loss.

Any loss still occurring should be measured, new KPIs should be set, fresh systems introduced, and further technology deployed to assist.

The reality is loss prevention is a constant work in progress which evolves over time. The retailers with the best success at mitigating loss consistently revise their approach. They regularly upgrade operations in response to a changing landscape and appreciate that what worked one year ago may need improvement the next.

You can learn more about our range of security tags here, or labels here. Meanwhile, further information about reducing theft and loss instore is available here.