If there’s one emerging trend that truly bridges the gap between bricks and mortar and online retail, it is Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS).

Also known as Click and Collect, BOPIS has emerged as one of the best ways that traditional retailers can embrace the digital world, offering customers a seamless experience that ticks the boxes of convenience, speed and service while luring consumers into a physical store.

Meanwhile for retailers, a key element to any successful BOPIS offering is accurate inventory and stock counting, which is where loss prevention and BOPIS inevitably intersect.

Here’s an insight into loss prevention and its role in BOPIS.

The rise and rise of BOPIS

As Total Retail recently explained, for years bricks and mortar retailers had been scrambling to find ways to combat the online threat, and one of the most successful strategies that has emerged is BOPIS.

It’s a feature that allows consumers to shop online from the comfort of their home, and then harness the convenience of picking up the product they buy at their nearest brand outlet.

For the retailer, BOPIS offers a number of benefits:

• It saves shipping time and cost
• It makes use of the retail real estate at its disposal
• It lures customers into a physical outlet, where there’s a good chance they will buy additional items

And it’s a trend that is incredibly popular with consumers due its ease, convenience and near instant gratification.

Earlier this year a Total Retail stated over 68 per cent of US shoppers had made more than one click and collect purchase, while a further 50 per cent said they’ve actually decided where to buy a product online based on whether they can pick it up in-store.

Meanwhile, Retail Dive notes 85 per cent of shoppers make additional in-store purchases while visiting stores to pick up what they already had bought online, with 15 per cent saying they engage in that practice “somewhat frequently”.

The retail challenge

In an increasingly competitive retail world, BOPIS is a highly valuable tool for traditional retailers. But it’s not one without its challenges. The success of BOPIS relies on stock accuracy, as research group IHL recently explained.

“Consumers first will look to the online systems to see if the inventory is in stock,” IHL notes.

“If the quantities are there, they will secure those items for pickup rather than ‘hope’ it arrives for shipping.”

However, IHL goes on to highlight that most retailers can be off by as much as 25 per cent on their store inventory counts.

“Most are playing a game with safety stock.  Yet more than ever before, research online and BOPIS transactions are exposing even more out-of-stock issues for retailers.

“The average retailer is losing the equivalent of 3.4 per cent of same store sales due to out-of-stocks, and in apparel it is as much as 9 per cent of same store sales, a problem that is up 55 per cent worldwide since 2015.”

The out of stock/loss prevention link

In addition to costing retailers time and money, shoplifting and employee theft are two areas that contribute to inaccurate stock counting.

A retailer believes an item is available, advertises it as such online, only to find it’s missing and unaccounted for due to theft.

In the era of BOPIS this impacts a retailer in a couple of different ways:

1. They have to source the item from another outlet quickly, incurring additional cost
2. They have to inform the consumer it’s not available, damaging the customer experience

Meanwhile, traditional walk-in customers are impacted as well, due to unplanned shortage of items.

So, what should retailers do?

Ensuring stock accuracy

Like loss prevention itself, ensuring stock accuracy is a multi-faceted game.

Retailers need to ensure their stock is accurately counted in the first place, mitigate the risk of theft through improved loss prevention, and also maintain the integrity of stock counting through accurate and real-time tools such as RFID inventory counting.

And with retail peak season pending, now is the time to focus on both loss prevention and accuracy. IHL notes stock accuracy could be the very factor that separates the winners from the loses this shopping season.

“Customers come to stores because they need the products right now or need more information or expertise about the product,” they state.

“Those that leverage technologies like RFID and computer vision for inventory at the store are expecting sales increases that at up to 3x that of retailers that don’t.  They realize that consumers simple won’t tolerate out-of-stocks any more with the age of the Amazon and Walmart marketplaces.

“So, it won’t be the shiny marketing campaign or catching lightning in a bottle that will separate the winners and losers.  Being in-stock and the ability to execute on fulfillment that will separate the holiday leaders this year.”

Although electronic article surveillance might be widely understood by retailers and management, for the staff members and sales associates who use it daily, its use and best practice may not be so well known.

Importantly, staff should be regularly trained in the use of EAS, so they can better utilise and respond to it as a loss prevention tool.

When training new staff or offering a refresher on in-store security, here are five things your staff need to know about EAS…

EAS basics

Electronic article surveillance works on the simple principle that products are affixed with tags or labels which cause an alarm to sound if they pass through the entryway of a store.

These labels and tags are monitored by antenna positioned at the store opening.

In order to get a tagged or labelled item to leave a retail outlet without an alarm sounding, a tag needs to be detached, while a label needs to be deactivated. These detachers and deactivators are commonly located at the Point of Sale

That means some of the regular tasks that staff may have include affixing labels and tags to new products, deactivating labels or removing tags during a sales transaction, and responding to any alarms that the EAS system may sound.

So, here’s a checklist of what they should be educated on to help them use this system effectively.

The system should be checked daily

The EAS antenna that guards the entryway to the store should be checked each day on store opening. This ensures there is power to the system and it lights up correctly to illustrate it’s in use.

Different systems may have different daily requirements, but generally this is a very simple process that clearly indicates the antenna is working correctly.

Deactivators and detachers

In addition to checking the antenna, staff should also check label deactivators are plugged into a power outlet and working properly.

Meanwhile, tag detachers tend to work using strong magnets, which do not require a power source. However, these should be carefully looked after and even affixed to the Point of Sale to ensure they are not a target for theft.

In the wrong hands, tag detachers allow shoplifters to remove tags from items, so their security and care is paramount.

Position matters for labels and tags

When new stock arrives at an outlet, one of the back of house tasks is to affix security labels and tags to items, and it’s important staff understand that position matters when doing this job.

Tags should be affixed in a position where they do not interfere with the customer experience of a garment or item, yet can be easily removed during a transaction and are also visible enough to act as a deterrent.

In the interests of store appeal and product uniformity, many retailers often have policies for where exactly tags should be positioned, so all products look neat and the same.

When it comes to labels, these should be positioned so as not to obscure product information, and in a place that is near the barcode of a product.

This allows staff to quickly scan a product and deactivate the label in the same manoeuvre at the POS.

Alarms mean something

It’s important that staff understand every EAS alarm that sounds in a retail outlet means something and should be responded to.

If alarms are sounding when an item is not being taken, it may indicate products are positioned too close to the antenna, the detection setting of the EAS is too high, or they are encountering tag pollution.

Tag pollution is when a tag or label from another retailer has not been detached or deactivated properly and is brought into a store, causing an EAS alarm to sound.

Most EAS antenna have lights which indicate a tag is inbound rather than outbound, but staff should be educated on what to look for.

You can learn more about training your staff in EAS here, or alternately contact our staff for further advice on sourcing the right tags and labels for your retail outlet.

Clean, clear, uncluttered

A store that is well laid out, clean, clear and uncluttered creates a more welcoming and enticing venue for shoppers while offering staff better vantage points to see what’s happening on the floor.

For retailers, that means keeping in mind the height of their shelving, where they position displays and how they showcase valuable stock.

Where possible stock should be kept organised, neatly folded and clearly visible. Aisles should be free of obstructions and high-value item should be secured using either locked and tethered displays or EAS tagging in an area visible from the POS.

These simple design principles are for the benefit of both the consumer and loss prevention, allowing customers to readily see and find the items that are available, while store associates can easily monitor the stock in their care.

Lighting

Not only does good lighting create a welcoming ambience and mood within a store, it also serves to highlight the appeal of products and assist with theft prevention.

Retailers who have good lighting throughout their store are less prone to theft because there’s fewer dark places for thieves to feel comfortable.

Importantly, good lighting also allows legitimate customers to find items more readily and feel more at ease, in the knowledge they are safe and secure within that environment.

Shelving, racks, and layout

The fit out of a store, including its shelving, helps set the tone for an entire brand. It also draws the customer’s attention to the most important items on display.

These days, the options for fit out are endless, allowing retailers to be more and more creative with the look and feel of their brand.

Within shelving and fit out there is also the opportunity to increase security and offer customer appeal.

In many cases, this is where secure displays come into play, allowing retailers to showcase valuable items behind glass or using tethered displays that enable consumers to interact with products.

Layout

Even something as simple as where you position specific products can have a bearing on loss prevention.

For example, sales racks or tables positioned too close to doorways can make items a potential target of snatch and grab theft.

Meanwhile, high value items should be visible to shoppers yet positioned near the POS or where staff can monitor customer interaction.

In addition, high-value items should be displayed in a place where a shoplifter would feel highly visible leaving with that item or must make their way past a number of staff members and security in order to commit a theft.

Theft prevention tools

Working hand in hand with good store layout are invaluable tools like electronic article surveillance and CCTV.

Again, these items should be factored into the store’s design and general appeal.

For example, the antenna that monitor security tags and labels can now be built into the doorway, hidden under the entryway floor or housed overhead, allowing the store entry to remain secure yet feel open and welcoming.

Security tags and labels do not have to bulky or overly conspicuous, but instead come in sizes that are large enough to indicate an item is being monitored but small enough not to interfere with the experience of the product.

Tags and labels can also be positioned neatly in the same spot on each product to create a uniform and streamlined look.

Meanwhile, any tags and labels should be selected to suit the product involved. That means considering what label or tag best reflects the value and intended customer experience of the product and applying this security without overkill.

Similarly, CCTV should be obvious enough to deter thieves, but not so cumbersome and prominent to make legitimate customer feel watched.

A balance in the beauty

It’s often said that retail loss prevention is a balancing act. And in some ways it is. More often, however preventing shoplifting is a combination of good store design, appropriate adoption of technology and constant vigilance and staff education on behalf of the retailer.

Shop our range of security labels and EAS tags here.

Effective product-based security

In retail, EAS is regarded as one of the most simple and effective ways of protecting individual items against theft. The system sees antennas installed at the entryway to a store and security labels or security tags are affixed to individual merchandise.

Each tag and label houses a transmitter that remains in constant communication with the antenna. When a protected product comes into proximity of the store entryway, an alarm sounds, alerting staff to a potential theft.

The cost of EAS

Implementing EAS involves two sets of costs – initial and ongoing.

Initial costs

Initial costs include the purchase and installation of the antenna, along with the purchase of label deactivators and tag detachers, and sufficient security tags and labels to guard each individual product.

These costs will be impacted by factors like:

• The type of system and level of security chosen

• The size of the retail outlet being protected

• The number of entryways that require protection

• The width of the entryway and number of pedestals required

• The way the antennas are installed – via pedestal, underfloor, overhead etc

• Delivery and installation costs

• The volume of merchandise and how many labels or tags will be required

• The number of tag detachers or label deactivators required and their installation cost

Ongoing costs

Ongoing costs include:

• System maintenance

• Running costs (such as electricity consumption)

What is the lifespan of an EAS system?

Broadly speaking, a reputable EAS system has an expected lifespan of about 10-15 years. During that time it is required to reliably protect a retail outlet 24/7 with zero or minimum downtime and few if any false alarms.

Like any electronic device, you get what you pay for when you invest in EAS. While there are cheap options available, these may not represent the best value over the long term. You want your system to be reliable and stand the test of time.

Established EAS brands with a good reputation are more likely to offer value in the long-term as their reputation is built upon quality, reliability and longevity.

Meanwhile, retailers should also consider the fine print of any system, looking at factors like warranty, servicing schedules and ongoing support.

How much will EAS reduce theft?

When retailers implement an EAS system they can expect to see loss reduction of between 60 and 80 per cent.

Cost versus savings

Calculating the specific ROI of your chosen EAS system involves looking at the cost of your current stock losses due to theft and weighing them against the initial and ongoing costs of your proposed system, while factoring in depreciation over the desired term.

When considering the cost of theft, it’s important to factor in both “hard” costs and “soft” costs.

Hard costs of shoplifting

Hard costs are those that are quantifiable, such as the theft shrink rate. For example, in a store with annual sales of $1 million, a three per cent theft shrink rate would cost a retailer $30,000 per year.

Soft costs of shoplifting

Soft costs are those that are harder to ascertain, like the time it costs staff to access items that have to be locked away due to fear of theft, or the productivity cost of having staff watch the floor for theft rather than concentrating on selling.

There are also further hidden loss costs like products being out of stock due to theft, or the cost to the general ambiance of the store.

Weighing the initial and ongoing cost of an EAS system versus the current costs of shoplifting and the savings that will be achieved by implementing EAS allows you to ascertain the ROI of your EAS.

This rough calculation offers an insight into when your system is likely to pay itself off and the very real money it could save or even earn you in the long term.

The bottom line

There’s good reason EAS has attained such popularity in the retail world. For many store owners, the cost of implementing and running an EAS system is far less than the ongoing cost of theft.

Meanwhile, EAS helps ensure a retail environment remains welcoming. It is an unobtrusive and consistent loss prevention strategy that allows customer service staff to do their job, and consumers to effortlessly interact with products.

You can learn more about selecting the right EAS system for your store here, or talk to our friendly staff about security tags and labels for your store.

Whether it’s non-perishable groceries, DVDs, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, security labels are the ideal way of protecting high-volume, low-value stock from theft.

Simple to affix, security labels are used by large and small retailers worldwide, offering an affordable product-based security option that is seamlessly deactivated at the Point of Sale.

However, like all areas of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) there are choices to be made when it comes to which label is best suited to what product. So, here’s a quick guide to choosing the right security labels.

Security label basics

Security labels are one of the many options available when it comes to protecting stock at a product-based level using Electronic Article Surveillance.

These labels house a small receiver within an adhesive sticker that can easily be affixed to products.

The receiver remains in constant communication with an EAS antenna, and when that label comes too close, an alarm sounds, alerting staff that an item is passing through the entryway.

Labels are deactivated using a deactivator that breaks the circuit in the receiver, so they no longer communicate with the antenna. They can then pass an antenna without sounding an alarm.

This affordability, disposability and simple deactivation makes security labels the go-to option for small items like groceries or hardware.

So, what do you need to consider when selecting the right label for your store?

EAS antenna frequency – RF or AM?

Like security tags, security labels are available in either the RF or AM frequencies to suit whichever EAS system you have in store.

Each technology offers slightly different features and specific benefits for particular products.

RF labels:

• Are well-suited to retailers with high volumes of packaged products which require a flat paper label that can even be printed on

• Are often favored by supermarkets, discount stores, book stores and video stores

• Caution should be applied when using for RF labels with metallic or foil products or packaging due to tag detuning and reduced detection

AM labels:

• Are well-suited to the protection of merchandise with a high metal/foil content such as consumer electronics, cosmetics, hardware, and pharmaceuticals.

• Offer a slightly raised profile

• Are often favored by drug stores, cosmetic stores, electronics retailers, and hardware outlets

Label size and colour

Security labels are available in a wide range of colours, sizes and shapes, including round, square and rectangular with semi-transparent options also available to ensure they do not obscure vital information on the packaging.

Generally, RF labels have a slightly larger footprint than AM labels, but offer a lower, flat profile.

AM labels have a slightly raised profile but a smaller footprint than RF labels.

Security labels are designed to be discreet yet feature strong adhesives to ensure they cannot be easily removed by shoplifters.

Alternatively, non-adhesive labels can be inserted into the packaging of a product.

Barcoded?

In a bid to offer greater efficiency at the Point of Sale, security labels are also available with the barcode pre-printed, so product information and security is catered to easily in a single label.

Printable?

Plain RF labels can also be printed on, allowing information or barcodes to be added. This makes them an ideal option for source tagging at the point of manufacture.

Deactivation

Unlike security tags which are detached and removed at the Point of Sale, security labels are deactivated.

This involves using technology to break the transmitter circuit within the sticker. As a result, labels cannot be reused, but the method does allow for quick disarming at the Point of Sale.

Deactivators can be built into the Point of Sale scanner or incorporated beneath the countertop to ensure scanning and deactivation occurs in one swift maneuver.

Positioning

The ideal place for a security label is near a product barcode. This allows the product to be scanned and the label deactivated at the same time.

Meanwhile, positioning the security label near the barcode also ensures essential product packaging information is not obscured.

Training

When it comes to identifying a shoplifter, there is no single type. Shoplifters come from all demographics and may steal for a variety of reasons, whether that’s poverty, an adrenaline rush, or because the opportunity arises.

But according to a recent article in Business Insider, staff are often the first to notice specific behaviors that indicate an offence is about to take place.

Here are the key shop theft clues often noticed by retail staff…

Body language

The way a customer conducts themselves instore is a major indicator as to whether their intentions are genuine or more devious.

The retail staff interviewed by Business Insider note a customer who appears too nervous or overly relaxed is often trying to conceal their real motive for entering a retail outlet.

“Some shoplifters often try ‘harder than normal to blend in’,” one US retail employee said. Other customers might appear more on edge, hurrying through a store without making eye contact with staff.

Head down, no contact

This lack of eye contact is a suspicious sign many retail employees believe raises an immediate red flag.

Often this failure to interact with either staff or other consumers extends right through the shoplifter’s entire visit to a store, seeing them avoid any meaningful contact or conversations with sales associates.

It might be because they feel guilty, are preoccupied with the intended theft at hand or don’t wish to be remembered, but patrons who avoid interaction often indicate something’s amiss.

Assessing the store, not the products within it

When a customer looks around more at the shop than the merchandise, it can also be a key clue a person is scoping the store rather than looking to enjoy the retail experience within it.

They may be seeking clues on security systems in place or assessing their ease of exit. But either way a customer who is looking up and around rather than at the products on offer may not be visiting for entirely legitimate reasons.

Importantly, this potential thief may not be seeking to steal during their initial visit, but might actually be marking a target for future theft.

Oversized clothes and excessive bags

Unseasonal or overly large clothing is often touted as a signal a shopper might be considering concealing merchandise. The anecdotal evidence from retail associates confirms this is a definite clue.

“Customers with ‘baggier clothing’ sometimes stick out, given that sagging garments offer shoplifters more room to hide stolen goods,” Business Insider reflects.

Meanwhile, large bags can also be employed to conceal items, and some are even designed to interfere with older-style Electronic Article Surveillance systems.

A target in mind

Whether it’s electronic accessories, top shelf liquor, or clothing, a shopper who makes a beeline for a specific area of the store could also offer a clue they have something in mind to steal.

Meanwhile, some products and departments of a retail outlet are more prone to theft than others.

“Shoplifters ‘usually go straight to electronics, cosmetics, or clothing’,” one retail employee noted, while another agreed “someone with their ‘head down’ walking straight towards electronics could raise some red flags”.

The regular offender

The biggest clue of all comes in the form of the frequent offender who regularly steals from an outlet and whose suspicious behaviour has previously been noticed by staff.

“We usually know who our thieves are,” one retail employee told Business Insider.

Offenders often visit a location or chain of outlets more than once, especially if they identify flaws in their security and surveillance.

Best prevention strategies

The best loss prevention involves using multiple strategies and having a comprehensive approach to product security.

It includes:

• Educating staff as to the behaviour of shoplifters and suspicious activity to watch out for
• Utilising electronic article surveillance like security tags and labels to monitor stock
• Implementing regular stock takes and RFID inventory tracking to ascertain whether items are stolen and what stock is most at risk
• Creating good store layout to eliminate hidden areas, and position high value stock/commonly stolen items within view of staff
• Offering good customer service
• CCTV monitoring
• Using tethered cables, lockable displays and cabinet locks for high-value and frequently stolen items

You can learn more about selecting the right EAS security options like security tags and labels for your retail environment, or contact our friendly staff for further advice.