Retail loss prevention is an ever-evolving playing field where best practice sees retailers revisiting their security strategies regularly and changing them up when required in a bid to combat theft.

When it comes to security tags and electronic article surveillance, there are a host of methods retailers can employ to upgrade their tag security. These include using high-strength tags and utilising tag shapes that are hard for thieves to tamper with.

But one of the often-overlooked options retailers can quickly and affordably employ is the adoption of benefit denial.

What is benefit denial?

Benefit denial is a strategy that deters thieves from taking an item. It is based on the premise that if they do attempt to steal, the security method attached to a product will destroy it and render it useless.

The idea first became popular to combat major crimes like bank robberies, which use ink dye packs that explode and permanently mark the money.

In retail, the most common benefit denial method works in a similar way, using ink dye tags and pins that release permanent ink into a product when tampered with.

This strategy acts as a deterrent to theft because shoplifters understand that should they try to get around it illegally, the item they’re seeking to steal will be significantly damaged or even destroyed.

In other words, the strategy denies a shoplifter any benefit for their efforts.

Used in conjunction with electronic article surveillance, benefit denial offers an additional security measure.

Not only will staff be alerted to a potential theft using the alarm system of EAS, but should thieves try to remove a tag prior to theft, the product will be destroyed.

Ink dye tags

Now celebrating their 35^th anniversary, ink dye tags have proved a hugely popular option for retailers looking to combat theft.

They offer a second level of tag security and are also easy to retrofit or combine with EAS.

Common methods of employing ink dye tags see the ink ampoules either built into acousto magnetic (AM) or radio frequency (RF) tags, or alternatively, retailers can purchase pin heads that have the ink dye component within them.

These ink dye pin heads are highly affordable and are designed to lock into commonly available AM and RF tags.

But ink dye tags aren’t the only effective benefit denial strategy available.

Large pin heads and tag components

Another benefit denial strategy that deters thieves from tampering with tags is the use of oversize pin heads.

This method works on the premise that thieves either have to cut the product or rip it in order to pull the pin head through the item they intend to steal.

Again, it means that the product will be significantly damaged and lose its value once the tag is illegally tampered with, thereby deterring thieves from targeting the item in the first place.

The benefits of benefit denial

Benefit denial is an excellent option when it comes to deterring thieves from targeting products. Although it can be used as an alternative to EAS, best practice sees it employed in conjunction with alarmed tags.

When used together, EAS and benefit denial ensure fewer tags are tampered with, staff will be alerted to any incidents of theft, and should a thief try to circumvent EAS by attempting removal of the tag, they will not enjoy any benefits.

You can learn more about the history of the ink dye security tag here, or alternatively order ink dye tags and pins from our extensive range of EAS products.

This year marks the 35^th anniversary of one of loss prevention’s biggest breakthroughs – the ink tag.

A small device with a fascinating history, the ink tag helped transform the way retailers approached theft prevention, introducing the concept of benefit denial to their arsenal of weaponry in the fight against theft.

So, let’s look at its development and uses.

A little history of the Ink Tag

As Robert L. DiLonardo recently explained in Loss Prevention Magazine, the ink tag was a product borne out of necessity.

It had its genesis in the early 1990s at a time when clothing retailers were looking to implement additional security measures in a bid to combat theft.

At that stage, EAS was common place, but in an age before the super tag and more recent improvements, thieves were finding ways to circumvent it.

“Loss prevention executives began clamoring for better item-level solutions. They were willing to try something radical. The ink tag was ‘it’,” Mr DiLonardo recalls.

Enter benefit denial

While EAS helped identify when an item was being stolen, retailers were hoping to make tagged items even less attractive to theft.

“The radical idea behind the ink tag is ‘benefit denial’—a term coined in 1992 by Read Hayes, PhD, the well-known retail security consultant,” Mr DiLonardo continues.

Benefit denial offers an additional security measure. It acts as a deterrent to theft because shoplifters understand that should they try to get around it illegally, the item they’re seeking to steal will be significantly damaged or even destroyed.

In other words, the strategy denies a shoplifter any benefit for their efforts.

In the case of ink tags, the concept was designed to see permanent dye release into a product when a tag was tampered with.

An explosive beginning

Initial ink tags took much of their cue from similar benefit denial strategies used elsewhere, including the exploding dye pack often employed in bank robberies.

In fact, one of the very first ink tags in Europe heavily relied on this technology. The vials inside them didn’t just break when a tag was tampered with, they exploded.

Meanwhile, other manufacturers were tinkering with different solutions in an effort to make an ink tag that would appeal to US retailers.

The technology had several requirements: it needed to only rupture during illicit removal, and had to be easily manufactured, simple to affix and remove the Point of Sale, and be cost effective.

It took considerable experimentation, and a fair bit of refinement, but by the early ‘90s the technique many ink tags now use had been invented, and the tags began rolling out across the US.

Fast forward to now

In present day loss prevention ink still plays a vital role in thwarting theft. Although EAS technology and security tag strengths have significantly improved in the years since, ink is often used in conjunction with these EAS hard tags to further deter shoplifters from tampering with tags.

And yes, ink still serves as the most effective benefit denial strategy in apparel retail. When the vials of ink rupture due to forced removal, they release permanent ink into a garment that cannot be removed.

You can read more about Mr diLonardo’s personal account of history of the ink tag at Loss Prevention Magazine, or discover more about ink pinheads for your retail establishment here.