As a retail manager one of your many responsibilities is to increase sales and profits by reducing shoplifting. Ever since COVID-19 broke out, reports across the country indicate that shoplifting percentages have exploded, and retailers are losing millions of dollars. There are a number of reasons why partnering with a company like CONTROLTEK that manufactures EAS tags for retail stores is important to both protect your profits, and offer customers a better shopping experience. This article will explain the value of having EAS tags in relation to giving your customers a positive environment in which they can try on and purchase products, as well as how EAS tags can significantly reduce losses caused by theft.
What are EAS Tags?
Before we delve into the importance of investing in EAS tags, let’s first get a clear understanding of what they are. Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) is a technology for theft prevention commonly used in retail stores and libraries. In a retail environment, all products have EAS tags applied once they are received by the store, and these security tags must be deactivated once a customer purchases the item. EAS tags come in a number of designs and pose various benefits that contribute to combating shoplifters. CONTROLTEK is the leading manufacturer of EAS tags for retail environments offering a variety of electronic article surveillance tags with a variety of features allowing store managers to select the products that will best work for their needs.
EAS Tags Provide Security without Intimidation
Nobody enjoys the feeling of being watched. Past studies have shown that shoppers spend significantly less dwell time in stores with security guards and/or cameras watching and filming their every move. Armed guards and cameras also tend to make customers feel like they aren’t trusted, and that everyone is a subject of suspicion, and when people are on edge, they are not in a good mood to shop and spend money. EAS tags resolve these problems in a cost-effective manner. First of all, EAS tags are not intrusive; when attached to apparel they do not interfere with a buyer’s experience in trying on an article of clothing. EAS tags are also small yet durable enough to not prevent a customer from testing products and interacting with their features.
EAS tags clearly allow shoppers to have a great in-store experience, and they also deter shoplifters while significantly improving loss prevention goals. Some tags, such as the InkGuard, have clear windows on the device’s outer face showing colored ink letting a would-be thief know that if they attempt to remove the tag, the ink will explode and rob the shoplifter of the benefit. Other EAS tags have flashing lights and alarms that, on first sight, repel shoplifters and send them on to another store that has a more relaxed security strategy.
EAS Tags Save Employees Time, and therefore Saves Your Store Money
One problem that retail managers struggle with is employee time allocation between customer service, sales, POS, and security. In fact, Many retail stores use coded announcements over their intercom letting employees know there is a suspicious group in a certain section of the store that could be shoplifting, and this means staff need to drop what they are doing and go monitor a situation. EAS tags keep team members at their posts while performing security measures in place of paid man hours. This means that employees are also given more time in their shift to complete tasks and improve efficiency, which plays into your ability to hit revenue goals.
EAS Tags are Easy to Use
Every year companies spend millions of dollars and significant time away from their employees by having them go through training, whether in a classroom setting, or at a computer. A large portion of retail store training involved security and anti-theft. EAS tags are extremely easy for employees to attach to new products once they arrive at the store, and they are just as simple to remove at the cash register when customers make purchases. EAS tags come with easy-to-use tools that make applying and removing these security tags a cinch that anyone can execute in a matter of seconds.
What are the Best EAS Tags for your Store?
When it comes to knowing how to choose the best EAS tags for your retail store, it is ideal to set up a consultation with a security tag expert. For more than a decade CONTROLTEK has been engineering and updating EAS tags to keep up with the world’s evolving technology and buyer trends. Call us today and once we have a firm understanding of your products, brand, retail and security goals, and who your main shoppers are, we will be able to provide you with the best EAS tags that will help you protect your assets while continuing to give your customers a safe, positive and enjoyable shopping experience.