Choosing Source Tagging For Increased Retail Security

By Simon Shi

Having a secure retail store is at the forefront of every merchant’s mind. And with theft being a constant threat to retail security, more stores are looking to source tagging as both an effective and painless way to bolster loss-prevention methods.

Not every retailer using these methods are implementing source tagging effectively; some are pointed in the entirely wrong direction. Let’s take a look at an overview of source tagging and how to make the best use of it for your retail store.

 

What is Source Tagging?
Source tagging (a type of Electronic Article Surveillance, or EAS), is when a small electronic device is embedded into packaging or is sewn unobtrusively onto the product itself. The tiny detectors are placed on products at or near the source (the supplier or manufacturer) rather than at the retailer.

The retailer’s vendors are authorized to obtain the tags and tag the items themselves before shipment, cutting down expensive labor costs for employee time spent tagging items in the store. Source tags come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but are always easy to handle and are incredibly effective for loss-prevention.

Why Retail Theft is a Problem
More companies are choosing to use source tagging because of the overwhelming statistics of shoplifting. In taking the United States into account, there are over 550,000 incidents of shoplifting per day, and a startling 13 billion dollars’ worth of goods stolen every single year – equating to 35 million dollars every day! Even 75 percent of employees have been found to engage in shoplifting.

Retail thieves are only caught 1 in 48 times, and they often wear large coats or use baby strollers, umbrellas, or large shopping bags to drop items into. Source tagging aids in mitigating the substantial losses incurred by retail losses.

Source Tagging Benefits
Source tagging is a reliable method for theft detection for products of any size or value. A Visible Source Tag (VST) extends high security and deterrence factors, and a sewn-in label can offer discreet EAS protection. Either option is easily deactivated or removed at the retail POS and chips away at valuable employee time often bogged down by tagging items. Additionally, source tagging decreases shrinkage, helps to increase in-stock rates, and can be a driving force in increasing sales. But above all, source tagging is one of the most effective ways to increase loss prevention.

How To Implement Source Tagging
The source tagging supplier you choose should be a professional entity and should be located close to a retailer’s manufacturing vendors. Many retailers in the United States choose their packing companies to aid with source tagging, which doesn’t end up working to the retailer’s advantage as manufacturers don’t provide the quality and professionalism that professional source tagging companies can offer. Source tagging companies communicate directly with vendors to ensure a retailer’s security needs are met. Make sure to choose trusted source tagging companies with dependable reputations – your products are your business, and your business is your livelihood!

 

TrustTag is a Chinese source tagging company that provides a myriad of source tagging and other precision-engineered security services for any manufacturers located in Asia. Contact us for any questions about how we can help your retail store mitigate loss prevention.

 

Will RFID Improve The Lost Prevention Function of Chinese Retail

Loss Prevention Committee of China General Chamber of Commerce announced that the Chinese retail lost value has reached 181 billion in 2016, commercial loss rate is 0.71% and it has been going up gradually in these recent 5 years. Internal and external theft is the main reason for the commercial loss. In the analysis report that the internal theft value is higher than the external theft. Therefore to control the internal theft is the main task in commercial loss prevention. Traditional loss prevention solution is not able to save retail loss prevention, that means loss prevention technology shall be upgraded.

Many big retailers domestic and international have led in modernized anti-theft solutions including EAS, CCTV, POS/EM and so on. EAS security system is ususally installed at the conspicuous place of the shopping mall or supermarket, and it can detect the active EAS security tags attached on the commodities items and trigger warning light and sound.

To use EAS anti-theft solution has powerful deterrent force on reducing external theft during retail stores opening. But the current EAS anti-theft security system has the defecs of low detection rate, faulse alarm, weak anti-interference, being shielded by metal, narrow protection range, non-recyclable EAS soft label and so on, which is already not able to meet the needs of existing anti-theft requirements.

CCTV acts mostly as a deterrent for external and internal theft and records the entire process of the event.  While its shortcoming is that closed-circuit monitoring systems are usually installed in hidden locations to remotely monitor specific areas, and the camera’s viewing angles has not covered areas, so it is difficult to play a role at densely populated shopping mall. The CCTV system of the shopping mall needs to have a 24-hour special person for operating, generally speaking, it is difficult for someone in the actual operation to continuously monitor the image for a long time, so it cannot guarantee detection and suppression on the store theft intime.

The see from the above that the traditional retail loss prevention solution is not able to meet the current needs of the market. While in this time, RFID has brought new changes.

RFID has brough new changes to retail loss prevention.

1. Quick cycle counting to reduce human losses.

After adopting RFID technology on the merchandise, managers can quickly cycle through the inventory and track the goods in real time. The staff only needs to check the inventory in the warehouse and sales area, monitor the real-time inventory, compare the differences and discover the changes of the goods during the operation, and clearly understand the loss of goods. In addition, the quickly counting feature of RFID can reduce the number of staff involved and reduce the theft rate.

Of course, the RFID technology comparing to EAS system, it still has the problem of weak protection of goods in the vicinity of the store entrance. At this stage, an RFID technology based EAS system, plus an RFID chip which is that a tag and two technologies can be for commodity protection and inventory management.

2. Realize traceability of goods and reduce natural loss.

Low-temperature fresh food is prone to deterioration, using active temperature shelf label can sense the temperature and change real-time accurate price. With the handheld device, base station and software, it can display the freezer temperature in real time. When the temperature is high or low, the system will remind the staff to adjust the temperature in time through the background management system promptly to avoid the loss of food treatment caused by the power failure of the refrigerator.

In addition, the RFID shelf label can also display the existing inventory of the product in real time. Each time the item is sold, the system transmits the updated data to the sensing layer through the sensor. When the staff receives insufficient inventory, the product can be replenished in time.

3. Automatic cashier to reduce cash loss.

The radio frequency tag based automatic cash register can instantly read the product information and complete the settlement on the helpf of radio frequency tag, without taking out the goods from the shopping basket and scanning the barcode one by one. The automatic cash register method reduces the cash loss caused during checking at the counter.

The functions of RFID achieving in the retail industry are not only preventing loss, but also improving the efficiency of the supply chain, the service quality of the store and so on. At present, the technology premium brought by RFID to the retail industry has begun to appear, and many retail companies have begun to deploy RFID systems.