With the advent of Omni-Channel retailing, we are increasingly seeing retailers focusing more on adopting appropriate strategies to provide their customers with the perfect shopper experience. The modern-day retail store is a multifaceted environment where the interaction between employees, customers and technology translates into real time data gathered from an array of sensors giving retailers a complete overview of their entire store operations.
Retailers are becoming progressively responsive in training shop floor associates to recognise that the promise of product availability is a priority to foster lasting customer engagement and loyalty. The implementation of leading-edge anti-theft systems is also an essential component in ensuring availability so that customers can buy what they like, in the right size and preferred colour without needing to make a second trip or leaving the store without making a purchase. Availability is a critical factor to safeguard brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, maximising profit.
That having been said, the fundamental need for Loss Prevention within the store cannot be mitigated, as shrinkage still poses a substantial challenge for retailers today. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2013, both employee theft and shoplifting remain the two key causes of shrinkage and is a growing threat for retailers across the globe. Anti-theft technology will still be a fundamental area which retailers need to employ to act as a deterrent, track accountability, and protect merchandise and the bottom line.
A critical challenge is protecting high theft items such as footwear, jeans, lingerie and fashion accessories. These vulnerable and highly desirable items are usually expensive with relatively high-margins. Their display makes them generally easy to steal and conceal and locking them in display cabinets where they are out of reach erodes the customer experience and sensory engagement with the product.
Equally challenging is the protection of delicate apparel and fine fabric merchandise. Famously hard to secure, where using traditional anti-theft hard tags would in fact damage fragile fabrics such as silk, rayon or linen, innovative solutions need to be employed. For these high risk and difficult items, retailers require anti-theft solutions that are effective, can offer maximum protection whilst not hindering open merchandising and disrupting the shopper’s emotive hands-on buying experience.
Ron Owczar, Vice President of Loss Prevention at TJX Inc. Canada, the world’s largest off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions had this to say “Every day, we’re meeting high customer demand for the latest designer brands at a great value, “Ladies fashion footwear has traditionally been a difficult category to protect without affecting the overall shopper experience. To help us solve this challenge, we needed a different type of anti-theft solution that was effective and didn’t impact merchandising.”
In this issue, read about how retailers can benefit from Tyco’s anti-theft hard tags specially designed for high theft and delicate fine fabrics, and how implementing Tyco’s Sensormatic EAS anti-theft systems has helped Indian retailer Jade Blue cut shrink, drive sales and improve profits.