The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes within the security sector, urging many retailers to embrace advanced technologies such as smart Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems.
These innovations ensure that anti-theft strategies remain efficient, cost-effective, and hassle-free. Collaborating with a seasoned retail security expert is crucial for selecting the appropriate EAS products and services tailored to specific retail environments.
Understanding benefit denial devices
EAS hard tags come in a myriad of forms, designed for various applications ranging from clothing and footwear to handbags and sunglasses. Specialised tags are also available for securing high-theft products like electronics and liquor bottles. Benefit denial devices, such as ink tags, deter theft by damaging the item if forcibly removed.
Enhanced box security with Advanced EAS tags
These tags are equipped with adhesive-backed holders, allowing for an easy switch-operated activation
The latest EAS security tags for boxed products enable retailers to display multiple items without obscuring packaging appeal.
These tags are equipped with adhesive-backed holders, allowing for an easy switch-operated activation. Once armed, the tags detect tampering or unauthorised removal, automatically sounding an alarm if improperly detached or if passed through EAS detection pedestals.
Adopting cost-effective EAS solutions
Self-alarming tags utilising infrared (IR) technology offer valuable protection for items that are small or hard to tag, such as health and beauty products, sunglasses, and fragrances. For an EAS system to effectively deter shoplifting, it must remain fully operational, with any arising issues promptly addressed. Increasingly, retailers utilise Wi-Fi remote tuning as a cost-efficient method to minimise on-site maintenance, allowing technicians to remotely diagnose and reconfigure systems.
Concealed antenna systems for enhanced customer experience
Shoppers returning to physical stores seek a sense of safety and comfort that remains unobtrusive
Shoppers returning to physical stores seek a sense of safety and comfort that remains unobtrusive. In response, higher-end retailers are opting for concealed EAS systems to maintain sleek aesthetics without compromising security.
These systems utilise smaller, discreet EAS tags, thereby reducing nuisance alarms and enhancing customer appeal with wide, inviting entrances.
Evaluating costs against savings
EAS systems are renowned for their simplicity and effectiveness in curbing theft significantly, often reducing it by 60 to 80 percent. If maintained properly, these systems can function effectively for over a decade. Retailers must weigh the initial and ongoing system expenditures against potential stock losses due to theft.
Sustaining EAS system efficiency
For numerous business owners, the costs associated with maintaining an EAS system are outweighed by the financial impact of theft, which can lead to lost sales and customer loyalty erosion.
Effective EAS systems safeguard products against theft threats, preserving business prosperity. Everon's certified professionals offer tailored security solutions, leveraging national resources and local expertise to address unique retail needs.
The COVID-19 pandemic jumpstarted some shifts in the industry landscape, prompting many retailers to adopt innovative technologies like smarter Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems and elevated services to ensure every tool in their anti-theft arsenal is effective, affordable and trouble-free.
Working with an experienced retail security partner is the first step in identifying the right EAS products and services for your retail space.
Benefit denial devices
EAS hard tags come in a variety of shapes, sizes and purposes from those developed specifically for clothing, shoes, handbags and sunglasses to others that fit atop liquor bottles and benefit denial devices, like ink tags, that will damage or destroy an item if forcibly removed. Some of the newest EAS tags target specific high-value and high-theft merchandise, like electronics.
Advanced EAS security tags for boxed goods allow retailers to stack multiple boxes on the shelf without obscuring the packaging’s marketing value. An adhesive backed holder is attached to the item, arming the EAS box with the flip of a switch after it to slides into the carrier. Once applied and armed, the tag is able to detect illicit tampering or removal and will self-alarm if illegally detached or if it passes through the store’s EAS detection pedestals before removal.
Cost-effective way
Self-alarming tags using infrared (IR) technology can provide theft protection for small or difficult-to-tag items, like health and beauty products, sunglasses and delicate clothing, fragrances and sporting goods.
To be an effective deterrent against shoplifting, an EAS system has to work properly. If an issue with the system arises, seamless correction is a must.
More retailers are relying on Wi-Fi remote tuning for EAS systems as an innovative and cost-effective way to reduce on-site service visits. When usersplace a service call, the technician can remotely log in to the system to diagnose and, in most cases, remotely reconfigure your system so it performs at its peak.
Concealed antenna systems
Consumers returning to brick-and-mortar locations say they are looking for retail experiences that provide them with a sense of safety, comfort and security that does not feel intrusive. For luxury brands, aesthetics and lifestyle continue to be highly valued among shoppers who want to indulge in experiences that instill feelings of joy, happiness, familiarity and openness.
Several higher-end retailers are implementing concealed EAS systems to be less prominent at store entrances without sacrificing security. Luxurious, wide entrances enhance a retailer’s exterior display area and are more welcoming to customers while also offering robust anti-theft technology and reduced nuisance alarms. The more advanced concealed EAS systems are made to work with smaller, unobtrusive EAS tags often preferred by high fashion retailers.
Cost versus savings
EAS systems have earned a solid reputation for simplicity and effectiveness to protect against theft of individual items. After installing a system, retailers report a 60-to-80 percent reduction in theft. If properly maintained, systems typically last 10-15 years with minimal downtime, and some systems can last more than 15 years.
Any cost benefit comparison must take into account the cost of stock losses due to theft weighed against the initial and ongoing expenditures of a system.
Maintaining an EAS system
For many store owners, the investment in operating and maintaining an EAS system is far less expensive than the ongoing cost of theft that can have wide-ranging impacts on the business. Not only does theft account for lost sales, but can also erode customer loyalty when legitimate customers go elsewhere for better product selection because stolen products are no longer on store shelves. As a result, EAS systems guarantee that companies’ products will be effectively protected against any threats of theft that may pose a risk to their retail spaces.
With the national resources and local offices, Everon's certified professionals understand their day-to-day concerns and can design a security solution that meets the unique requirements of each location and operation.
