The holiday shopping period is a make-or-break time for retailers, accounting for up to 40 percent of yearly sales volume (National Retail Federation) and 25 percent of annual retail profits (International Council of Shopping Centers). At the same time, the accelerated shopping driven by the holiday gift-giving creates one of the retail industry’s biggest headaches: $2.9 billion in losses due to theft and fraud in the months surrounding the holidays. This is a big chunk —about one third—- of the $8.9 billion the industry loses annually to fraud.
Retailers have few defenses against someone returning stolen merchandise for cash, or presenting a counterfeit receipt. While EAS (electronic article surveillance) systems, including those using EM (electro-magnetic) technology, can sound an alarm when an article is leaving the store as “lifted”, rather than paid-for, merchandise, they do not have the ability to alert retailers to the stealth criminal acts associated with fraud.
RFID, however, can.
RFID technology captures the precise time and location of the theft as well as vital data about the stolen merchandise, including the quantity, color, size and SKU number for each item. RFID then adjusts the store’s inventory.
Should the shoplifter attempt to return any merchandise, the RFID component in the price tag will identify the items as stolen, and reveal the precise time and location for the theft. If the merchandise or receipt have been tampered with, or falsified, RFID will detect the counterfeiting effort. Criminals can be apprehended on the spot, with ample evidence for prosecution. Once shoplifters and organized retail crime rings encounter RFID, just knowing the technology is in place will be a deterrent.
As powerful as RFID is acting alone, when combined with EAS/EM (another powerful technology), the combination can be “unbeatable” in the fight against retail crime. Recently, Truecount RFID partnered with a leading EAS/EM technology company, TAG-IT to develop a ground-breaking solution for fighting all levels of retail shrink and retail crime, including fraud. Our new CRRFID Tag is a single, highly sophisticated tag leveraging both RFID and EAS/EM. It is easy to apply, and can act as the price tag.
In simple terms, here’s how the new CRRFID Tag works. Advanced EAS/EM is in place to catch theft as it is happening—sounding the alarm when merchandise is leaving the store. Unlike other EAS tags, the CRRFID Tag cannot be defeated using foil bags or other tactics. The Tag can be read through foil and other blocking substances traditionally used by thieves. If the EAS/EM fails, RFID is there. RFID technology captures the precise time and location of the theft as well as vital data about the stolen merchandise, including the quantity, color, size and SKU number for each item. RFID then adjusts the store’s inventory.
According to the NRF, an astounding 13.4 percent of all returns are fraudulent, consisting of stolen merchandise or counterfeit receipts. So our gift to you this season is the gift of RFID; a powerful Loss Prevention/Loss Intelligence tool designed to save you $9.2 billion in losses next year. Call or email us to learn more.
Wishing a very happy, fraud-free holiday to all of our retail friends!