Prevent Retail Theft With Smart Eas Technology Seamlessly Built In

By Author: Angela M. Deisley
Total Articles: 6
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The problem of retail shrinkage is increasing worldwide. In fact, combined losses due to shoplifting, employee fraud, organized crime and inventory errors cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, according to the 2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer1 report.

The study cites several reasons for this trend, including a rise in both shoplifting and employee theft due to the recent economic crisis. Among the most stolen merchandise reported by retailers were fashion accessories, jeans, footwear, lingerie and intimate apparel.

While the cost of these stolen goods alone is a burden, the impact is multiplied by the lost sales opportunities when customers are unable to find the merchandise they want to purchase, or the accessory that goes with it. Traditional electronic article surveillance (EAS) methods only alert the retailer to the fact that something is being stolen, but there is no information about what is missing in real-time, so the merchandise cannot be quickly replenished on the sales floor.

Seamless Protection

Fortunately, with today’s advanced radio frequency identification ...
... (RFID) technology, retailers no longer need to manually attach bulky EAS tags to protect their merchandise. The TexTrace woven RFID brand label is an all-in-one EAS tag and RFID tag, discreetly integrated into a familiar textile brand label that is sewn onto each item at the time of manufacturing, staying with the item throughout its lifetime.

Because the woven RFID brand label is sewn on, as opposed to an external RFID hangtag or swing ticket that may fall off, loss prevention is particularly reliable. Not only is the label difficult to remove, but designer items would be very difficult to resell with- out a brand label.

A Perfect Fit

RFID technology is particularly well-suited to the task of tracking and protecting retail merchandise, thanks to the ability to trace each individual item with a unique identification code. If something is stolen, you can immediately identify exactly which items are missing and they can be restocked right away, making the products available to the next customer. However, sold items are easily removed from the EAS database so they no longer trigger an alarm when the customer returns to the store wearing the item.

By avoiding the hassle of attaching and removing bulky EAS tags, retailers can save both time and money. But more importantly, customers no longer need to wait in line while sales clerks wrestle to remove EAS tags, potentially damaging the product. And because manual barcode scanning is not required, the checkout process takes a fraction of the time previously required.

Overall, the TexTrace woven RFID brand label delivers a discreet and reliable all-in-one solution. In addition to providing electronic article surveillance to protect valuable merchandise on the sales floor, the sewn-on RFID label also reduces employee theft, which is estimated to account for more than 50 percent of all retail theft1.

Protect your merchandise and your brand creatively, from the manufacturing source to the point of sale and beyond, while streamlining logistics, improving the overall customer experience and building brand loyalty.

TexTrace AG, located in Frick, Switzerland, is a leader in innovative processes and components for manufacturing high-quality textile RFID labels. TexTrace is a subsidiary of Jakob Müller Holding AG, Inventor of the first machines for zipper and Velcro production, and a pioneer in developing and implementing innovative technology for the ribbon and narrow fabric industry since 1887.