Last month the British Retail Consortium highlighted the tagging of expensive cuts of meat.
Now – close on its heels – come shoes.
Traditionally displayed singly, tagged shoes can now be displayed in pairs allowing customers to try them on.
Source tagging also cuts down on the need for staff assistance.
The hidden labels are integrated into the shoes and automatically destroy themselves through use.
The European shoe industry met in Barcelona last week to see how source tagging could be used by retailers. On average, Europeans buy five pairs of shoes each year.
The Shoe Source Tagging Conference heard that one client had saved up to 70 per cent of costs in a restructuring of its security protection.
Spain is setting an example in this. The number of shoes sold with source tagging has now exceeded 100 million.
One important player in the industry, Reno, is a “pioneer” in source tagging based on Checkpoint Systems’ RF solutions.
Checkpoint says: “In a climate of economic uncertainty, the footwear industry is facing two key challenges: competing for fewer customers and the inevitable surge in shrink.
“These, combined with the reality of shorter lead times and the increased demands for fast fashion, mean that shoe retailers and manufacturers need to utilise better ways of protecting and expanding their business while driving in-store efficiencies. “
The comments echo those made last month by the director general of the British Retail Consortium who said that the credit crunch would result in a rapid surge in shoplifting and conventional retail crime prevention methods should be adapted to fight it.
Said Stephen Robertson: “Retailers are preparing for a rapid rise in offences and are adapting crime prevention methods, for example, placing electronic security tags on expensive cuts of meat.”
The British Retail Consortium’s Retail Crime Survey 2008 published last month said retailers were concerned that the economic slowdown would wipe out falls in retail crime achieved over the last year.
The BRC recommended:
– Ending the “misuse of Penalty notices for Disorder which are frequently issued in circumstances outside the guidelines”.
– Sentencing that takes into account all costs, including repairs, trade lost and employee time, not just the value of the goods stolen
– Raising the knowledge and understanding of local police officers to deal with fraud and the growth of online crime.
– Continuing to move away from nationally set targets that “largely ignored business crime” and towards local setting of crime priorities.
