Department Store EAS Systems: Why They Don't Impact Shoplifting

Electronic Article Surveillance (or EAS) is a fancy name for those big, metal or plastic posts you see at the entrance and exit doors of department stores, supermarkets, shopping malls, etc. They're supposed to let you know when a shoplifter has concealed an item and (in a perfect world) will beep when he/she leaves the store. EAS is a deterrent-or it's supposed to be a deterrent to shoplifting. It's never worked in my opinion and they've always been more trouble than they've been worth in my opinion. Real shoplifters laugh when they see an EAS system. They're so defeatable that during daily tests at one store, we could smuggle out merchandise 10 out of 10 times.

The EAS system is simple in structure. The posts one walks through on the way in or out of the store detect a sticky (or hard plastic) tag affixed to the product. When a tag is detected by the system, it's supposed to beep and alert the store that an item might be walking out without being paid for.

Here's the EAS protocol for every store I worked in that had them. These are the rules the store tells you to follow.

1.) Shopper goes through the door and the system beeps (or yells at you) alerting you to return to the store.

2.) A clerk asks the shopper to walk through the posts again.

3.) If the system activates when the person walks through , the clerk is then supposed to ask the shopper if "there is something they may have forgotten to pay for"

4.) The shopper may give up the item at this point and say something like, "Oh, I changed my mind and no longer wish to purchase this $20 package of razor blades. Have a good day" The customer leaves the store and the razor blades are returned to the shelf.

5.) If the customer refuses to walk back into the store, the clerk is advised to do nothing-except perhaps make a notation in a special notebook that a customer has refused to stop,

Here's what really happens:

The customer walks through the door. The system goes off and the customer continues on his/her way. A store employee may turn his/her head towards the door, but for the most part, the alarm is ignored. The customer walks on his.her way. No one stops them. The system gets dusty and covered with cobwebs. You lose your razor blades several times a day.

Here's why that happens:

The EAS pedestals only work for honest customers. Honest people are the ones who come back into the store and get a tag removed or have one deactivated. Lots of factors can affect a false positive. The customer may have a tag on them from a purchase in another store, there may be a problem with the system itself, the pedestals may be too close together, the system may be located too close to a fire alarm system (I learned that from an EAS tech) and some EAS tags are built directly into the heels and soles of some shoes and may go off at one store, but not another. Sometimes cards that swipe and open a locked door at your hotel, condo or place of business can set them off. That's why you can't stop a suspected shoplifter when the beeper goes off. There's too many mistakes that can be made-and mistakes can sometimes turn into lawsuits. When the buzzer goes off-the shoplifter walks free.Employees know this and basically ignore the system.

Sometimes mistakes are made by the cashier. Have you ever had to return to the same store (or a different store) to have one of those hard plastic tags (called gator tags) removed from your new clothing purchase. It happens, which is another reason one must be polite and business-like if they decide to ask someone to return inside. Upset an honest customer and you'll never see them again.

Some shoplifters have come up with ingenious ways to defeat EAS, The easiest way, of course, is to remove the sticky tag on whatever it is you're buying. Clothing (using gator tags) is more difficult, but they can be removed by either purchasing a tag remover from a retail associate or eBay, or perhaps walking over to an empty register and doing it yourself. I tell you this, not so you'll attempt to start a life of crime, but so you'll realize just how ineffective EAS (and the stores that use them) is/are.Some manufacturers (such as razor blade companies) install the tag in the packaging, making it difficut to remove the tag without ripping open the package. Some shoplifters simply hold the item(s) they are stealing over the top of the pedestals and walk out. The pedestals will not pick up a signal in this manner. The best method I've seen is a woman who attempted to steal 50 DVD's by using a shopping bag lined with several layers of aluminum foil and duct tape. It's called a Booster Bag. She didn't get away with it.

Why Keep the Systems at the Doors when they're ineffective?

3 reasons.

1.) It's company policy

2.) They look good. It does actually look better than nothing being there.)

3.) The stores have contracted with the EAS companies for long term contracts. The last store I worked in (a supermarket chain) had a deal where the pedestals were installed for free as long as a certain amount of EAS tags were purchased during the year. Tags are EXPENSIVE. The store managers hate to pay for them out of their low budgets and the Loss Prevention Departments are insisting they be bought. It's a never ending battle.

Ask any store manager how many people he/she has tagging merchandise each day in an effort to reduce theft in their stores and they'll probably laugh. EAS compliance is a VERY low priority at the big chains. The only times you'll see employees tagging merchandise is when they fail a loss prevention audit. Then they move their butts for a few weeks or so, until they fail the next audit.

Happy Shopping!