Retailer Questions

1. What are the key benefits to implementing a source tagging program?
2. How does a retailer decide which items require source tagging?
3. How do retailers get their merchandising personnel (buyers) involved with source tagging?
4. What challenges are experienced at the store level when implementing source tagging?
5. How do retailers confirm the amount of source tagging coverage they are receiving in their stores?
6. Should new products be source tagged when they are introduced to the market or after they have an established sales and/or shrink history?
7. What are the source tagging options for soft goods retailers?
8. How does a retailer enforce source tagging compliance expectations with their vendors?
9. Does fractional tagging provide the same benefits as full tagging compliance?
10. How does a retailer successfully manage a source tagging program long term?
11. What solutions exist for difficult to tag products?

Source tagging offers many opportunities to reduce shrink, enhance sales, eliminate labor dollars and improve customer service. Examples include:

• An EAS label applied onto or into the product or packaging provides a strong theft deterrent, while preserving packaging aesthetics.
• Products are tagged consistently.
• Increased sales through open merchandising by taking products out of lock up or from behind counters.
• Eliminating in-store EAS tagging.
• Store associates are able to focus on customer service.

• Merchants and buyers should analyze sales against shrink for their category to determine vulnerable items or categories.
• In a typically high shrink category, such as batteries, razor blades or HBC, selecting product categories instead of item level will promote higher sales while reducing theft migration.
• Loss prevention will work directly with their merchants to identify high shrink items.

• Top management will make the decision to source tag.
• A successful program takes continuous communication between loss prevention, operations, merchandising and executive level personnel.
• Shrink incentives can be implemented for buyers who deal directly in high theft categories.
• Source tagging should be an integral component of all vendor agreements with expectations and compliance clearly identified for each manufacturer.

• Because EAS label protection has been moved from the store to the manufacturer or packaging supplier, the challenges within the retail environment are virtually eliminated.
• Cashier training and continuous communication will eliminate any inadvertent failures to deactivate at the POS.
• Regular internal spot audits, utilizing a label verifier will ensure that the products received into the store that are selected to be source tagged, are within the retailers required guidelines.

Periodic source tagging audits are performed at the point of receiving, or within the store shelves to determine the level of compliance for each category and vendor.

• It depends on the category, and the market. Open communication between the buyer and the manufacturer will help to define high risk new release products.
• Known theft reports, industry analysis, consumer demand and history all play a part in determining if a product is at high risk of theft.

The Visible Source Tag (VST) and the sewn-in label solution are the two most effective means to source tag apparel. Much like a traditional hard tag, the VST offers a higher level of security and deterrence, while the sewn-in label provides discreet EAS protection. Both solutions are applied at the manufacturing level and require either tag removal or deactivation at the retail POS.

• Source tagging expectations need to be clearly identified and communicated in the retail vendor supply agreements.
• Non-compliance of retail expectations should be discussed with each vendor to ensure every person understands the significance of the source tagging objective. Non-compliance should be addressed in the vendor supply agreements.

Particularly with organized retail crime and professional thieves, entire sku or category thefts can happen within any store environment. By achieving full source tagging compliance within all designated product areas, would-be thieves are less likely to remove merchandise successfully. With 100% compliance coverage, retailers ensure all source tagged products receive the same amount of theft protection while thieves target other stores with little or no EAS coverage.

For retailers to gain the maximum program benefits, it is important to conduct periodic reviews with loss prevention, operations, merchandising and executive level personnel. This guarantees all parties agree with shrink objectives as it relates to source tagging. Source tagging is a management tool that requires consistent commitment in order to reach its optimal performance. Regular maintenance, analysis and discussion between suppliers and buyers are key to its success. Source tagging updates, including key shrink categories and high risk vendors, should be communicated regularly with loss prevention, corporate merchandising and store level management.

Sensormatic^® has partnered with Value Added Resellers (VARs) around the globe who offer many styles of converted EAS tags and labels that can be applied to virtually any type of product or packaging. Challenging products including cosmetics, jewelry/watches, eyeglasses, bottles, sporting goods, DIY etc. have all been successfully protected with the AM label embedded into a customer solution specific to your product needs.

	Related Website Pages
	Glossary Of Terms Manufacturers Getting Started Manufacturer FAQ's Retailers Getting Started Source Tagging Overview

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