Spotlight on the bottle cap tag

Security tags come in a range of sizes and shapes, with some designed to accommodate specific purposes and products. One such security tag is the bottle cap tag.

Designed to guard against the shoplifting and theft of liquor, bottle cap tags are available in a series of sizes to accommodate both RF and AM electronic article surveillance systems.

Here’s how they work and the benefits they offer.

Some facts about liquor theft

According to the most recent Global Retail Theft Barometer, wines and spirits rank as the most commonly stolen items in the US food and beverage vertical.

And in many ways the reason for their pilfering popularity is obvious. Not only are wines and spirits sought after for personal consumption, but high-end brands also command a high resale value.

That makes liquor a target for casual shoplifters stealing out of addiction, opportunistic juvenile thieves stealing for the thrill and also organized retail crime, who steal to re-sell the items.

The Global Retail Theft Barometer also explains spirits and wines are relatively easy to conceal, making them a natural target for shoplifting and theft.

In North America, that’s resulted in a spike in liquor thefts in recent years, especially in Canada where liquor theft has been labelled an epidemic in areas like Winnipeg and Alberta.

CBC news recently reported robberies at liquor stores in Winnipeg had been spiking for more than a year, “with thieves boldly swarming the aisles and filling backpacks and other bags with armloads of bottles before walking past staff, who have been warned not to intervene out of fear of attacks”.

“At times, staff have been threatened with weapons, including knives and pepper spray. In other cases, thieves have picked up bottles and used them as weapons, too”.

And it’s not just north of the Canadian border where an increase in thefts is occurring.

On March 2, sheriffs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana put out a call for public assistance after a couple went on a shoplifting spree, stealing liquor from multiple retailers throughout the capital area.

And that’s where targeted loss prevention strategies like bottle cap tags come into their own.

What is a bottle cap tag?

Suited to a range of bottle sizes, bottle cap tags fit over the cap of the liquor or wine bottle and lock into position. They can only be removed with a specialist magnetic detacher.

Each tag is also fitted with a receiver that will alarm when in the proximity of the store’s electronic article surveillance (EAS) during an attempted theft.

Together, these two strategies ensure the bottle cannot be opened for the contents to be consumed instore, while any attempted theft of the bottle will cause an alarm to sound.

Bottlecap tags are available to suit both AM (acousto magnetic) and RF (radio frequency) EAS systems, making them compatible with existing EAS systems that are likely to be on the premises.

They are available in both small and large sizes to suit wine and spirits including top-shelf liquors, champagnes and standard wine bottle openings.

Advantages

Easy to fit and reusable, bottle cap tags offer a host of benefits, including:

• Eliminating alcohol consumption instore
• Activating an alarm during a theft
• Easy to apply
• Reusable
• Available for RF or AM EAS systems
• Available in a range of sizes
• Easy to remove at the Point of Sale
• Act as a deterrent to liquor theft
• Available in bulk
• Cost effective to implement

You can order the Bottle Cap tag here.