Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Retailers' shoplifting battle is still costing consumers But new technology, law enforcement gaining ground
Recession weary retailers are making headway in a game of
one-upmanship with increasingly savvy shoplifters, but consumers still
are paying too high a price, according to recent studies.
Experts estimate the average family pays between $400 and $2,000 a year as a result of merchants and manufacturers increasing what they charge to offset their losses.
Those losses totaled $34.5 billion nationwide in 2011, according to the latest survey conducted by the University of Florida for the National Retail Federation.
But, that was down $2.6 billion from 2010.
Study author and UF criminology professor Dr. Richard Hollinger credits new anti-theft technologies and refocused law enforcement efforts for the reduction.
The U.S. Secret Service, FDLE and Broward Sheriff's Office are treating shoplifting more like racketeering and fraud, according to BSO Sgt. Rich Rossman.
"A lot of times law enforcement looks at this as an isolated incident, as just a [lone] shoplifter," Rossman said. "That's why we formed the Organized Retail Crime Unit to look at the bigger picture."
That's what led to the recent arrests of Michael Pollara, his mother Margaret and Travis Simpson in Broward.
Michael Pollara is accused of shoplifting $2 million worth of toys and other items from thousands of stores over a 10 year period.
"Without a doubt this is the most prolific booster, the term for a shoplifter, that we've ever come across," Rossman said.
New technologies allow retailers to get the upper hand too, according to Lee Pernice, director of retail and marketing for Boca Raton-based Tyco Integrated Security.
Organized retail crime usually involves one or more people who either distract salespeople or act as lookouts during the theft. It also can be a group of thieves targeting specific expensive items for resale on the Internet or on the street, Pernice said.
"We had a report about a gentleman who had a network of thieves, like 30 or 40 of them, and he would commission them to go out and steal certain products he was interested in and he would pay them," she said. "Over the Internet, you can pose as a legitimate reseller of merchandise and get 50 cents on the dollar."
Some thieves line shopping bags or baby carriages or clothing with several layers of aluminum foil. They hope to defeat doorway sensors that sound an alarm when merchandise with radio frequency identification tags passes through them.
However, newer sensors will sound a silent alarm the moment a metallic 'booster bag' enters a store, Pernice said.
"You can program those sensors to provide a unique signal to the store management so they understand it wasn't just a typical alarm for people leaving the store but rather a warning that potential shoplifters have entered the store," she said.
That alarm can be a beam or a beacon to alert guards in the security office. It can be sent to a mobile device. Those sensors at the doors can be linked to movable video cameras that can target the entrance and follow whoever triggered that 'booster bag' alert, Pernice said.
Shoplifters often defeat ceiling-mounted surveillance cameras and monitors by wearing a hat and sunglasses or by looking down at the floor.
But, cameras are so small now they can be embedded in door frames and counter tops to get digitally accurate images of a person's face and identify them through online databases, Pernice said.
Video monitors are being placed at eye level on store shelves near high theft items such as baby formula. The monitors display advertising until someone gets near enough to automatically activate a video recorder and when then they see their own face on the screen it acts as a shoplifting deterrent, Pernice said.
Retailers are starting to see shoplifters using 'jammers,' common in Europe, that mimic the signals door sensors emit and all the electronic interference shuts down the security system.
But, the newer systems also have the ability to detect those jamming devices and alert store personnel, according to Karen Bomber, director of softgoods solutions marketing for Tyco.
"You can [confront] the shoplifter before the theft even occurs," she said.
"It's always been amazing the lengths people will go to creatively steal, and some of them are pretty smart," Pernice said.
What really surprises Galindez is how shoplifters keep getting out of jail with little or no punishment.
"They just keep getting a slap on the hand and probation and they continue doing the same thing," she said. "What's going to stop them?"
Merchants are betting on anti-theft technology.
Experts estimate the average family pays between $400 and $2,000 a year as a result of merchants and manufacturers increasing what they charge to offset their losses.
Those losses totaled $34.5 billion nationwide in 2011, according to the latest survey conducted by the University of Florida for the National Retail Federation.
But, that was down $2.6 billion from 2010.
Study author and UF criminology professor Dr. Richard Hollinger credits new anti-theft technologies and refocused law enforcement efforts for the reduction.
The U.S. Secret Service, FDLE and Broward Sheriff's Office are treating shoplifting more like racketeering and fraud, according to BSO Sgt. Rich Rossman.
"A lot of times law enforcement looks at this as an isolated incident, as just a [lone] shoplifter," Rossman said. "That's why we formed the Organized Retail Crime Unit to look at the bigger picture."
That's what led to the recent arrests of Michael Pollara, his mother Margaret and Travis Simpson in Broward.
Michael Pollara is accused of shoplifting $2 million worth of toys and other items from thousands of stores over a 10 year period.
"Without a doubt this is the most prolific booster, the term for a shoplifter, that we've ever come across," Rossman said.
New technologies allow retailers to get the upper hand too, according to Lee Pernice, director of retail and marketing for Boca Raton-based Tyco Integrated Security.
Organized retail crime usually involves one or more people who either distract salespeople or act as lookouts during the theft. It also can be a group of thieves targeting specific expensive items for resale on the Internet or on the street, Pernice said.
"We had a report about a gentleman who had a network of thieves, like 30 or 40 of them, and he would commission them to go out and steal certain products he was interested in and he would pay them," she said. "Over the Internet, you can pose as a legitimate reseller of merchandise and get 50 cents on the dollar."
Some thieves line shopping bags or baby carriages or clothing with several layers of aluminum foil. They hope to defeat doorway sensors that sound an alarm when merchandise with radio frequency identification tags passes through them.
However, newer sensors will sound a silent alarm the moment a metallic 'booster bag' enters a store, Pernice said.
"You can program those sensors to provide a unique signal to the store management so they understand it wasn't just a typical alarm for people leaving the store but rather a warning that potential shoplifters have entered the store," she said.
That alarm can be a beam or a beacon to alert guards in the security office. It can be sent to a mobile device. Those sensors at the doors can be linked to movable video cameras that can target the entrance and follow whoever triggered that 'booster bag' alert, Pernice said.
Shoplifters often defeat ceiling-mounted surveillance cameras and monitors by wearing a hat and sunglasses or by looking down at the floor.
But, cameras are so small now they can be embedded in door frames and counter tops to get digitally accurate images of a person's face and identify them through online databases, Pernice said.
Video monitors are being placed at eye level on store shelves near high theft items such as baby formula. The monitors display advertising until someone gets near enough to automatically activate a video recorder and when then they see their own face on the screen it acts as a shoplifting deterrent, Pernice said.
Retailers are starting to see shoplifters using 'jammers,' common in Europe, that mimic the signals door sensors emit and all the electronic interference shuts down the security system.
But, the newer systems also have the ability to detect those jamming devices and alert store personnel, according to Karen Bomber, director of softgoods solutions marketing for Tyco.
"You can [confront] the shoplifter before the theft even occurs," she said.
"It's always been amazing the lengths people will go to creatively steal, and some of them are pretty smart," Pernice said.
What really surprises Galindez is how shoplifters keep getting out of jail with little or no punishment.
"They just keep getting a slap on the hand and probation and they continue doing the same thing," she said. "What's going to stop them?"
Merchants are betting on anti-theft technology.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Five practices for global brand success
A strong, scalable business model is a major advantage for multinational companies (MNCs).
In addition, these companies typically have:
MNC brands can succeed at disrupting the status quo in a new market by following five steps:
One of the biggest challenges faced by global marketers is how best to communicate across countries and cultures.
In addition, these companies typically have:
- An extraordinary depth of management talent that allows them to out-think the competition and survive changes in leadership.
- The best advice from their global media, advertising and research agencies.
- Global Research and Development capabilities that provide a constant stream of innovation and can readily adapt existing products and services to meet new market needs.
- An understanding of what is likely to work in a new market based on experience elsewhere.
- Big marketing budgets with which to establish their brands. If their first attempt to enter a market fails, they have the resources to try again, using research to understand where they went wrong and how they might do better.
MNC brands can succeed at disrupting the status quo in a new market by following five steps:
- Adapting products and services to meet local needs and tastes
- Solving the local value equation through product and pricing strategies
- Creating a strong presence and a distinctive identity
- Adopting more aggressive point-of-purchase tactics
- Getting as close to the local culture as is possible
One of the biggest challenges faced by global marketers is how best to communicate across countries and cultures.
Five brand success factors
An efficient and scalable business model combined with innovation is
necessary to stay ahead of the competition. But individually these are
not sufficient to make a successful global brand. Five further
overlapping components are required:
Which brand epitomizes these success factors? Apple. In the 2008 Millward Brown BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking, Apple's brand value increased 128 percent as a result of strong business growth based on innovation and strong customer loyalty.
1. A great brand experience
Brand experience is not limited to the product or service. Every contact with the brand counts.2. A clear and consistent positioning
People need to know what a brand stands for. That's why an established and successful marketing campaign should not be abandoned simply for the sake of saying something new. When change is required, the challenge is to re-interpret the brand positioning in a way that is appropriate to the current time and culture.3. A sense of dynamism
Innovation is key to brand success but it is not limited to the functional benefits of the brand. A brand that sets the trends rather than reacting to them is likely to be seen as different and more popular.4. A sense of authenticity
Today consumers in developed countries have a finely tuned sense for what is true and authentic versus shallow and contrived. They are still drawn to brands with a strong heritage.5. A strong corporate culture
Today people seek out brands that display their values by the actions they take. In industries with a strong customer-service component it is particularly important that everyone involved with the brand understands and embodies its values.Which brand epitomizes these success factors? Apple. In the 2008 Millward Brown BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking, Apple's brand value increased 128 percent as a result of strong business growth based on innovation and strong customer loyalty.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Golden Rules for Guided Innovation
How can corporate leaders guide innovation within their own
organizations? According to Diane Beecher, The Brand Consultancy’s CEO
and Senior Strategist, suggests the following Eight Golden Rules for
Guided Innovation.
- Understand the customer. Listen to your customer’s thoughts and ideas, in their own words. Don’t ask questions; let them respond to ideas.
- The customer is the boss. The customer’s ideas should carry more weight than senior leadership teams or even the CEO. The Brand Consultancy’s process involves capturing the senior teams’ hypotheses and validating them with the marketplace. If a concept doesn’t fly, evolve the seed idea in a way that resonates with customers.
- Listen to all organizational levels. Internal brainstorming should not come only from the R&D and senior teams. Solicit and consider the perspective of employees with customer touch points throughout the organization. A cross-functional support perspective is also valuable.
- Include external ideas. Internal perspectives are valuable, but ideas generated internally may be created by those wearing industry or organizational blinders. Solicit ideas from a variety of external constituencies, including current, lost and prospective customers; vendors; creative panels; and any other relevant audience. Optimized idea selection should be limited to current and prospective customers.
- Be practical. You must be open to all ideas, but practical in response. Feasibility filters (time, money, resources, and impact) and competitive perspective must be applied to the ideas selected by customers.
- Create a replicable, scalable process. The innovation process should be replicable and scalable, to encourage and advance a culture of innovation within the organization.
- Get leadership buy-in. As with any organizational change, leadership must embrace the process for it to be successful and generate tangible, measurable and profitable results.
- Make a business case. The process must always include making the business case. If profit is not considered, then the process and the outcomes are not sustainable.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Three Tips For Better Nature Photography
Regardless of the subject matter you photograph, it’s good to have
lots of tricks in your repertoire. You never know when it will be time
to pull one out of your hip pocket. Knowing they’re there is comforting.
If you’re a seasoned veteran, it’s good to review the basics to keep
them ingrained. If you’re a beginner, it’s good to learn and apply as
many as you can comfortably absorb. The beauty about photography is the
learning is unending. Whether it’s reinforcing what you’ve already
learned or trying out something you’ve never done, the “aha” moments
never cease. Having just returned from leading one of my nature
photography tours, there were three scenarios among my participants
that kept repeating themselves. Hence the reason for my choice of the
following three tips.
Histogram (wildlife and scenics): check your histogram often! Over the years teaching digital photography, I’ve seen a trend develop. In that I came from the school of shooting slide film, it’s a bit disconcerting. Many photographers no longer worry about nailing the perfect exposure as they feel it can be corrected in post production. While this may be true to some extent, the more perfect the initial capture, the better the end result. If the photo is underexposed, there will be noise in the shadows. If it’s overexposed, highlight detail is sacrificed. Either circumstance robs the image of its potential. The most common error I encounter among my workshop participants is they expose the image to look saturated on the LCD. Invariably, this will create an underexposed file. A simple check of the histogram will show too many pixels on the left side with not enough on the right. If you are guilty of this syndrome, I implore you to use your histogram to obtain the best possible exposure of the scene.
Shoot for HDR (scenics): For those unfamiliar with
High Dynamic Range, a digital sensor is capable of capturing a limited
range of exposure contrast. But by making a series of exposures where
one is based on the meter reading, a second is underexposed to record
highlight detail, and a third is overexposed to record shadow detail,
the dynamic range can be expanded. Software such as Nik HDR Efex Pro and
Photomatix synthesize the series of exposures into a single capture
that reveals detail in the shadows, mid-tones and highlights. The effect
can be achieved in Photoshop using layers but it’s time consuming and
detailed. It’s better if all the exposures are aligned so it behooves
you to place the camera on a tripod and set it to auto-bracketing. This
ensures each bracketed photo in the series will be in registration.
Depending on the contrast range, the under and over exposed images can
be either one or two stops. If the technique is new to you, I suggest
you create a series of five images starting with 2 stops under / 1 stop
under / on the meter reading / 1 stop over / 2 stops over. As you create
more and more HDR photographs, you’ll learn just what range will net
the best effect.
Watch for Behavior or Interaction (wildlife): Photographing animals in the wild is a thrill. When they allow you to enter their space, providing it’s safe, it gets even better. It makes the photographer feel accepted. I used to think there could be nothing more desirable. But as time went on and I continuously captured more full frame shots, I wanted something different - I wanted action, movement, interaction. I soon realized that these are the images that have more impact and drama. Images of animals simply standing in their environment are very common. Being patient and persistent, waiting for the moment the animal does something, provides an image with more interest. More than likely it will be fleeting so it’s essential to keep your eye glued to the viewfinder and your finger on the shutter. Yes, it’s work, but rewards come to those who work hard.
Histogram (wildlife and scenics): check your histogram often! Over the years teaching digital photography, I’ve seen a trend develop. In that I came from the school of shooting slide film, it’s a bit disconcerting. Many photographers no longer worry about nailing the perfect exposure as they feel it can be corrected in post production. While this may be true to some extent, the more perfect the initial capture, the better the end result. If the photo is underexposed, there will be noise in the shadows. If it’s overexposed, highlight detail is sacrificed. Either circumstance robs the image of its potential. The most common error I encounter among my workshop participants is they expose the image to look saturated on the LCD. Invariably, this will create an underexposed file. A simple check of the histogram will show too many pixels on the left side with not enough on the right. If you are guilty of this syndrome, I implore you to use your histogram to obtain the best possible exposure of the scene.
© Russell Burden
© Russell Burden
Watch for Behavior or Interaction (wildlife): Photographing animals in the wild is a thrill. When they allow you to enter their space, providing it’s safe, it gets even better. It makes the photographer feel accepted. I used to think there could be nothing more desirable. But as time went on and I continuously captured more full frame shots, I wanted something different - I wanted action, movement, interaction. I soon realized that these are the images that have more impact and drama. Images of animals simply standing in their environment are very common. Being patient and persistent, waiting for the moment the animal does something, provides an image with more interest. More than likely it will be fleeting so it’s essential to keep your eye glued to the viewfinder and your finger on the shutter. Yes, it’s work, but rewards come to those who work hard.
© Russell Burden
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