6 ms·

Best Buy, Home Depot Lock Up Goods to Fight Theft

22 points by malshe 4y ago

malshe 4y ago
Paywall removed: https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-buy-home-depot-lock-up-goods-to-fight-theft-11664277331?st=c104l11bzfnauwi&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-buy-home-depot-lock-up-goo...
rolph 4y ago
remember consumers distributing ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers_Distributing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers_Distributing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise the catalogue store could make a comeback, shoplifting is hard to do like that. you can focus on insider theft and inventory shrink.
- joezydeco 4y ago
  I was thinking the same thing. And it's perfectly ready for online ordering + pickup as well.
hirundo 4y ago
My local small hardware store keeps its router bits in a locked display cabinet ... with the key in the lock. Which reminds me of a covid mask worn under the chin. There is no easy one size fits all balance between security and convenience. Besides the propinquity, that extra convenience helps keeps the little stores alive, so I can almost cheer the big boxes for this trend.
olyjohn 4y ago
And neither store has enough employees to get you any of the locked up stuff unless you wanna sit around and wait for 20 minutes for the one guy with the padlock code.
- malshe 4y ago
  In the Home Depot near my house, even finding an employee to ask for help is a chore. Often I have to walk to the front of the store to ask for help.
- rspeele 4y ago
  At my local Home Depot the router bits are displayed on peg hooks with these little red plastic anti-theft dinguses securing them. I guess it's called a "peg hook lock". Inside this device there is a spring-loaded (I think) plunger that locks it in the closed position, preventing the device and anything behind it from being removed from the hook. The "key" is really just a magnet, which when applied to the bottom of the plastic housing, pulls on that hidden internal plunger to unlock the device. One evening, after searching to no avail for an employee to help, I went to the furniture hardware aisle where they sell small magnets that you could use for drawers and the like. Borrowed one, still in its plastic clamshell packaging, and used it to remove the peg hook lock and retrieve the router bit I wanted. Then I returned the peg hook lock to its locked position, returned the magnet to its aisle, and purchased the bit feeling rather proud of myself for solving this puzzle game.
  - foxyv 4y ago
    Be very careful when doing this. Technically speaking, Asset Protection could arrest you for shoplifting between the router bit display and the cash register if they spot it. Similar to popping AP tags off of items before purchasing them.
    - Jemm 4y ago
      I would like to watch that trial.
      - foxyv 4y ago
        Tampering with theft prevention devices can be its own charge or simply be used to show intent. The reason for anti-theft devices like this isn't so much to physically prevent theft, as to require shoplifters to exhibit intent BEFORE leaving the store. If AP catches a person tampering with them then they can be arrested without having to wait for them to walk past the cashiers and doors. Edit: Example from Michigan https://www.michigancriminalattorneysblog.com/tampering-theft-detection-device/ https://www.michigancriminalattorneysblog.com/tampering-thef...
qwertyuiop_ 4y ago
wiseleo 4y ago
Replacing physical items with high fidelity video and automating the picking process when the shopper clicks add-to-cart could be sold as an improved experience. I'd add a physical add-to-cart button with real-time inventory and give shoppers a bracelet when they walk into the store. They can pair that bracelet with their phone. They can either add items digitally from their phone or browse the store and add them from item locations. Stores would transform into customer service/fulfillment locations where storing items on the floor is unnecessary.
- cwkoss 4y ago
  Sounds kind of dystopian to me. For what kind of goods would you find this style of shopping appealing? Heck you could even selectively change what appears in the aisles based on shoppers preferences. But solution looking for a problem - not sure why I wouldn't rather shop online if the content is all digital
mindcrime 4y ago
And to fight sales as well. If I find an item I want in a big-box store like that locked up, I walk away and order it on Amazon. I don't have time to wander all over the store looking for an employee with a key to come get me the item I want. As the old saw goes "Ain't nobody got time for that." And in fact, this kind of customer unfriendly b.s. is a big part of the why I don't shop in physical retail stores as much. Lowes and Home Depot both have tried very hard to dissuade me from ever entering one of their stores again with this stuff, over-reliance on "self checkout" crapola, etc. As for Best Buy, the last couple of times I've walked into the one nearest me, the shelves had a very barren, depleted look that might just be a symptom of the same supply chain issues that have been causing so many other issues. Regardless of the reason, I feel less compelled to go in there, because I don't have a lot of expectation that I'm going to find what I'm looking for. I mean, I understand that physical retail is a tough gig and all. But at the same time, if you're a retailer and you don't have product on your shelves, or the products are there but locked up, you're telling me to go somewhere else.
- jjulius 4y ago
  >If I find an item I want in a big-box store like that locked up, I walk away and order it on Amazon. I don't have time to wander all over the store looking for an employee with a key to come get me the item I want. This doesn't compute to me. You've gone to the effort, and taken time out of your day, to physically go to a Home Depot and find the product you're looking for. That's time spent doing all that, maybe at least 20 minutes or so, but you'll throw away all of that effort and time because you "don't have the time" to spend just an extra minute or two finding the employee to unlock it? What you want could be two feet in front of your face, but you'll basically kick rocks and say, "Fuck this, I'm going home"? And then, because you "don't have time", you'll wait an additional 24-48 hours?
  - mwint 4y ago
    I’m sure Home Depot and others have numbers on how much sales drop (or don’t?) when they add these locks. I’d love to see those numbers. And maybe for some people there’s an opposite effect! “Lock == valuable -> buy”
jhjghjhg 4y ago
- throwawayallday 4y ago
  - ergocoder 4y ago
jerlam 4y ago
Apple retail, by comparison, separates most of their salable product from the showroom, requiring a "runner" to pick up most items. But they were designed like this from the start, and have so many staff who can do this, so it doesn't feel like a colossal effort. And the defunct Fry's Electronics went through such weird efforts to display their products even when it made no sense, going to extremes like bolting motherboards to the wall.
Jemm 4y ago
We used to have a retail chain called Consumers Distributing. The showroom was just catalogues. You would take a slip of paper, write down the product code and take it to the desk. Someone in the back would the pick your order and it would arrive by conveyor belt to the cash. Actually worked quite well but they didn't get the impulse buyers that regular retail has.
Eleison23 4y ago
My neighbor activated a DSL connection at home, and went to Best Buy without me. She came home with a cable modem.
rdtwo 4y ago
Best Buy’s is really dumb they just hide products they have in stock. Like I tried to buy a new release game and they were all hidden and it looked like it was sold out. It was a poor strategy

22 points by malshe 4y ago

Paywall removed: https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-buy-home-depot-lock-up-goods-to-fight-theft-11664277331?st=c104l11bzfnauwi&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-buy-home-depot-lock-up-goo...

rolph 4y ago

remember consumers distributing ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers_Distributing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers_Distributing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise the catalogue store could make a comeback, shoplifting is hard to do like that. you can focus on insider theft and inventory shrink.

joezydeco 4y ago
I was thinking the same thing. And it's perfectly ready for online ordering + pickup as well.

hirundo 4y ago

My local small hardware store keeps its router bits in a locked display cabinet ... with the key in the lock. Which reminds me of a covid mask worn under the chin. There is no easy one size fits all balance between security and convenience. Besides the propinquity, that extra convenience helps keeps the little stores alive, so I can almost cheer the big boxes for this trend.

olyjohn 4y ago

And neither store has enough employees to get you any of the locked up stuff unless you wanna sit around and wait for 20 minutes for the one guy with the padlock code.

malshe 4y ago
In the Home Depot near my house, even finding an employee to ask for help is a chore. Often I have to walk to the front of the store to ask for help.
rspeele 4y ago
At my local Home Depot the router bits are displayed on peg hooks with these little red plastic anti-theft dinguses securing them. I guess it's called a "peg hook lock". Inside this device there is a spring-loaded (I think) plunger that locks it in the closed position, preventing the device and anything behind it from being removed from the hook. The "key" is really just a magnet, which when applied to the bottom of the plastic housing, pulls on that hidden internal plunger to unlock the device. One evening, after searching to no avail for an employee to help, I went to the furniture hardware aisle where they sell small magnets that you could use for drawers and the like. Borrowed one, still in its plastic clamshell packaging, and used it to remove the peg hook lock and retrieve the router bit I wanted. Then I returned the peg hook lock to its locked position, returned the magnet to its aisle, and purchased the bit feeling rather proud of myself for solving this puzzle game.
- foxyv 4y ago
  Be very careful when doing this. Technically speaking, Asset Protection could arrest you for shoplifting between the router bit display and the cash register if they spot it. Similar to popping AP tags off of items before purchasing them.
  - Jemm 4y ago
    I would like to watch that trial.
    - foxyv 4y ago
      Tampering with theft prevention devices can be its own charge or simply be used to show intent. The reason for anti-theft devices like this isn't so much to physically prevent theft, as to require shoplifters to exhibit intent BEFORE leaving the store. If AP catches a person tampering with them then they can be arrested without having to wait for them to walk past the cashiers and doors. Edit: Example from Michigan https://www.michigancriminalattorneysblog.com/tampering-theft-detection-device/ https://www.michigancriminalattorneysblog.com/tampering-thef...

qwertyuiop_ 4y ago

wiseleo 4y ago

Replacing physical items with high fidelity video and automating the picking process when the shopper clicks add-to-cart could be sold as an improved experience. I'd add a physical add-to-cart button with real-time inventory and give shoppers a bracelet when they walk into the store. They can pair that bracelet with their phone. They can either add items digitally from their phone or browse the store and add them from item locations. Stores would transform into customer service/fulfillment locations where storing items on the floor is unnecessary.

cwkoss 4y ago
Sounds kind of dystopian to me. For what kind of goods would you find this style of shopping appealing? Heck you could even selectively change what appears in the aisles based on shoppers preferences. But solution looking for a problem - not sure why I wouldn't rather shop online if the content is all digital

mindcrime 4y ago

And to fight sales as well. If I find an item I want in a big-box store like that locked up, I walk away and order it on Amazon. I don't have time to wander all over the store looking for an employee with a key to come get me the item I want. As the old saw goes "Ain't nobody got time for that." And in fact, this kind of customer unfriendly b.s. is a big part of the why I don't shop in physical retail stores as much. Lowes and Home Depot both have tried very hard to dissuade me from ever entering one of their stores again with this stuff, over-reliance on "self checkout" crapola, etc. As for Best Buy, the last couple of times I've walked into the one nearest me, the shelves had a very barren, depleted look that might just be a symptom of the same supply chain issues that have been causing so many other issues. Regardless of the reason, I feel less compelled to go in there, because I don't have a lot of expectation that I'm going to find what I'm looking for. I mean, I understand that physical retail is a tough gig and all. But at the same time, if you're a retailer and you don't have product on your shelves, or the products are there but locked up, you're telling me to go somewhere else.

jjulius 4y ago
>If I find an item I want in a big-box store like that locked up, I walk away and order it on Amazon. I don't have time to wander all over the store looking for an employee with a key to come get me the item I want. This doesn't compute to me. You've gone to the effort, and taken time out of your day, to physically go to a Home Depot and find the product you're looking for. That's time spent doing all that, maybe at least 20 minutes or so, but you'll throw away all of that effort and time because you "don't have the time" to spend just an extra minute or two finding the employee to unlock it? What you want could be two feet in front of your face, but you'll basically kick rocks and say, "Fuck this, I'm going home"? And then, because you "don't have time", you'll wait an additional 24-48 hours?
- mwint 4y ago
  I’m sure Home Depot and others have numbers on how much sales drop (or don’t?) when they add these locks. I’d love to see those numbers. And maybe for some people there’s an opposite effect! “Lock == valuable -> buy”

jhjghjhg 4y ago

throwawayallday 4y ago
- ergocoder 4y ago

jerlam 4y ago

Apple retail, by comparison, separates most of their salable product from the showroom, requiring a "runner" to pick up most items. But they were designed like this from the start, and have so many staff who can do this, so it doesn't feel like a colossal effort. And the defunct Fry's Electronics went through such weird efforts to display their products even when it made no sense, going to extremes like bolting motherboards to the wall.

Jemm 4y ago

We used to have a retail chain called Consumers Distributing. The showroom was just catalogues. You would take a slip of paper, write down the product code and take it to the desk. Someone in the back would the pick your order and it would arrive by conveyor belt to the cash. Actually worked quite well but they didn't get the impulse buyers that regular retail has.

Eleison23 4y ago

My neighbor activated a DSL connection at home, and went to Best Buy without me. She came home with a cable modem.

rdtwo 4y ago

Best Buy’s is really dumb they just hide products they have in stock. Like I tried to buy a new release game and they were all hidden and it looked like it was sold out. It was a poor strategy