Checkpoint Systems’ electronic article surveillance solution was installed before Christmas at the chain’s last 48 supermarkets to introduce the technology.
Sainsbury’s is now considering extending source tagging – where the security tag is integrated with a product’s packaging by the manufacturer – to ranges including health and beauty, alcohol and electricals. Source tags are used already on Sainsbury’s higher-risk lines, such as its Tu clothing and Jamie Oliver meat range.
The benefit of tagging at the source rather than adding security tags in stores is that, from a security point of view, products arrive at stores ready for display.
Sainsbury’s head of operational support for retail profit protection Phil Wilson said: “This allows us to pursue a wide-ranging source-tagging programme, which has huge potential benefits.
“We take the threat of shoplifting very seriously and anything we can do to reduce it is a top priority. Source tagging means we can consistently protect our products and reduce the amount of time our colleagues have to spend securing the items – that’s a double business benefit.”
Checkpoint will work with any additional Sainsbury’s suppliers that take part in the source-tagging programme to ensure that they integrate the tags with their packaging correctly.
Checkpoint UK managing director David Nuttall added that Sainsbury’s was ahead of the market with its adoption of source tagging, but that more suppliers would be persuaded to get involved if other supermarkets demanded it.
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