Luxury clothing brand Crombie has slashed store theft after introducing security tagging for the first time.

Working with security specialist Checkpoint Systems, Crombie has begun using EAS tags on its products and installed antennae in its stores.

The store that had the highest shrinkage figure has achieved a 50 per cent reduction in theft after the system was introduced several months ago.

The antennae are also being used to count visits to stores, to provide customer conversion rates and help the brand improve its store operations.

Crombie IT manager Adrian Roe said the decision to invest in technology was taken because the shrink level was eating away at the company’s bottom line. He said: “Rather than cut our budget in this area, we realised we had to invest in security to protect our margins from further erosion.”

In the longer term Crombie plans to introduce a source tagging programme that would see security tags applied to products at the point of manufacture. Checkpoint Systems said Crombie hopes to move to tags that can be woven into the garments and are deactivated at the point of sale.