No bars to shopping fun

Losses through theft are serious. Many measures are actually effective against shoplifters, but they also prevent customers from making a purchase. This is the conclusion reached by GfK, a consumer research association, in a survey carried out in collaboration with Checkpoint Systems, a leading supplier of article surveillance systems.GfK collected the opinions of 1 200 consumers in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain on a variety of anti-theft measures. The result: 83 per cent of European consumers want to have unlimited access to a product before making their purchasing decision. The accessibility of the product is a must for the consumers surveyed when they go shopping: 84 per cent have to see the product in its entirety, and convenient access to it is essential before making a purchasing decision for 83 per cent of respondents. What is more, consumers want to be able to read information without hindrance and without having to rely on the assistance of sales staff.Locked displays of goods have already deterred 73 per cent of European consumers at least once from buying some product. According to a comparison of European companies, German consumers are among the leaders in this field. At a score of 84 per cent they are shown to be "less tolerant" than average. Although the majority in Britain (70 per cent) and Spain (53 per cent) also reject the idea of locked showcases, the figures are considerably lower there.But there are other ways of tackling the problem. Invisible article protection that can be integrated during the manufacturing process in the shape of RF (radio frequency) labels, for example, facilitate unlimited access to the product. This solution is welcomed by European consumers: as revealed by the GfK survey, article surveillance "at source" is the most satisfactory solution for 81 per cent of respondents. "These results make it absolutely clear that invisible surveillance systems have a high priority for consumers. They not only provide effective protection against shoplifting, but also at the same time transform anti-theft systems into sales-boosting features," says Marie-Christine Jean, consumer studies manager at GfK.Participants in the GfK study are largely in agreement that an increased use of the hi-tech RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology might also be beneficial. More than 90 per cent are interested in the potential offered by RFID applications. These include product information at the point of sale, as well…