Using CELLMATE to Secure your High-Value Products

With the holiday shopping season about to begin, now is the time to reconsider the cell phone security in your store or kiosk.

The annual National Retail Security Survey reported total shrinkage in 2012 was $44.25 billion, a third of which was due to shoplifting. Even more appalling, almost 41% was due to employee theft. Forty percent of shoplifted items were electronics, computers and appliances, no doubt because small electronic devices are both valuable and easily concealed.

With prepaid cellular becoming more popular, the trend is toward smaller-footprint stores with fewer live devices on display. But security is no less essential.

Easy access to devices enhances customer experience and improves sales.

Nothing sells cell phones more than a hands-on experience, though, so your retail displays can’t look like a merchandise fortress. If products are in “lock down,” customers cannot get a feel for how they work.

You need cell phone security that works, yet unobtrusively. There are a number of devices on the market now to help retailers secure small, high-value items such as:

• Cell phones.
• Tablets.
• GPS.
• Hand-held gaming devices.
• Cameras and camcorders.
• MP3 players.
• Mobile device accessories like earbuds and cases.

Most cell phone security solutions combine tethers or retractors that allow minimal movement, coupled with an alarm that alerts employees to tampering and/or theft. The most useful solutions are versatile enough to use in a variety of store or kiosk display settings.

No one understands device security needs better than Jim Palmer.

As president of Palmer Retail Solutions, he has worked directly with retailers for over a decade, designing customized merchandising displays with security enhancements that fit the needs of traditional stores, dealer stores and kiosks. He says a little-understood fact about the industry theft problem is that a significant percentage of thefts occur after hours.

To address the need for sales-forward displays that ensure tablet and cell phone security day and night, he developed CELLMATE and TabletVAULT, systems he describes as “easy to use, cost-effective and virtually foolproof.”

The Palmer CELLMATE system offers two distinct advantages:

• There are no messy adhesive pads, and there is no complex wiring. The latest CELLMATE is a locking, detachable version that allows you to quickly disconnect the top of the assembly with the phone in position and lock it away overnight, just as jewelry stores do. It snaps back into place for live display during sales hours. Palmer notes that the sight of empty display cases is an excellent theft deterrent.
• The lack of adhesives or attachments that could scratch devices means retailers can put demo models into sales rotation, rather than having to sell them at a deep discount as “floor samples.” If you’re a retailer, that’s more money in your pocket and a greater return on your investment.

Palmer says CELLMATE and its companion system, TabletVAULT, have become extremely popular with retailers since their introduction a year ago, because they’re both effective and simple to use.

With the holiday shopping (and shoplifting) season fast approaching, now is the time to think about reducing shoplifting and employee theft. Investing in the right cell phone security technology can substantially reduce your vulnerability.