The Business:
Over the past 13 years Ward Saito and his brother Ross have successfully owned and operated several Canadian Tire Dealer Associate stores in Western Canada.  They currently own 4 Vancouver area stores and have applied their knowledge of customers, merchandising, operations, and loss prevention to make these businesses highly successful.

The Situation:
Part of the merchandising options available to Canadian Tire Dealers includes the use of showcase cabinets and locked cages to secure product on the floor.  Although these options help with theft prevention they also severely inhibit the shopping experience of regular honest customers. 

 

 

The Saito’s saw this first hand in their stores where the volume was high and it took too much of the staff’s time to help customers with merchandise locked up behind cages or showcase cabinets.  The other issue with merchandising product in a locked cabinet is the lack of space and the resulting poor presentation. “You lose up to 10-20% merchandisable space in a locked cage” Ward notes.  You simply cannot get as much product inside as you need to and this leads to the display not presenting as it should.  The result was lower sales for key product categories such as power tools.

 

The Process:
Ross Saito learned of a security solution that would allow them to openly display high risk items normally secured in locked cages. 

This device is called a Spider Wrap and it is compatible with the stores existing EAS Checkpoint system.  The Spider Wrap has 4 air craft cable wires that envelope and cinch down tightly around packaged merchandise.  There are different models of various sizes and embedded technology.  An Alarming Spider Wrap sounds an alarm when a thief tries to cut the cables or tampers with the device. 

Ross Saito first used the Spider Wrap in his Cambie store and found it beneficially immediately.  The staff was freed from attending locked displays, customers had access to merchandise they wanted to buy, and theft was not a major issue. 

 

Implementation:
Ward Saito moved forward with Spider Wraps in his Grandview Highway store in Vancouver with the power tool section.  Working with Halo Metrics he tested the Spider Wraps on his Lock Sets as these were a high theft item that was typically locked up.  The test was successful on many fronts as the Lock Sets could now be safely displayed in the open while controlling the risk of theft. 

 

 

Halo Metrics provided full training and resources to help staff feel comfortable and confident with using the Spider Wraps.  To make the operational implementation as seamless as possible SKU’s that were going to have the Spider Wrap applied were flagged in the Equity inventory system.  Price point and shrink risk determined which product would get protected.  As shipments would arrive in receiving staff would immediately separate the flagged SKU’s and apply the Spider Wrap on the spot.

 

The security keys used to remove the Spider Wrap were installed at every cash till.  Collected Spider Wraps are removed from the cash area and are held in Customer Service until taken away by the warehouse.  To keep the process as efficient as possible Ward recommends using a select few staff to apply the Spider Wrap to merchandise.  They become very proficient and quick in the installation of the security solution.

 

Conclusion:
Using the Spider Wrap does take some commitment but the payoff is worth it.  As soon you move merchandise out of locked cages and showcase cabinets and onto open displays you will see a sales lift.  Beyond the noticeable sales increase other benefits include:

• Customers have a better experience as they can freely shop open displays
• Spider Wrapped product is easier to merchandise on display and presents the product as intended
• Merchandise remains secured and risk of theft is controlled
• Staff is confident that packaged merchandise remains intact and is safe from pilfering
• Sales labour can be efficiently used to sell more product rather than servicing locked displays

 

 

 

Ward Saito
Associate Dealer
Greater Vancouver Associate Stores Ltd.