EAS Tags: Everything You Need to Know

Mar 4, 2022 | Anti-shoplifting

As a retailer, you need to ensure that your merchandise is protected. It is important to have security systems in place that can provide you with the tools you need to prevent shoplifting. EAS tags are one of the devices that can offer you this protection.

In this article, we will discuss EAS tags and what they can offer you as a retailer.

What is an EAS Tag?

An EAS tag, also known as an Electronic Article Surveillance tag, is in essence a signal transmitter that is attached to products in a store. If a product is taken out of a store with an EAS tag still attached or if it is not deactivated, an alarm will be triggered, alerting the store that someone is trying to steal merchandise. Thus, it is a shoplifting warning system and deterrent.

Types of EAS Tags

Although there are several different types of EAS tags they can be divided into two categories. These two types of EAS tags consist of hard and soft tags.  These two types of tags that are commonly used within the retail industry are extremely effective but are each suited to different products due to the product’s and store’s specific needs.

An EAS Hard Tag

An EAS hard tag is easily spotted, and will not scratch, dent, or damage easily. This ensures that one can reuse the tag more than once. Once the tag has been attached to the product, it cannot be removed by human hands. To remove the tag the cashier will make use of a detacher after the payment has been made.

There are different types of hard tags such as the variety used on clothes or those used on bottles, cans and boxes. Thus, these EAS hard tags are often found in supermarkets, bottle stores, clothing stores, luggage stores and more.

An EAS Soft Tag

An EAS soft tag, also known as a soft label, is a security tag that looks like a sticker. It is attached to the product by sticking the adhesive side down to the product. These labels can be disguised and hidden on products making them an effective antishoplifting tool. As with hard tags, a soft label is deactivated by the cashier after the product has been paid for.

There are different technologies that utilise soft tags and hard tags namely AM (Acoustic Magnetic), RF (Radio Frequency) and EM (Electro Magnetic).

Where to Find an EAS Tag

At Milestone, we stock and supply retailers with a variety of security and shrinkage protection devices. To find out more about EAS tags and how you can implement them in your store, contact our team.

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