Placing products under lock and key, increasing guards at the entrance and exit, and installing new security cameras, these are some of the measures retailers are taking to try to stop shoplifting. But that’s not enough, especially when it comes to clothing stores. That’s why Bloomberg reports that Zara’s owner company, Inditex SA., the world’s largest publicly held clothing retailer, is studying a new solution: weaving wires that emit radio signals into some garments, turning the items themselves into anti-theft devices.
In collaboration with a small RFID automatic identification technology company, Myruns, and telecommunications operator Telefónica SA, Inditex is reportedly developing a next-generation anti-theft wire that is so thin as to be imperceptible to the naked eye. This is being produced by Myruns with a conductive ink derived from cellulose that can transmit signals when someone leaves the store without having deactivated the anti-theft device. The thread would replace aluminum, the material currently used, and is completely biodegradable.
Weaving anti-shoplifting fabrics directly to the garment might be the most viable option, especially if the retailer has installed self-checkout checkouts, where the customer pays independently, without going to the clerk to remove hard plastic alarms from the clothes, as in the case of Zara. It is unclear, however, how Inditex manages to implement this technology in all stores and to all items worldwide.
In a recent survey, the National Retail Foundation reported that due to theft, which can be done by strangers but also by same-store employees, there is a loss in U.S. sales of $73 billion in 2022.
