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Zara Finds Shoplifters Outsmarted Its New Security System (bloomberg.com) 97

Posted by msmash from the oops dept.
Inditex is racing to iron bugs out of a new anti-shoplifting system for its Zara stores, slightly delaying its rollout partly because the security tags were easy to identify and remove in initial tests, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: Chief Executive Officer Oscar Garcia Maceiras unveiled the new technology in March and pledged to roll it out for tests in all Zara stores worldwide over the summer. The system relies on tiny chips known as RFID, doing away with the hard plastic tags on garments that require checkout clerks to remove them. The new technology has run into teething issues. Staff in several countries have raised concerns to management that the technology may actually make theft easier, according to the people, who asked not to be identified.
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Zara Finds Shoplifters Outsmarted Its New Security System More

Zara Finds Shoplifters Outsmarted Its New Security System

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  • I guess this is the same story: https://finance.yahoo.com/news... [yahoo.com]

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:paywall (Score:4, Interesting)

        by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @02:25PM (#63842450)

        Yeah, it's anti-theft in the same way a car alarm is.

        I think the big innovation here is the tags are smaller and (maybe) better hidden/sewn directly into the garment?

        I don't know, if I was a conspiracy theorist, I would be more concerned about having non-removable RFID chips in my clothing...

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Conspiracy theory (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Firethorn ( 177587 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @02:36PM (#63842488) Homepage Journal

          I think you're actually in the equivalent of the uncanny valley.

          Conspiracy theorists are worried about the government using vaccines to inject tracking microchips directly into you.
          Real world security people just track your cell phone.

          As the security people have told me, with cellphones:
          1. People carry them all the time
          2. People keep them charged
          3. People even pay for them
          4. They have integrated cameras and microphones

          The problem with hiding RFID chips in your clothing is that you'd change your identity every time you change clothing. While for many guys, chipping their shoes would work "most" of the time, for many women, you'd need to build a huge list to keep track of them - and with "matched" outfits, you wouldn't have, say, the shoes showing up with different dresses consistently enough to associate them all with the same woman.

          Also, with basically no power budget for the RFID chip, you'd need to put readers all over the place to actually track people. Expensive.

          Cell phone tracking rounds to "free" in comparison.

        • I think the big innovation here is the tags are smaller and (maybe) better hidden/sewn directly into the garment?

          I don't know, if I was a conspiracy theorist, I would be more concerned about having non-removable RFID chips in my clothing...

          Having them sewn-in or otherwise non-removable seems problematic. What about if/when you purchase something then wear it when visiting the store later? I didn't see any info on TFA/S, so is the chip somehow deactivated when purchased? Also, we have enough problems with micro-plastics in the environment, now we'll have to worry about micro-RFID chips when they eventually wash out. At least the old/current bulky anti-theft tags are removed at the store and reused.

          • What about if/when you purchase something then wear it when visiting the store later? I didn't see any info on TFA/S, so is the chip somehow deactivated when purchased?

            If the tag wasn't deactivated on purchase the alarm would go off even if you bought it. (It's registered in the database as purchased, the chip is still there)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by pjt33 ( 739471 )

            If it's anything like the tags in clothes from another big European shop (which I won't name because I'm not 100% certain I remember correctly), the RFID tag is in a label which is only sewn to the garment on one side and can be cut off.

        • I guess I have to start microwaving my new clothes...

        • non-removable RFID chips in my clothing...

          Don't American's make clothes out of soft, easily cut fabrics any more? It's only steel plate armour and chain mail. This season.

          Oh, you meant "RFID tags that are slightly difficult to remove without imperceptibly altering the appearance of the garment"?

          Shrug. [Self goes back to sewing up the holes in my socks.]

      • real guards that can do stuff cost more rent a cops and then then some places want cheap guards.
        I once seen an job ad for an place that got robbed and later they cheaped out. Wanted an guard bring your own gun an big plus pay was an salary rate that was near minimum wage

  • security tags don't stop smash and grab robberies (Score:3)

    by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:03PM (#63842584)

    security tags don't stop smash and grab robberies.
    also most store workers are not allowed to touch, detain, block, etc shoplifters any ways.

    • What's needed is the inksplosion tags that ruin the merchandise should you run out of the store without paying. Shopkeeper's privilege is a legal "concept" that allows a shopkeeper to conduct a voluntary search. BUT - there has to be reasonable suspicion, the search has to be reasonable (no physical contact), and the suspect can only be detained for a short amount of time and at their own volition. Otherwise the shopkeeper can be held liable for false imprisonment and assault and battery. Nobody can physica

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      security tags don't stop smash and grab robberies.
      also most store workers are not allowed to touch, detain, block, etc shoplifters any ways.

      I'd be surprised if people in the US, home of the castle doctrine, are not permitted by law to stop, detain or remove people they've found or suspect of shoplifting when you're entitled to do so in the UK.

      I suspect you've just fallen for a Daily Mail/Fox News talking point. The whole "you're not allowed to do X" any more when you're still perfectly allowed to.

      Here in the UK. you are permitted to stop and detain someone you suspect of shoplifting (or any other crime) but you have to be quite certain of

      • I'd be surprised if people in the US, home of the castle doctrine, are not permitted by law to stop, detain or remove people they've found or suspect of shoplifting when you're entitled to do so in the UK.

        That's because you aren't aware of how the US works? Even things like self defense laws can vary between states, and most stores try to avoid confrontation for insurance reasons (probably the reason why Santino Burrola was fired for just recording the license plates of people stealing >500 worth of merch). It also really depends on the local prosecutor, as some will give shoplifters a slap on the wrist while hammering down someone who makes a mistake in detaining a shoplifter.

  • RFID tags are not new anti-theft technology. Hell, back about 10 years ago I kept setting off detectors in stores when I would walk out. Here to find out one of my shoes I had purchased a few days earlier had an RFID tag in it I didn't know about.

    • Pff, that happened to me 20 years ago when Sears and Kmart were still a) a thing and b) separate entities. Those Kmart shoes triggered so many store exit alarms they were relegated to around-the-house duty. Of course that was back when alarms meant something to everyone near the exit.
    • Try 30 years old. And they should have had somebody test the proposed solution - oh you believed the salesperson did you? .In the end they are just a tuned circuit, or at best return a 64 bit number like a pet injectable IC chip. Snapping the fragile chip works, or a hole punch on top of the diode part, or cutting the coil antenna. Best idea was 2 prams stretching an antenna outside the store, and using a logic analyzer to replay codes to set it off non-stop. If it is like a car igntition key chip, you can

  • You have one item out for display which has the anti-theft device on it. If someone wants to try it on the item is retrieved from a storage area and the person is allowed to try on only this one item. If the person wants to try something else, the first item gets put back before the second item comes out. Rinse and repeat.

    Yes, it might not be customer friendly, but it will prevent theft.

    • It will stop shoplifting but not retail theft that usually involves an employee looking the other way. Those locked glass cabinets you see popping up everywhere are not just to prevent customer theft.
  • So I did a web search and now I know why I have never heard of them. I live in a large metropolitan area in the southern USA. It's big enough to have professional sports teams in multiple leagues. We have a whopping 2 Zara stores in my entire metro area, both located in areas I basically never get to. Good luck, Zara. I hope you're still in business if I ever get to one of your stores, although since you couldn't be bothered to place one anywhere in my country, which is quite large and populous, it

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by godrik ( 1287354 )

      Makes sense. It's a European store. They're all over Europe. I think I only ever seen one in the US. (Though a quick google search indicates there is one scheduled to open in my metro.)

    • How Zara Grew Into the World’s Largest Fashion Retailer

      https://www.nytimes.com/2012/1... [nytimes.com]

      "Today, however, even as Spain teeters on the edge of economic catastrophe, the Galician city La Coruña has attracted notice as the hometown of Amancio Ortega Gaona, the world’s third-richest man — he displaced Warren Buffett this year on the Bloomberg billionaire index — and the founder of a wildly successful fashion company, Inditex, more commonly known by its oldest and biggest brand, Zara

  • This is a 'I still exist and am relevant' (Score:3)

    by Tyr07 ( 8900565 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @06:05PM (#63843248)

    I mean having RFID tags not be perfect is nothing new, so they tried some new way and it wasn't foolproof, shock surprise. Half the reason the other tags had some effectiveness is if people didn't know how to get them off without ripping it. Sure, it's not hard, but people of higher intelligence have more affective ways of getting clothing than stealing it off the shelf.

    This is basically a post for advertising. 'Zara, look, we're still here and have problems and stuff. We exist! Acknowledge us!'

  • Let those fools loot luxury shops. The items have very small value, unlike food or toilet paper.

    • What an odd comment, the more "luxury" robberies in the area the more other businesses in the area will just go away.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/29/stores-closing-cities-moving-suburbs/

      Plus nobody steals the basics to use, just high value food (like steaks and meat) and non-perishables (like detergent) so they can flip them.

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