Holland & Barrett uses integrated Checkpoint solution to reduce theft and improve sales

Thorofare, N.J. Checkpoint Systems announced that Holland & Barrett, a leading British vitamin, mineral and herbal supplement retailer, is rolling out Checkpoint’s Evolve electronic article surveillance (EAS) system with fully integrated visitor counting at 135 stores in the United Kingdom. The Evolve system will allow the retailer to tackle theft and also accurately measure customer throughput.

Holland & Barrett initially elected to install Checkpoint Systems’ visitor counting solution, CheckCount, as a standalone system to monitor the sales effectiveness of its staff and gather quantified results from marketing campaigns. However, the retailer realized the additional benefits that an integrated EAS and visitor counting system could deliver, in terms of return on investment for both the loss prevention department and the marketing and sales teams.

“The results of the CheckCount trial were extremely positive and gave us access to detailed data that we needed in order to improve our sales techniques in individual stores, as well as gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of marketing campaigns,” said Jon Pilkington, internal audit manager at Holland & Barrett, which operates over 1,000 stores under several banners across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Holland. “ With ‘people-counting’ technology we are able to measure which promotions get customers through the door.”

After a limited initial trial of the solution, Holland & Barrett decided to test Checkpoint’s Evolve EAS system, with a visitor counting solution integrated into the EAS pedestals.

“We previously had no EAS systems in our stores, so we were eager to see how they could reduce shrink and increase our average transaction value by allowing us to give customers open access to more of our products, knowing the products would now be secured from theft,” Pilkington said. “The integrated Evolve solution provided us with the same accurate visitor counting data, but also helped us to reduce shrink. The Evolve system was a perfect fit for us as it allowed us to solve two problems with one solution.”

The results of a three-month trial convinced Holland & Barrett to roll out the Evolve EAS system to tackle shrink, increase shelf availability, monitor customer throughput, improve store operations and ultimately enhance their bottom-line performance. The Evolve antennas, integrated with Checkpoint’s visitor counting solution, will be fitted at store entrances.