Home tools and products retailer The Home Depot seeks to curb theft of expensive power tools and machines inside its stores, especially the Milwaukee, DeWalt and Bosch brands.
But instead of adding security guards and cameras, he decided to discourage thefts with power tools that will not work if they are not activated, after buying them, in the same stores.
The Home Depot has been fighting theft for a long time, especially at retail locations in the United States, where it is the market leader.
According to Scott glenn, the company’s Asset Protection Officer, thieves steal expensive power tools and trade them for cash on the street, at pawn shops, or offer them with online ads on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
He speaks of “highly organized groups” that recruit vulnerable people and offer them incentives to take products from their stores without paying.
Until now, Home Depot’s strategy was to protect its high-value power tools behind display cases or just by displaying models tied to the shelves with chains.
However, the company discovered that this was not enough and decided to add protection: an internal chip that is activated with Bluetooth technology after purchasing the product.
According to Glenn, the new activation feature will allow the company to combat theft sin changing the shopping experience.
For now, they are doing it in some stores, but if it works, they will extend the system to the rest of the United States and possibly to other markets, such as Mexico.
It is unclear what technology the devices use. Home Depot did not provide details.
According to Business Insider, the system uses Bluetooth technology to activate the power tool once it has been paid for. Without that activation, the product is essentially useless.
However the system It could also result in an increase in online scams. Just as e-commerce changed the game for “professional thieves” by allowing them to hide among legitimate online resellers, it could also help them make quick money from stolen and useless power tools.
According to latest data available in the United States (as of 2020), organized retail crime has cost retailers close to $ 1 billion in sales.