Why Garden Centres are switching to Strategic Tagging

Retail theft is becoming a serious challenge for garden centres across the UK.

Unlike many retail environments, garden centres often operate across large, complex layouts with multiple buildings, outdoor areas and several entry and exit points. Many have cafés, concessions, plant areas, seasonal displays and gift departments - often spread across spaces that are difficult for staff to monitor at all times.

In many cases there is little or no security infrastructure in place.

Even where Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) gates and traditional magnet-based security tags are used, losses continue to rise. Retailers are increasingly reporting that organised thieves understand exactly how these systems work and how they can be bypassed.

As a result, some garden centres have resorted to locking high-value items in cabinets or physically tethering products to displays. While this can reduce theft, it also creates new problems - slowing down sales, increasing staff workload and disrupting the relaxed, open shopping experience that customers expect.

Premium Brands Being Targeted

At the same time, certain brands are becoming increasingly targeted due to their resale value. Garden centres are reporting high levels of theft on premium gift and lifestyle products including Jellycat soft toys, Barbour clothing and accessories, Neom wellbeing products, Yankee Candle fragrances and Yeti drinkware.

In some cases the scale of theft is significant. We have seen incidents where individuals have left stores with full trolleys of stolen Jellycat soft toys.

Because of this, many garden centres are moving away from blanket tagging and instead adopting a more focused strategy - protecting the smaller percentage of products that are most attractive to thieves.

Strategic Tagging

Rather than trying to secure everything, retailers concentrate protection on the high-value, high-risk items where losses are most likely to occur. This allows products to remain openly displayed while still benefiting from strong theft deterrence.

Chirp Protect was designed specifically to support this smarter approach to retail security.

Chirp Edge - Standalone Protection

For garden centres without any security infrastructure, Chirp Edge provides a simple plug-and-play solution that protects exit points using intelligent alarming product tags and compact Edge hubs positioned at doors or restricted areas.

The system is quick to install and provides an immediate layer of protection without the need for traditional EAS gates.

Works With Existing EAS

For centres that already have EAS security gates installed, Chirp Protect also offers RF and AM compatible tags that work seamlessly with existing antennas while adding an additional layer of protection.

This allows retailers to continue using their current infrastructure while selectively upgrading security on high-risk products.

Tamper-Proof Digital Tags

While Chirp tags may look similar to traditional tags, they behave very differently.

They are digitally deactivated rather than magnetically released, meaning they cannot be bypassed using the illegal detachers widely available online. If someone attempts to tamper with or forcibly remove the tag, the tag itself immediately triggers a loud 90 decibel alarm directly on the product.

Alarms Beyond the Exit

Unlike traditional EAS systems where alarms only sound once someone exits the store, Chirp tags continue alarming beyond the exit.

This creates a much stronger deterrent and removes uncertainty for staff. One retailer described this as a major advantage:

"We love the fact that the alarm continues after the exit. There are no wrongful accusations because the product itself is clearly alarming."

The ITS Box - Covering Blind Spots

One of the biggest challenges for garden centres is the number of unmanned areas and blind spots across the site.

Using the Chirp ITS Box, discreet hubs can be placed anywhere on site to detect alarming tags and alert staff immediately. These hubs can cover areas such as cafés, toilets, seasonal buildings, side exits or outdoor retail areas where theft might otherwise go unnoticed.

When a tag alarms, the system can also send alerts directly to staff headsets or radios and automatically time-stamp the event within CCTV systems, making incidents far easier to review and report.

Stewarts Garden Centre Example

Several garden centres have already adopted this approach with strong results.

Stewarts Garden Centre previously locked its premium gin range in cabinets to reduce theft. While this helped prevent losses, staff found that many customers simply chose not to buy the product rather than ask for assistance.

After introducing Chirp Bottle Tags, the cabinets were removed. The products could be displayed openly again while still being protected by alarming tags - restoring sales while maintaining security.

Strategic tagging allows garden centres to move away from restrictive security measures and back towards the open retail environment customers enjoy. By protecting the products that thieves actually target, retailers can reduce losses, support staff and keep their best-selling brands accessible.