Shoplifting has always been one of the major concerns of retail stores like supermarkets, boutiques, bookshops, liqueur stores, cd/dvd shops, souvenir shops etc. Security experts say the most effective anti-shoplifting tools these days are CCTV and the tag-and-alarm systems, better known as Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems. Separately, these are good options. Used together, experts say, they're almost unbeatable.

Three types of EAS systems dominate the retail industry. In each case, an EAS tag or label is attached to an item. The tag is then deactivated, or taken from an active state where it will alarm an EAS system to an inactive state where it will not flag the alarm. If the tag is a hard, reusable tag, a detacher is used to remove it when a customer purchases the item it's attached to. If it's a disposable, paper tag, it can be deactivated by swiping it over a pad or with a handheld scanner that "tells" the tag it's been authorized to leave the store. If the item has not been deactivated or detached by the clerk, when it is carried through the gates, an alarm will sound.