Insights · Retail Strategy
Locked cabinets make shoppers feel like criminals and slash your sales. Open display lets customers touch and try products — but only works when backed by the right security. Here’s how retailers get the best of both worlds.
For decades, retailers locked high-theft items behind glass or kept them behind the counter. The logic was sound: if customers can’t touch it, they can’t steal it. The problem: if customers can’t touch it, they often won’t buy it either.
Industry data consistently shows that products moved from locked cabinets to open display see a sales lift of 25–60%. The psychology is simple — customers want to hold a product, test it, and feel confident before they buy.
The modern solution combines three layers of protection:
Every high-theft item gets a tag or label that triggers the antenna at the door. Customers can pick up, examine, and even carry items around the store — but they can’t walk out without paying.
Place high-theft items in well-lit, high-visibility zones — typically near the till or in the busiest aisle. Thieves prefer blind spots and quiet corners. Take those away.
Visible cameras over the open-display zone provide an additional psychological deterrent and capture evidence if something does go wrong.
Anywhere customers previously asked staff to unlock a cabinet is a candidate for open display.
Retailers who switch from locked cabinets to tagged open display typically see:
SLP supplies the full open display product range, including alarmed display hooks, security stands for electronics, and integrated EAS-tagged merchandising fixtures. Combined with our EAS antennas and security tags, you get a complete open-display solution.
Customers should feel trusted, not watched. Open display is the easiest way to build that trust while keeping your stock protected. Talk to SLP about a complete open-display conversion.
See the SLP open display range and protect high-theft items without locking them away.
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