Source tagging is the application of EAS security tags at the source, the supplier or manufacturer, instead of at the retail side of the chain. For the retailer, source tagging eliminates the labor expense needed to apply the EAS tags themselves, and reduces the time between receipt of merchandise and when the merchandise is ready for sale. For the supplier, the main benefit is the preservation of the retail packaging aesthetics by easing the application of security tags within product packaging. Source tagging allows the EAS tags to be concealed and more difficult to remove.
The most common source tags are AM strips and 8.2 MHz Radio Frequency Labels. Most manufacturers use both when source tagging. One significant problem from sourcetagging is something called “tag pollution” whereupon non-deactivated tags are carried around by customers causing unwanted alarms. The problem is that no store has both systems. Therefore if a store actually has an anti-shoplifting system to deactivate a label they will only deactivate one of the two. This is often the reason why people make an alarm entering a store and can cause great frustration for both customes and staff. The problem is most evident in shopping malls where customers float between stores. Retailers who use other types of loss-prevention systems than AM or 8.2 MHz Radio Frequency systems will not be as affected by “tag pollution”.