When it came to loss prevention back in the day, retailers
hired security guards, off-duty police officers, or other such folks to catch
criminals trying to rip off their stores. The effectiveness of a retailer’s
business security was mainly judged in terms of the number of arrests its
security personnel made. Times have changed, however. Now the name of the game
is “loss prevention,” minimizing retail loss rather than making a lot of
arrests. To that end, retailers are turning to innovative technology to help
them mitigate theft and fraud. Here are the four trends in “asset protection
technology” for 2016, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association
(RILA).
1. SMART VIDEO
Thanks to next-gen digital video, lenses, IP video
surveillance cameras, and advancements in digital processing, more retailers
will be using “smart” security cameras to help them catch shoplifters. Retailers
will also take advantage of new developments in computer vision and artificial
intelligence to search data about the behaviors of the bad guys extracted from
video. That information can be used to identify the offenders’ facial
expressions and emotions, as well as map and analyze activity patterns.
In addition, researchers are developing technology that
reliably visualizes what’s going on outside the field of vision of the cameras
based on what computers can observe inside the frames, according to Jess
Dankert, RILA’s senior director, retail operations, and author of the article.
2. PREDICTIVE
ANALYTICS
Retailers will also be turning to predictive analytics to
forecast the future by analyzing the pertinent data to understand the key
factors that correlate to loss due to shrinkage. This will enables companies to
determine the locations that are likely to have the high incidents of theft—as
well as determine the patterns of shrinkage or theft—so they can take more
cost-effective actions to prevent it.
3. CLOUD COMPUTING
Increasingly, retailers will turn to the cloud for an
efficient, cost-effective way of storing and managing the reams of data flowing
into the business from intelligent digital video feeds, POS transactions, and
systems that track returns. “[The] increased need for real-time linkage to
accurate product and inventory information is making a shift to the cloud an
unavoidable next step for retailers,” Dankert notes. As retailers’ systems
become more integrated with functions and data that cut across the enterprise,
the more unmanageable all that information will be without adopting cloud
technology. However, even though change is necessary, moving away from legacy
systems and processes will continue to be challenging, says Dankert.
4. COLLABORATION
Due in part to the demands of omni-channel retailing,
companies will implement technology to enable employees to collaborate more and
combine ideas to look for innovation solutions to the problem of retail theft.
Retailers will also collaborate outside the company. “The retail industry can
learn and reshape its perspectives through cross-pollination with other
industries, academic institutions, the nonprofit world, and more,” Dankert
notes.