F


or many years, retailers have invested in a complex network of loss


prevention practices and technologies — from small family-owned shops all the way to a fully federated and networked national and international chain of stores and franchises.


With physical security guards, special lighting, and monitoring mirrors, over the past years, loss prevention surveillance and analytics have offered great advancements in managing and identifying theft, customer behaviour and patterns, supply management, internal employee compliance, insurance evidence and more.


With the adoption of sophisticated video management systems (VMS) in stores for surveillance and analytics, retailers have also integrated or unified access control technology. Access control not only manages access to designated parts of a retail environment — from public-access doors and back supply doors, display and supply cabinets and IT server rooms — but also records employee time-in, work hours, point


threats. Organised retail crime, return fraud, employee theft and opportunistic theft are all challenges that are very difficult to spot and prevent without the right system in place.


Organised retail theft is the most challenging to identify and prevent. Criminals have a distinct advantage because they know exactly what they are going after, strike quickly and have already mapped out their escape route. It takes a combination of both on-premises retail personnel and technology to apprehend these people to recover the store merchandise. One US retailer is using RFID tagging technology that is integrated with an open architecture, unified VMS and access control system to great advantage, as all systems are combined to be reviewed and managed from a single user interface.


Passive RFID tags are attached to high value merchandise, and can be set to send an alarm if more than two items leave the shelf at one time. When this specific event occurs, the RFID system sends a custom alarm which automatically pushes an associated video alert to the in-store security personnel equipped with their smartphone. This immediate notification shows them who the culprits are and allows staff to get to the exits before the thieves can leave the store.


Retail Analytics


A welcome Return on Investment from retailers’ existing security systems


of sale (POS)


information and supplier data. VMS


with access control


unified together can provide a unique co- relative data view that allows retailers to get a very comprehensive understanding of their operations, monitor and mitigate theft, manage supply, employee compliance and add new radio frequency identification (RFID) to merchandise with POS data.


Retailers today must continue to stay updated with the latest technology and intelligence to assure they are getting maximum return on investment (ROI) from their security and access control systems, and stay one step ahead of the increasingly sophisticated theft


6 © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – AUTUMN 2016


When it comes to integrating POS data with video surveillance in retail, there are several challenges that must be considered for loss prevention. In some retail chains, the IT department will not allow access to the POS data for fear of exposing customer payment information. In others, the providers of the recording technology do not have open standards or the framework to correlate transactions with the associated video.


A beneficial approach is a custom framework that allows retail stores to set the granular privileges of what information is seen by their loss prevention team. This means that data like credit card numbers can’t be seen by


www. c i t y s e cu r i t yma g a z i ne . com


investigators, but the rest of the transaction can be searched and viewed to identify fraudulent cashier activity at the register. This same open architecture framework can allow the integration with every register and POS system that moves data over the company’s local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).


Supplemental to managing data in retail from a unified approach, video analytics can provide many new proactive ways to help retailers understand their business, respond to customer needs in real time, centralise and evaluate rich customer data from either one store or across a broad network of franchises, and even provide threat management (e.g. detecting a person loitering suspiciously around the store, or detecting a potential shoplifter coming to the store).


Most analytic packages for retail environments are sold separately, or as an add-on special integration, usually delivered by a consultant, or integrated with specialised parameters. Effective retail analytics leverage the existing video cameras already installed, and provide extensible ROI with useful insights to help the retailer anticipate customer needs and therefore transform customer engagement. By understanding customer footfall, trends and patterns, retailers can make effective and measurable changes to their retail environment, ensuring that customers get the immediate attention they need, with specific oversight into purchases and potential theft patterns.


Physical security analytics can be useful in identifying persons waiting around an ATM or near a store entrance after hours, and may be highly beneficial in preventing a potential crime. While no video analytic data can detect intent, we can now use what was once coined as artificial intelligence to identify potential shoplifting behaviour, like loitering in an aisle, to alert store employees that a customer may need assistance.


The key to an effective retail loss prevention and analytics solution includes many variables that can scale to manage multiple functions like video, access control, licence plate recognition — while also collecting useful analytics data, presented in realtime, and in an easy-to-read display and format. Retailers today have a vast arsenal of technology to address the complex requirements of bringing their services and goods to market. A smart, multi-faceted retail security programme with intelligent analytics is essential to ensure customers are given fast attention, merchandise stays in place, employees are compliant and the store offers a safe environment.


Derek Arcuri Product Marketing Manager. Genetec Inc.


www.genetec.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40