Your say
Retail Crime…Major Storm entered the marketplace with more benchmarked. The system identifies
Brewing? effective and accurate means of what the normal parameters are for
Mark Krom, CEO, TAG collecting and analyzing essential a particular store, and can drill down
October’s BRC Retail Crime Survey data. even to a particular day or time. The
2007-2008 brought somewhat good Of course, getting this information transactional records of individual
news insofar as it saw a decrease in can prove challenging. Too much or operators are then compared to their
retail crime reported. However, that too little. Antiquated tools like peer group to ensure that they fall
reversal in trend is met with some paper-based EAS alarm logs or within these criteria.
doubt and caution by experts. As our weekly store visits are inefficient. In Where there is a discrepancy, the
“economic tsunami” strengthens, times like these, retail operations system brings it to the attention of
retailers would be wise to brace must search for every opportunity to the store management, allowing
themselves for harsh conditions. So work smarter, not harder. A premium them to address the situation. It may
even though the report indicates is now placed on automated data well be a training issue, rather than
that crime has decreased, there is a collection and analysis tools. One fraud, but by tackling it quickly, the
growing concern that retailers did solution RADAR (Retail Assets retailer could save themselves huge
not report all incidents to the police. Data/Analysis/Reporting) connects sums of money in the long run.
In addition, nearly 80% of head office with the store front and One of the most exciting
respondents felt their investment in enables inter-store communication. developments is IP or networked
crime prevention had not worked Intelligence delivered can help video, feeding back to a central
completely, even though the analysis retailers take specific and targeted location. As well as giving the retailer
shows that crime has decreased. In actions to improve security. Retailers an increased level of knowledge and
this foreboding economic climate need to be reassured that control concerning what is
where profit protection is vital, how technological solutions interact, but happening in their stores, it also
do these two disparate views exist? Is collaboration with their suppliers and provides total visibility of what is
loss prevention investment as the policing is essential to ensure a happening across their estate, acting
effective as the statistics indicate or continued reduction of crime. The as the eyes of the business.
has criminal activity decreased? It BRC report also found that 63% Of course, CCTV as employed
may be a combination of the two but reported none or only some of the purely for security reasons is nothing
as Jacqui Smith warned in a Home incidents in their store to the police. new. However, when you pair it with
Office report based on the 1991-92 There are examples of organized video analytics, the entire package
recession, a significant increase in criminal gangs targeting stores and becomes much more powerful. With
crime is likely based on the economic traveling set routes around the UK. If specialist software designed to
downturn. Thus if the one part (retail stores were able to flag up these analyse the video for suspicious
crime) of the equation goes up, crime shelf sweeps to one another, activity, the system can take the
prevention investment is increasingly anticipation would enable human factor out of the equation.
needed too. In other words, it might prevention through awareness as The retailer benefits from a system
be time for your rain gear! well as assisting the police with that can monitor a number of stores
In order to protect profit and valuable data to disrupt these simultaneously without getting
bottom lines due to a potential criminal gangs. After all, as criminals distracted or needing to take a
decrease in consumer spending (a get smarter so must the technology break.
“tropical depression”), shrinkage used to deter them. The system can also be used to
need to be kept to a minimum. At identify opportunities for improving
64%, customer theft is the leading Richard Smith, Managing Director customer service or marketing as
component of retail crime Due to the of PCMS Group well as security. It is able to monitor
prospect of people having less Traditional ways of reducing loss footfall and queues at tills, identify
disposable income, opportunist have varied from a physical in-store bottlenecks in the store layout and
shoplifters as well as an increase in presence to loss prevention specialists follow customers on their journey
demand for black market goods who only play a role when loss has around the store, to see how they
means added vigilance is needed. reached significant proportions. The use it and make sure that products
Thus, the 2008-2009 report is use of CCTV has also had a role but are laid out in a logical way. It can
expected to paint a very different again, this can be hit and miss. In the highlight wider issues of staff and
picture. 21st Century new technologies are customer safety, or even certain parts
So how can retailers use best enabling retailers to be sharper and of the store where customers tend to
practices from weather and tropical more likely to detect potential fraud ‘shelf-dwell’, which could be an
storm analysts to improve their from both customers and employees indication that the shelf layout is
approach to reducing the damage earlier and more often. confusing.
from their own stormy weather? Like The main weapon in the renewed The use of such technology is
a meteorologist, Loss Prevention fight against retail fraud has been going to help put retailers back on
professionals must commit to data-mining, which brings an the front foot. As the credit crunch
gathering data and analyzing it to unprecedented level of bites harder, retailers have already
assess effectiveness and to predict sophistication to the identification seen profits fall. Harnessing the
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trends. For many LP groups, this type process. It uses local store power of technology to minimise
and level of information has been transactional data to create a losses could prove to be the
lacking. Recently, however, ‘typical’ profile against which difference between survival and
automated data collection tools have individual operators can be failure.”
ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2008 • 37
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