Report • 01.12.2014
How to secure the budget for a video surveillance up-grade?
Getting your co-workers aboard with the latest retail trend
by Johan Åkesson, Director Business Development, Retail, Axis Communications
According to the 25th Annual Retail Theft Survey, businesses in the US continue to face the chal-lenge of retail theft. Almost 1.2 million shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2013 by just 23 large retailers, who recovered over $199 million from thieves.
Together with the recent availability and an increasing demand for higher quality video surveillance such as high definition (HD) and 4K, many retailers around the world are starting to review their existing security solutions; especially those who are still struggling with the old-fashion analog technology. Many security and operational professionals from these organizations are trying every-thing they can think of to justify the spend.
While loss prevention is a valid reason from a security perspective, it is often much easier to get the budget signed off when colleagues from other departments can be convinced to support the proposal.
Collaborating with Sales and Marketing
The idea of gaining better image quality and stopping shop-lifting activities might not be the top priority for your Sales and Marketing department. However, the concept of using the latest IP-based video surveillance solutions to provide better business intelligence for analytics is a different story.
Whether it’s a single shop or a whole retail chain, IP-based video surveillance makes a noticeable improvement in the top line. The introduction of network cameras has revolutionized the way retail professionals work with not only loss
prevention, fraud detection and security, but also store opti-mization and customer service. Overall, IP-based video surveillance provides a whole new set of tools to reach operational and marketing excellence.
Examples of cross-functional use of network video include dwell time analysis to allow store man-agers to alert their team when extra customer assistance is needed. The heat map function can be set up to proactively alert the staff about low-traffic in campaign areas so they can quickly rectify the situation. Lastly, people counting is useful for conversion rate and sales planning.
Many retail stores around the world have chosen to use the business intelligence gathered from IP-based video surveillance to stay ahead with their sales and marketing strategy.
Back to Security and Operation
The aim for delivering more superior image quality should be for lowering total cost of ownership (TCO) in the long term, as it enhances detection and improves forensic investigation. The remote capability through mobile devices enable central control not only for supply chain, but the viewing also allows multi-store architecture for auto alerts and notifications.
In addition, an integrated system through the network enables visual analysis of point of sale (POS) exceptions and fraud, and minimizes loss with electronic article surveillance (EAS) integration.
Finally, the real-time store monitoring capability can be used to generate proactive alert notification for to-the-minute tracking and response.
Better together
Communications among departments should be encouraged by all businesses, and a joint-department proposal with benefits across the board should only be welcomed by any wise CEO or CFO.
