Category: Loss Prevention

Adapting to Change: How to Get a Grip on Retail Crime

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With the rise in retail crime consistently making the headlines, many retailers are finding themselves struggling to keep both their staff and their stores secure.

Retailers continue to have challenges when it comes to security and loss prevention, and are looking for ways to increase profits, reduce theft, and make efficiencies. The British Retail Consortium recently reported that incidents of theft have increased by 27 percent across 10 of the largest cities in the UK, with some cities reporting up to a 68 percent increase.

With cloud-based video surveillance, video alarms and cloud video integrations just some of the systems available to manage the many threats, these technologies enable retailers to scale and innovate with confidence. The implementation of SaaS video security platforms allows brick-and-mortar stores to protect against theft and enhance business compliance, all while accurately and securely managing their inventory.

Additionally, retailers can ensure that the customer-facing section of the store is issue-free and well-managed, while simultaneously monitoring stock rooms and certifying that employee areas are safe and compliant.

Best Practices for Loss Prevention

While theft is often the main focus of loss prevention strategies, it’s important to differentiate between internal theft and external theft, with common types of loss including point-of-sale (POS) theft, supplier fraud or error, employee theft, and shoplifting.

Implementing a secure POS system is crucial as it can measure unique employee login credentials, cash handling procedures, and regularly reconciles sales records to prevent employee fraud and checkout theft.

The use of data analytics tools to analyse sales data, inventory levels and transaction patterns helps to highlight high-risk areas, times or products susceptible to losses. And with the help of the data from sources like POS systems, surveillance cameras and access control, losses are clear, enabling businesses to act on and minimize the risk of theft.

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Providing comprehensive training to employees on loss prevention techniques is also essential. Encouraging staff to remain vigilant and proactive in detecting and preventing theft can greatly contribute to loss reduction, which can be made easier by store layouts that enhance visibility and minimize blind spots.

Establishing strong inventory management practices to track merchandise from procurement to sale — through technology such as barcode systems or radio frequency identification (RFID) — can accurately monitor stock levels, identify discrepancies, and detect any irregularities quickly. This can then be enhanced with modern security systems, which now incorporate the use of artificial intelligence.

The Power of AI

By deploying a robust video surveillance system that includes high-risk areas such as entrances, exits and POS locations, video surveillance can act as a deterrent and provide valuable evidence for investigations.

AI-powered video analytics are able to analyse surveillance footage in real time to detect suspicious activities. This enables immediate alerts to store personnel. AI-powered inventory management systems can also be incorporated, accurately tracking inventory levels, detecting discrepancies, and identifying cases of internal theft or inventory shrinkage.

Furthermore, AI tools are able to automatically analyse transaction data and identify irregularities that may indicate fraudulent activities by employees or customers. This enables retailers to investigate and address incidents promptly.

 

Addressing Emerging Challenges

Loss prevention requires a multifaceted approach and continuous adaptation to evolving threats. By implementing robust inventory management practices, effective training programs, video surveillance and analytics, retailers can minimize losses, enhance security, and create a positive shopping experience for customers.

Every retail environment is unique, and loss prevention strategies should be tailored to specific needs and risks as well as budgets. By regularly assessing the effectiveness of your loss prevention initiatives, embracing new technologies and best practices, retailers can achieve significant results and foster a culture of security and integrity in their stores.

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Agilitas & Solink Partner to Deliver Smarter Business Security Systems

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Leading global channel services provider, Agilitas IT Solutions, has today announced its strategic partnership with Solink, a world-class business that provides trusted, cloud video surveillance systems. Driven by a shared commitment to safety and customer service, paired with Agilitas global footprint and Solink’s best-in-class technology, the partnership will empower both organisations to serve a broader global customer base.

This partnership comes at a time when businesses are striving to take back control of their operations, resolve issues, and boost their bottom line. The companies will work together to deliver video surveillance systems to a range of industries, including retail, hospitality, enterprise and logistics.

Solink’s platform offers one of the most comprehensive series of cloud video surveillance systems on the market. It provides businesses with a smart way to manage security, with visibility across all locations in real-time and advanced features that allow users to search, investigate, and share incidents with authorities.

For brick-and-mortar retailers looking to transform their business, Solink provides a full suite of loss prevention tools enabling users to investigate a specific location, a region of the floor, or even a particular transaction type. The platform can also align with an organisation’s POS system, offering the visibility needed for smart operations, staffing, and compliance.

Solink technology covered by Agilitas’ award-winning IA+ services

With over 30 years of experience, Agilitas has built a global support network that is aligned with the needs of today’s channel market. Its extensive service, logistics, and technical expertise can be accessed 24/7/365 to ensure companies remain operational around the clock. With this flexibility, Agilitas will be able to deploy Solink’s platform to Channel partners with ease, enabling them to scale and innovate with confidence.

Speaking on the partnership, Josh Rudder Sales Director at Solink said, “As we expand Solink in EMEA, more loss prevention teams can now leverage the power of the complete Solink platform to solve critical issues like ORC, fraud, and employee safety. A partner like Agilitas provides the integration expertise, reach, and scalability to help us meet high customer deployment standards.”

John Hayes-Warren, CEO of Agilitas concluded, “At Agilitas, we have a passion to innovate, exceed expectations and put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Solink shares this passion and has created a crucial hub for global business operations, security, and loss prevention strategies. Leveraging our growing network, we will be able to help more organisations gain complete visibility of their business.”

Loss Prevention solutions to protect your business

Theft and loss prevention

Loss prevention has become one of the retail industry’s biggest challenges. Shoplifting has risen by 23% in the past year, and was estimated to cost UK retailers almost £11 billion annually – higher than any other country in Europe, and resulting in a 1.1% annual turnover loss.

Research shows, however, that using security cameras resulted in significant decreases in shoplifting, stock shrinkage and restoration to retailer’s bottom-line. 58% of retailers said they saw reductions in shoplifting when employing these preventative measures, with a further 10% stating they eliminated it entirely.

But how can retailers better handle loss prevention with the use of video surveillance?

Introducing Solink

Agilitas has partnered with Solink, a world-class business that provides trusted, cloud video surveillance systems, to help retailers develop a cost-effective loss prevention model, designed to fit the needs of each individual retail business.

Solink’s platform utilises the Cloud, meaning retailers have access to hundreds of unique features that enable them to track and prevent internal and external fraud and losses. Using this combination users can:

  • Access high quality, on-demand, and live footage of their premises on a wide range of devices
  • Use motion search to find activity in a specific area, which reduces the time constraints of manually searching
  • See a wide field of vision from the camera with the ability to link multiple together
  • Automatically detect blocked exits
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Using these features, retailers are able to accurately and securely manage their inventory. Additionally, they can ensure that the customer-facing section of the store is issue-free and well-managed, while simultaneously monitoring stock rooms and certifying that employee areas are safe and compliant.

If needed, a retailer can store footage for up to 365 days and know that it is always backed up using RAID or in the Cloud. All of this is achieved while also ensuring all devices are NDAA compliant and all cybersecurity standards are met.

Solink’s software has already assisted a number of global retail businesses, with it enabling one to uncover ‘$70,000 [of] internal theft in under 3 minutes’. Combined with reliable hardware provided by Agilitas, retailers can see real-time inventory management and reduce costs securely, quickly and conveniently.

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Employing an Agilitas and Solink loss prevention system gives retail stores the ability to intervene when necessary to prevent loss or theft. When an item is illegally removed from the shelves, the store is able to view this in real-time, report this to on-the-floor employees who can then take necessary action to prevent this from occurring again. Alternatively, a store can review the footage at a later date and retroactively view the suspected area and refer the footage to the police or identify and ban the perpetrator from the store.

For any organisation protecting the bottom-line can be an arduous process, but for retail it presents a unique opportunity for fraudsters and criminals. By using this trusted, cloud video surveillance system, retailers can identify trends, prevent loss, and protect their business’ longevity.

Learn more about the Solink solution