Retailers are increasing their investments in technology to combat the growing problem of retail crime. The BRC found that the amount spent on crime prevention is at a record high, with retailers investing £1.8bn on measures such as CCTV, more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body worn cameras, up from £1.2bn the previous year.
UK media platform, TLT found two thirds of its respondents have increased their security budgets and are increasingly turning to technology such as AI-driven analytics and biometric security systems as critical lines of defence.
In January the UK high street retailer Poundland announced its largest-ever investment in anti-theft technology and security to address retail crime. Measures include the roll out of Motorola body cameras to store staff.
These record incidents and provide a visual deterrent for offenders and have driven an 11% decrease in violent against colleagues plus a marked reduction in shop theft in trials. Communication headsets have also been introduced to allow staff to communicate quickly when incidents occur and Poundland has given its security teams backing to detain suspects in-stores; as well as employing more undercover guards in stores.
“The rate of store theft and colleague abuse has accelerated significantly across our stores in the last 18 months, and this has been very challenging for our people,” says Poundland’s head of loss prevention Christina Jesty.
“Whether it’s store theft undermining all our colleagues’ hard work, or incidents of violence and abuse making our colleagues feel unsafe at work, something must change. At Poundland we pride ourselves on being a value-led high street retailer, where protecting our colleagues goes hand in hand with protecting our prices.”
Iceland is also investing in staff safety with the recent launch of VoCoVo communication headsets across its 1,004 UK stores. The headsets are designed to boost operational efficiency and the customer experience but ensuring colleagues remained and felt safe was a core focus of the project, says Olivia Robinson, head of UK and EU at VoCoVo, who also works with Asda and Co-op and is active in over 13,000 stores with 250,000 daily users.
See full story Shop theft is a global crisis: how can AI stop the carnage? | Global C Store Focus
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