How to prevent shoplifting

Theft in a supermarket is a frequent event and a headache for the management of retail enterprises.

Every petty thief, committing shoplifting, thinks about how to avoid punishment. However, not all thieves understand that any corner, even in a large supermarket, is monitored by video surveillance cameras.

 

Nevertheless, there are thefts in supermarkets and every day the security service faces new and new attempts to steal food, alcohol, and small goods near the cash register. Often these persons are in an intoxicated state. There are less attempts to steal larger and more expensive goods than food and drink, but the thieves' methods in these cases are also more sophisticated.

What steps do managers and owners take to prevent shoplifting?

As already mentioned, each store has a video surveillance system.

Despite the fact that the cameras work constantly and guards are always physically present at the cash registers in the shop premises, the human factor in the work of the security service is present and an observer near the monitor can also miss an incident, not recognize or not notice a "regular customer" who has already been repeatedly caught petty theft at this store or in this area. It is also very important to react in time if the frames at the exit from the shop premises were triggered and detain the thief before he had time to leave the store and disappear into the street crowd.

 

Intelligent systems come to the rescue, which help the security service to instantly respond to any alarming events, effectively prevent theft in the store, and identify potentially dangerous persons in time.

 

How it works, how to prevent shoplifting with maximum efficiency, we learn from the INNI company, which is a software developer and produces analytical and integration modules for security systems.

 

Video content analytics in retail prevents shoplifting

Monitoring the video stream from cameras in real time is the simplest and most primitive way to prevent theft in supermarkets and stores. However, if you integrate the system of surveillance cameras with anti-theft frames, every activation of the frame is displayed in the system and the security operator must immediately respond to the alarming event. Then, other employees of the security service are promptly involved and measures are taken to arrest the offender.  It is important that the system works in such a way that the operator cannot just ignore the message about the activation of the frame, each signal processing is recorded and the head of the security service sees information about the alarm signal  processing.

 

The integration of video surveillance cameras with a face recognition module allows you to enter into the database all potential offenders known to the security service: people who have already made attempts to steal from a store, or people who have been engaged in spoiling goods, visited the store in a state of heavy alcohol intoxication or under the influence of drugs, violated public order in a store. The notification of the system about the person from the "black list" in a store obliges the security service employees to monitor all the movements and actions of suspicious persons while they are in the shopping premises, or to take measures to prevent non grata persons from entering the store, if the management has issued such an order. Thus, a smart system is an effective means of preventing theft in supermarkets and stores.

 

Shoplifting is not only committed by customers. Dishonest employees can also commit theft in supermarkets, it is about the work of cashiers. The system of integration with cash terminals allows you to avoid manipulations of staff at the cash register. The bottom line is that each purchase can be tracked, and for each check, the operator can quickly find in the archive and view the corresponding video fragment of the event.

Knowing that any attempts at fraud, deception of customers or theft of goods will be necessarily recorded, and with video evidence, tied to a specific check, the cashier will not risk to deceive the buyer or to steal goods in the store where he works.

When people know that there are consequences for shoplifting and that the offender will be prosecuted, this is a powerful deterrent and the rate of attempted shoplifting goes down.

Smart systems with INNI modules effectively reduce losses from shoplifting, this is a real optimization of retail costs.