Retail crime costs approximately £660m every year. But findings show that just £6.7m is spent on crime and loss prevention according to Secom’s industry report.
Theft and other types of retail crime are challenging and confronting for any business owner. And it seems like criminals are getting better every day, with some businesses finding that they’ve lost thousands of dollars when it’s time to do a stock-take.
But luckily, the latest technology is making it easier to fight back and be proactive against theft and other crime. Not only can these solutions help bring perpetrators to justice, but they can stop criminals in their tracks, catching them in the act and preventing items from being stolen in the first place.
While many businesses say they’re providing training to employees, technology is the other side of the coin. 81% of respondents said they give employees training to help with violence mitigation, while 69% said their staff is also trained to identify and prevent theft.
Surveillance security has come a long way. Gone are the days when business owners had to rely on grainy footage of past actions. Now, technology has improved enough that retailers are using video analytics with embedded, algorithm-based intelligence within the CCTV system. This means that the cameras can spot dodgy behavior and immediately report it to a monitoring station, so it can be dealt with at the time.
While this is definitely a massive stride for surveillance, one of the biggest breakthroughs has been in the cameras themselves. Now, business owners can use high-definition cameras which can achieve 4 times the detail of the standard cameras. This results in savings since fewer cameras are needed, and also makes it much easier to identify suspects and spot theft.
When you think about retail-related theft, you probably don’t think about cybersecurity. But this is something you need to increasingly begin to consider due to the massive rise in cyber-related crime. You’ve probably heard of all the recent data leaks and hacks, which has put business owners under more pressure than ever when it comes to cybersecurity.
Businesses need to be implementing the best security measures to fight cybercrime. This means having security patches in place, staying on top of any updates, using the cloud instead of desktop storage solutions, and restricting employee access to only the files they need.
While retail business owners are at risk from so many different types of criminal activity that it can be easy to get overwhelmed, there are many efficient, cost-effective solutions available.
Technology continues to evolve, giving retailers proactive ways to prevent crime and keep themselves, their staff, and their products safe.
Do you have a retail business? What methods are you using to combat retail crime? Are you due for an upgrade? Leave a comment below and let us know.
