The Convergence of Retail Loss Prevention and Operations Has Arrived

The convergence of physical security/loss prevention and retail operations has been a talking point for years, but a recent LP Foundation webinar highlighted that the age of convergence has finally arrived.

Exploring the topic of Cashing in on the LP benefits: self-checkout with computer vision, panelists from Telaid and Mashgin described live, in-store deployments of Mashgin’s self-checkout (SCO) technology with computer vision. The benefits of these combined technologies can be seen in loss prevention as well as operations and customer service. No longer is the storyline focused on deploying cameras at self-checkout simply to identify intentional or unintentional losses. Video is now used to power the very functionality of SCO and to feed valuable data in real time to other systems that drive a chain reaction of optimized retail performance. Consider some examples:

• When computer vision is coupled with SCO, the system knows exactly which items have been purchased and how many. In real time, that system can deliver information to associates that inventory of a given product on the shelves is low and needs to be restocked.
• Computer vision can also be incorporated into quality assurance measures to understand, for example, if a product is damaged, or if a perishable item is moldy or crushed. This information can be used to record repeat instances of compromised merchandise so that the problem can be addressed at its core. The system can also trigger action to ensure the customer does not purchase a degraded product.
• Computer vision eliminates the need for item PLU key-ins and/or weight technology that is designed to ensure that each scanned item is added to the bag after scanning. Improved customer experience and throughput decrease wait times, reduce cart abandonment and improve the bottom line.

In short, in this new technology-empowered retail experience, reduced loss is coupled with operational insights and customer experience enhancements that make the business run smoother.

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here. In this webinar, you can see a video of the Mashgin solution at work, hear discussions about actual deployments, and view live polls that disclose the challenges retailers face when deploying SCO solutions. The panelists also share their vision for what’s coming in the next 5 years. When you're ready to deploy SCO and computer vision, Telaid is ready to help!