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Issue link: https://securitysales.epubxp.com/i/141570
RETAIL TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES provide customizable, automated reports with video images. Retailers can quickly scan the reports each day to see if their stores opened on time, if shelves were stocked properly, employees were dressed as required, and to review other compliance and operational standards. Exception reports can also be assessed to catch suspect transactions. Ali Mahmoud, March Networks' product line manager for vertical software solutions, explained how a retailer could generate Web-based reports to track theft incidents or other issues using the hybrid NVR platform with existing analog cameras. His generic example, a small fast-food restaurant: A back door report, which records every entry/exit, would provide a thumbnail image of each person who opens the door from the outside or inside. "Maybe we want to see if somebody is going outside and taking too many breaks. Te report is really quick to skim through. I am seeing if somebody is carrying product out; if they are letting their friends in, etc." Rodney Bosch is Managing Editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION. He can be reached at (310) 533-2426 or rod-ney.bosch@securitysales.com. PHOTO COURTESY MARCH NETWORKS EMPLOYEES ARE THIEVING IN RECORD NUMBERS S More than $138 million was recovered from apprehended shoplifters in 2012, an increase of 22.7% from 2011, according to the 25th annual Retail Theft Survey by Jack L. Hayes Int'l. hoplifting is a seriously increasing problem that is stealing retailers' profts while driving retail prices higher and can result in the closing of stores, says the author of the newly released Retail Theft Survey. The 25th annual survey by consulting frm Jack L. Hayes Int'l examined 23 of the largest retail companies in the country, which collectively operate 18,900 stores with sales exceeding $589 billion in 2012. The study shows that 71,095 dishonest employees were apprehended in 2012, up 5.5% from 2011. In total, more than $50 million was recovered in those cases, up 7% from a year earlier. The survey's reporting retailers alone apprehended more than 1.1 million shoplifters and dishonest workers, and recovered more than $189 million from these crooks in 2012. That represents more than an 18% increase in recovered dollars compared to the previous year, according to the annual survey. "The theft problem is not getting better, it is getting worse as shoplifters and dishonest employees continue to steal in record numbers," Mark Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes Int'l, tells SSI. "Retailers need assistance from manufacturers and dealers with workable cost-effective solutions to help prevent these thefts from taking place on both the internal [dishonest employee] and external [shoplifting] fronts." Which technologies and other preventive measures prove 66 most effective in thwarting perpetrators depends on the type of crime. While customer service is the best deterrent to shoplifting — most shoplifters want and need privacy — the use of electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems and CCTV certainly is of great beneft to retailers, Doyle says the survey bears out. "We are hearing that advances in data mining/point-of-sale [POS] exception reporting are having a big positive infuence on more accurately and quickly identifying possible employee theft situations. This technology is a must for most all retailers." Though the report did not provide exact numbers, in general, more recently hired employees — those with less than a year on the job — and part-time employees with no vested interest in the company are the employees who tend to be apprehended more frequently. Among other key fndings, 2012 proved the sixth time in the past 10 years where both shoplifter and dishonest employee apprehensions and recovery dollars increased. Also, dollar recoveries from shoplifting apprehensions increased for the 10th time in the past 11 years; and dollar recoveries from shoplifters where no apprehension was made have now increased for 16 consecutive years. Complete survey results are available at hayesinternational.com. / SECURITYSALES.COM / JULY 2013