The threat landscape for retailers has transformed due to the pandemic, disruption of global supply chains, and recent price increases with a climbing exposure to crime—both in-store and online. Organized retail crime is generating substantial losses, along with impacting the confidence of shoppers, who are increasingly reluctant to place themselves in harm’s way. Meanwhile, the shift to omnichannel made retailers continue to deal with increased return fraud and false damage claims. In an industry where social proof and quality reviews matter, many retailers have chosen to shoulder these losses—whether valid or not—for fear of trial by social media.
One of the most common tools to help mitigate or prevent organized and opportunistic retail crime are video surveillance systems. However, many of these systems are still isolated, limiting their contributions to an efficient investigation of incidents. The Qognify BVI (business video intelligence) platform takes a different approach by combining footage from the video management system with transaction data from various IT systems. In doing so, it can provide timely and actionable insights that improve the way incidents are managed, and identify trends.
Brick-and-mortar stores can use Qognify BVI in combination with a POS system to specifically investigate suspicious transaction types such as cancellations, returns or void transactions at the checkout. Instead of investigating video footage from numerous surveillance cameras, security staff can directly access and review these transactions.
Designed as a omnichannel solution, Qognify BVI also documents pick & pack and returns handling processes, as well as the transfer of liabilities in the warehouse. In this case, the video system is connected to barcode scanners or to the ERP/warehouse management system to combine video and transaction data. This approach provides an opportunity to avert false claims and fight organized crime while also benefitting staff and customers, who can easily access accurate information regarding the status of orders, replacements and returns.
