We’ve reviewed the submissions and our committee has narrowed down the choices to these outstanding finalists for Solution Provider Innovator of the Year! An idea. A widget. A gizmo. A platform. Whatever it is, its actual impact, or its potential impact is undeniable. This solution provider may have a history of ideas and innovation, or they may be the new kid on the block, but regardless, they have a kick-ass solution and it needs to be recognized.
Maybe there is a great back story in the development of the idea through a retail partnership, or maybe this solution provider had the foresight to solve an industry problem and hedged their bet on its success. The Solution Provider – Innovator category is intended to recognize that “something new”, or maybe even that “something amazing” that offers a real contribution to your business, and/or to the industry at large.
To be eligible for nomination, the specific example of innovation must currently be, or have been, released to the industry within the last 24 months. Solution Provider-Innovator nominations must be submitted by a retail client with first-hand knowledge of the solution’s impact on retail performance or the bottom line.
AND THE FINALISTS ARE…
NOMINEE: 3SI Security Systems
Through constant innovation, 3SI has developed solutions that protect multiple industries within the retail sector, solutions that are constantly evolving to meet the demands of the changing retail landscape.
3SI’s 24/7 Tracking Support Center and Law Enforcement Division (LED) are truly the linchpins of the company’s security offering. 3SI’s Tracking Support Center monitors over 175,000 devices from its base in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Its Law Enforcement Division has trained over 9,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide to respond to 3SI tracking devices. The company maintains strong partnerships with law enforcement to enhance protection for its customers.
3SI quickly pivoted to respond to the pandemic. Almost immediately their SaaS solution’s ENS feature was updated to include employee notifications. With this new product enhancement, managers can now advise staff of store closings, safety issues, and changing store hours. A survey feature was also added to help retailers compile and collect daily staff health checks to comply with CDC mandates.
The company has created and compiled COVID supporting materials and resource pages that include helpful infographics and links to partner websites and training materials. They have developed an e-book and recently launched two webinars on business continuity and maintaining COVID response protocols.
3SI’s technology has proven to be COVID proof, as its functionality is not impacted by mask mandates and does not require staff intervention. Whether a store is closed, or open, GPS is always there to protect especially when there is less staff on site. Having a product that works with or without staff interaction made it ready to go for COVID.
Today the company has grown to include a wide range of GPS Tracking and industry-leading SaaS solutions. And their reach has expanded to include a variety of financial institutions, retailers, restaurants, casinos, transport companies, law enforcement, and more. 3SI’s technology is ever-changing, but the company remains true to its core values and this is why I am nominating them for this award.
NOMINEE: SecureCash
SecureCash has created an Online Services client portal that is built into their new website and integrates data from the electronic dockets (eDockets) that are used to collect the banking. Clients are able to receive immediate notifications direct to location that banking has been collected and deposited. But Head Offices can also track the transactions in real time. This has been a time saving innovation for clients as they do not need to wait to find out where the banking has been deposited, or wait for paper dockets to be delivered back to have a record of collections. It has also been a financial benefit as sometimes the return of paper dockets has come at a cost to the client if the courier has had to return without adequate time available. Finance teams are able to export the data to use for whatever purpose: budget for future expenses or income, financial reports for previous years, any reason they require.
NOMINEE: ThinkLP
ThinkLP offers a ground-breaking Case & Audit platform which was easy to implement and could quickly identify, solve, report, and mitigate crime. But in the last year, ThinkLP has focused on developing and improving their AI & Analytics products including the easiest to use and most innovative Exception Based Reporting & Analytics platform in the industry today. While competitor solutions are pricey and out of reach for most small to mid-size organizations, ThinkLP is creating a revolution in the industry with an incredible affordable model while still offering the most comprehensive and flexible loss prevention platform in the industry.
What else are people saying about ThinkLP?:
- I have utilized ThinkLP’s platform for several years between two different companies. My previous organization was deeply imbedded with ThinkLP for almost a decade, and when my current company acquired the Alaska locations in the middle of 2020 I demonstrated how their innovated platform is essential in a retail environment; not just for loss prevention but for all areas of business. The user friendly capability of ThinkLP’s platform is second to none and blew away my new executive team who has never been in the retail industry. ThinkLP’s platform, with my former and current company, was a gamechanger in 2020 with the Covid-19 Pandemic that has effected everyone.
- From the start of the national lockdowns across the US and Canada I personally was on the phone (throughout the day and night) communicating with multiple members of ThinkLP so I could have to most accurate, live, and data driven information for my previous company’s executives who were relaying on the information to ensure top level safety and security for the 2,500+ employees and countless customers across North America.
- The continued innovation and growth of ThinkLP has help with their Exception Based Reporting (EBR) is a retail solution that is incomparable to any type of point of sale software on the market for retail organizations. The ability to track, trace, and be alerted to the slightest variance of either a location’s “normal” day-to-day transaction operation, as well as pin-pointing a change in a single employee’s “normal” methods on cash registers has improved investigation times by 85% which ensure a mass reduction in internal shrink. If there is a retail company out there that doesn’t know about ThinkLP’s EBR they need to take a look. ThinkLP is not just a platform that thinks about Loss Prevention solutions, they are a platform that thinks about company and client solutions as their top priority.
- Think LP is one of the most innovative, flexible and easy to work with organizations. They are organized and offer cutting edge solutions for all areas of the business.
- ThinkLP’s ability to adapt to the specific needs of our organization has been amazing. Whether it’s streamlining our home pages to be specific to the person logged in, creating abilities for store team to save time but entering multiple reports at once, or working with us to help maximize our efficiency, they always have a solution or can create one. Other departments within our organization are now asking how they can also utilize the ThinkLP functionality.
- Another ground-breaking feature developed in 2020 is Case Linking. This new tool searches cases across the organization for facial recognition matches, narrative processing, and matching single text fields to link cases together, helping ORC teams and law enforcement put the pieces together and solve cases faster.
- New product innovation combined with outstanding customer service is what helped ThinkLP to be named no. 96 on the Globe and Mail’s list of Top Growing Companies as well as rank no. 44 on the Canadian Business GROWTH list of the Fastest-Growing Companies for 2020. These achievements are a reflection of their dedicated team who goes above and beyond to serve their client-partners every day.
NOMINEE: TREUTH
Treuth is a mobile and desktop crime solving application that provides the loss prevention, asset protection, financial fraud industries, and their law enforcement partners with secure, real-time communications for data and intelligence sharing. Treuth has the first modern, cloud-based solution that is purpose-built to leverage machine learning to generate leads and resolve incidents within organizations or through instant collaboration with the public and private sectors.
The ORCAs’ partnership with Treuth is a transformative opportunity that will centralize efforts among retail loss prevention professionals and law enforcement to combat major organized criminal activity. Treuth’s Smart Network creates regional and statewide workspaces within Treuth with the ability to combine intelligence across ORCAs, leading to faster and smarter ways to detect and solve crimes. This not only protects retailers’ bottom lines, but also protects their customers by taking criminals off the streets. The retail loss prevention industry, through its deployment of Treuth, will transform the way crimes are detected for retailers and other industries because it combines real time data with the latest communication tools available to them.
Treuth was a participant in the ORCA Technology Innovation Summit held in September of 2020 as part of the ORCAs in Action initiative, bringing together ORCA leadership teams to meet in a closed session to discuss data management, data sharing, and data analytics needs. Every ORCA is working hard to make the best and most informed decisions regarding the needs of their members and the community as a whole, and having the best possible technology solutions is an important aspect of this mission.
As an organization it is vital that we engage our members and drive collaboration. So, we needed to find a platform that not only met that requirement but also grew with our organization. Treuth checks all those boxes. We feel that Treuth will have a significant impact in combating organized retail crime but also help us partner with other ORCAs in a way we haven’t been able to in the past.
Treuth is providing the platform at no cost to the ORCAs.
HOW TO VOTE
DOWNLOAD THE LP PORTAL MOBILE APP FROM THE APPLE APP STORE FOR iOS, OR GOOGLE PLAY STORE FOR ANDROID. (SEARCH FOR “LP PORTAL”).
ONCE YOU INSTALL THE APP AND REGISTER, ACCESS “THE HALL” CHANNEL AND FOLLOW THE LINKS FOR VOTING
EACH CATEGORY WILL BE OPEN FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS OF VOTING – TELL YOUR COWORKERS, YOUR PEERS, AND YOUR FRIENDS – AND GET THE WORD OUT TO VOTE ON THE FINALIST YOU FEEL MOST DESERVES TO WIN!
Visit The Hall homepage to learn more about each of our categories and finalists
