CCTV and Business Security in the Retail World

With the annual cost of shoplifting to the Australian retail industry estimated to be in the billions of dollars, business owners in the retail sector need to take continued preventative measures. CCTV and other means to monitor the actions and movements (naturally within the boundaries of existing state laws) are encouraged as the first wall of security. This article looks at additional means to protect your business interest and bolster your loss prevention measures.

Know Your Weak Spots

Most shoplifters are by nature opportunistic and can react to/decide to steal items that they crave or see at the last moment through instore visual merchandising. Retail by nature, places trending or popular products within a prominent place – near tills or a natural walk through area that funnels visitors into customers and where there is typically a denser footfall. This is often one of the most vulnerable areas to shoplifting – most if not all of the focus is naturally on the tills but often do not cover the areas where people either pass through or congregate on the way to the till. Consult with your CCTV specialists who can audit your retail premise and advise on where to place CCTV coverage.

As unpalatable as it may be, retailers need also pay attention to internal loss prevention as staff can in many cases contribute heavily to this area.

Store Data

Hopefully the days of a daily wipe clean of CCTV footage are dwindling and most retailers should be using cloud-based video storage systems. In the event of catching a would-be shoplifter, these recordings can be used as evidence and if longer date range recordings are kept there is the potential review historical recordings to tackle a persistent shoplifter. Recordings could also be used to share with other retailers in the area (mindful of any privacy issues) to ensure that collective knowledge is used to protect retailers. Internally, with sales team briefings, CCTV footage of known offenders can be shared to ensure that all shop floor staff are on the lookout for both apprehended shoplifters and those who may have slipped the net but have been caught on CCTV coverage.

Improve Internal Communications

For smaller retail premises that do not have security staff manning entry and exit points or lack product tagging security measures, Adeva encourage improving internal communications for premises with a large square footage of shop floor. This may be as simple as having internal radio telecommunication systems in place so that staff can quickly raise support in the events of shoplifting or other threats to security.

Adeva Security have a large range of security products to safeguard your retail premises including CCTV, alarm systems and can provide a full audit, installation and maintenance of the latest smart CCTV systems with cloud storage and remote access. For further information, please contact our team on 1300 773 633.