Protecting and enhancing the retail experience

GardaWorld helping to ensure a safe and secure environment for the staff, guests and assets of retail organizations everywhere // By Sean Tarry

Whenit comes to achieving success within the hyper-competitive retail industry, there are a number of different elements and aspects of the operation that brands must consider, from marketing and merchandising to supply chain and information technology, and everything in between. However, given the fact that retail is essentially about satisfying the consumer, nothing is more effective than the creation of an engaging environment within which the customer can shop and interact with the retailer. And, nothing, says Sean Sportun, Vice President, National Accounts & Community Engagement at GardaWorld, is more important than ensuring the safety and security of that environment and of the staff, guests and assets of the retail organization.

“The physical brick-and-mortar store is, in most ways, where the retail experience takes place,” he asserts. “It’s where customers go to touch, feel, test and purchase product, and to engage with retail associates about product details and features. It’s where employees of the brand are spending a considerable amount of their time throughout each week. And it’s where the retailers’ products are sitting on shelves and being stocked. In short, the retail store serves as a significant hub of sales and activity for brands. And, as a result, it’s in the best interest of all brands to ensure a safe and secure environment in order to enable the extraordinary experiences that they’re attempting to create for their employees and guests.”

Combatting retail theft

GardaWorld – a global leader in security operating in more than 45 countries across 5 continents around the world - provides a breadth of services and solutions designed to help businesses in a number of different industries and sectors protect their people and assets. And, with nearly three decades of experience doing so, the insights and understanding that the company brings to each of its clients are incredibly beneficial in helping them implement services and solutions, or enhance current solutions already in place, in order to bolster the safety and security of their premises. With respect to securing the retail environment, Sportun recognizes the challenge in combating the scourge of the industry – theft.

“One of the biggest problems with theft within the retail environment is the fact that it’s been viewed by many as a ‘victimless’ crime – a property crime,” he says. “And that’s just not true. It’s estimated to be an issue that costs the industry approximately $5 billion every year. And, it’s not just the retailers that are suffering the consequences. Theft also hits the customer who ends up paying for the price inflations that are often required in order to make up for the shortfall caused by dishonest visitors.”

Range of solutions

Sportun goes on to explain that the cost associated with theft is not limited to finances, however, citing the brand’s reduced credibility in the minds of their consumers as a loss due to theft that cannot quite be properly quantified, but which is one that bears significant impact. In an effort to help retailers address the issue of theft and implement some solutions to address it, GardaWorld offers a robust selection of physical security services to clients within the retail community, including ambassador guards at the front door, floor walkers that can help identify shoplifters, and mobile patrols that roam from store to store, in addition to consulting and investigation teams that add a critical layer of strategy and intelligence to a brand’s suite of protective solutions. And, according to Sportun, they are all solutions that have been designed with the end-user – the retailer - in mind.

“We have a whole range of solutions and services that we offer retailers,” he says. “And, we work with all types, formats and sizes of retailers, from single location mom-and-pop shops to brands operating multiple locations across the country. Our goal is to help protect retail businesses, their people and their assets. And, because we understand that every retailer is different, with varying business and security needs, we allow our clients to build a customized suite of services and solutions that fit their unique needs. We send a team in to conduct a complete risk assessment of the store and evaluate the security elements that are required in order to create a safer and more secure environment. And, because we work with a number of different retailers operating in provinces and territories right across the country, we have access to an entire network of data and information that we can share across the board in order to help businesses more easily identify trends and take the necessary measures to protect themselves from crime.”

Preventing loss

In addition to theft, retailers have got to defend themselves against other forms of loss. Shrink, which also includes fraud and operational deficiencies, poses daily challenges for businesses of all sizes and can have a significant impact on a retailer’s bottom line. With a deep understanding of these challenges associated with loss prevention, GardaWorld assists and equips retailers in safeguarding their assets and reducing losses through a range of services.

“As a retailer, it is crucial to strike the right balance between protecting profits and ensuring a positive customer experience,” notes Marc-Andre Plaisance, Director of Loss Prevention at GardaWorld. We have developed a comprehensive approach to loss prevention to ensure that we address the various sources of loss a retailer may face.”

The cornerstone of this prevention effort is undoubtedly the security audit. GardaWorld’s team of experts conduct a thorough evaluation of the physical and operational security measures of the business. They identify weaknesses, assess the effectiveness of existing security measures, and propose enhancements. These audits not only improve protection against both external and internal theft but also create a safer environment for customers and in-store personnel.

“A security audit is like a health check-up; you need to understand the source of the problem before prescribing a treatment,” adds M. Plaisance.

In cases of suspected internal theft or fraudulent activities, GardaWorld’s investigation services assist merchants in building a strong case. This ranges from examining cash reports to searching for potential irregularities and conducting indepth interrogations, ensuring that the legal and ethical aspects of the process are strictly adhered to, which helps merchants, whether small or large, resolve their internal theft issues.

As for external theft, the company’s trained guards operate incognito as “floor detectives,” dressed in civilian clothes. They’re visible enough to deter potential thieves, but discreet enough to intercept any attempted shoplifters. This proactive approach not only minimizes shoplifting but also fosters engagement with employees, who view the floor detective as an ally in the fight against theft.

Sound the alarm

In addition to offering physical security solutions that are second-to-none, GardaWorld also provides its clients with a comprehensive range of elements to choose from in order to build the ideal security system for their store or stores, which can include intrusion detection and live video monitoring, electronic access control, water leak detection, fire alarm, mobile surveillance units, and more. Combined with the human expertise that the company employs, its innovative and performance-driven security systems continue to play a significant role in its ability to protect the assets of retailers all over the world. And Charles Ethier, Senior Director, Commercial Systems Sales - Eastern Canada at GardaWorld, suggests that the capabilities of the company’s systems and technologies are only increasing.

“The alarm system is obviously an incredibly important piece of the protection toolkit, especially within the retail environment,” he recognizes. “It serves a number of different purposes, and is often deployed by businesses for a number of different reasons. With respect to the physical assets of an organization, it’s the last line of defense. But it also serves as a lifeline to the GardaWorld monitoring and surveillance centre, allowing for real-time remote control which allows for quick verification as to whether it’s an emergency or a false alarm. It’s just one of the many ways in which this type of security technology has changed over the years, becoming more intuitive and better at detecting intrusions and anomalies. Technology is allowing for all of the tools that we’ve been working with for years - motion sensors, glass break detectors, camera systems, network video recorders, and other access control devices – to improve and connect to one another, adding more protection and more resources to loss prevention managers and their teams.”

Business intelligence

As Ethier explains, this type of security ecosystem of connected technologies and devices certainly helps brands in their loss prevention efforts. However, the informing capabilities of the data that’s generated from GardaWorld’s state-of-the-art security systems extends well beyond the scope of loss prevention and catching criminals.

In fact, according to Ethier, it’s serving retailers as incredibly meaningful business intelligence – advanced analytics that’s helping to not only transform retailers’ loss prevention performance, but the performance trajectory of their organizations as a whole.

“When most people think of security systems, they typically tend to associate them with intrusion burglar alarms,” he says. “But, with advances in technology, we’re able to deploy advanced intelligence systems that offer business intelligence for retail operators and store managers, such as customer heat maps that illustrate where visitors to the store are spending most of their time. Data related to insufficient stock on shelves can also be relayed, prompting automatic messages to be sent to employees responsible for replenishing stock in order to alert them of the situation. Essentially,

today’s security systems, combined with the continued evolution of a range of different technologies, are providing a critical service to retailers by way of keeping their premises and assets safe and secure, in addition to helping them improve their business outcomes and the development of future strategy.”

Technological advancement

It’s a consistent evolution and advancement of technology that’s also recognized by Doug Sales, Senior Director, Commercial Systems SalesOntario and West, at GardaWorld, and one that he believes poses the potential to transform the way retail organizations and their loss prevention professionals work forever. Driven largely by innovations around artificial intelligence and machine learning models, he sees an entire new generation of tools, software and solutions emerging that are smarter and more accurate than they have ever been before.

“The advancements that are currently being made around the development and use of technologies that are fuelled by artificial intelligence are immense and are providing retailers and other businesses with the technological wherewithal required to improve their operations,” he states. “It’s also serving as another layer of the store’s operations and loss prevention efforts, allowing them to not only capture recordings of incidents and the data related to those incidents, but the intelligence now allows retailers to quickly and precisely find that video data, creating efficiencies and saving time and money, too. In short, this type of technology, and the advancements that are being made every day, has made the job of today’s retail loss prevention professional that much less daunting, opening up a whole new world of business opportunities for the brands they work for.”

A hybrid approach

Sales explains further that as the technologies and their capabilities continue to enhance, so too do the possible uses for them, suggesting that, as a result of the types of services and solutions available to retailers, that the industry could be on the tipping point of a real reduction in shrink. Despite the potential that he sees in it, however, he says that technology should only ever serve as a layer of the protection employed by any retailer or business, advising that a combination of tools and technologies that are supported and managed by human resources will likely always be the best approach to security.

“Some of the technological tools and solutions today are incredible,” he says. “But security systems that are comprised only of cameras, speakers, alarm systems or access controls will only be as effective as they’ve been designed to be. In other words, many within the retail industry are finding that a hybrid solution, one that deploys the very best in technological tools, artificial intelligence and human intuition, is the security system that has the greatest impact, allowing for the most sophisticated responses within a layered approach.”

Securing the retail experience

Preserving the retail experience – the one that both the customer and employee of the store receives – is obviously of paramount concern for brands operating all across the country. As a result, loss prevention teams are constantly looking for newer and better ways to ensure the safety and security of their retail establishments and provide an environment for visitors that is welcoming and enjoyable. By exploring the latest in security technologies and systems, brands can custom build the suite of solutions that works best for their businesses, while enhancing their performance and protecting their future successes and growth.

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For more information about GardaWorld and its suite of safety and security services and solutions available to retailers, visit garda.com