How America’s biggest retailers will use tech to catch retail theft
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Artificial intelligence is rapidly taking root in almost every field, and though the balance between theoretical potential and productivity will only become clear over time, one new test is taking place in the world of big-box retail, where AI is being used in tandem with anti-theft technology to fight against a growing wave of organized retail crime.
Large-scale theft of merchandise has been rising in the past few years, costing retailers billions in losses and endangering shoppers and employees, from the stores to distribution and in the supply chain.
Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, Kroger, Macy’s, CVS and other major retailers are teaming up with technology companies to develop and deploy next-generation video surveillance systems, facial-recognition cameras, license-plate and vehicle readers, autonomous security robots, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, smart case locks and predictive analytic software. While versions of this type of security tech have been in place for years, they’re now being superpowered by AI.
“We’re seeing a lot of tech vendors layering AI onto existing technologies,” said Christian Beckner, vice president of retail technology and cybersecurity for the National Federation of Retailers, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association. While AI is a powerful tool, Beckner said retailers have to be aware of the controversial issues that have been raised over the past year.
“Retailers need to use AI in a way that has appropriate guardrails, given the uncertainties of predictive outcomes of some AI tools,” he said. “If you’re using them to support loss-prevention activities, do it in a way that keeps humans in the loop before making any decisions that might have consequences for customers or employees.”
Catching retail thieves before they act
For retailers and loss-prevention experts, the primary goal of these technologies isn’t necessarily to catch thieves in the act, but rather to make committing their crimes less appealing — turning them away before they ever reach the door.
“The first thing we look at is, can we detect these people and identify them before there are victims?” said Dr. Read Hayes, director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, a think tank comprising researchers, retailers, technology companies, manufacturers and law enforcement professionals. “We’re trying to get the offender or crew to say, ‘Not here, not now, this doesn’t feel right.'”
Launched in 2000 with funding from Target and based at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the LPRC has tested hundreds of technologies in a simulation laboratory that recreates different retail environments, such as a checkout area in a big-box store, aisles in a home-improvement center or a shopping mall parking lot.
“We conduct large-scale experiments, much like randomized controlled clinical trials,” said Hayes, the son and grandson of physicians who sparked his interest in research.
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