Selling Security Tech to Retailers: they don’t All Need Heat Maps or Facial Recognition Software

Very few people marry within four weeks of meeting one another and there are good reasons for this.

There’s a lot to be said for getting to know one another and seeing if you’re a good fit in addition to how it will work in the long term so you benefit from the relationship.

The same could be said for retailers and new technology. Before I explain let me take a step back.

Tough times 2008-2015

The rate of change within retail is featured in print and online media daily: the rise of online versus the death of bricks and mortar, multi-channel quickly became omni-channel, retailers embracing smartphones and mobility.

The ultra-competitive retail market was affected as much as any other when the 2008 financial crisis hit.  According to The Centre for Retail Research’s ‘Who’s gone bust’ feature, in 2008 alone 54 retailers failed, closing 5,793 stores and affecting almost 75,000 employees.

Myself and others who are attached to the retail sector, either directly or indirectly, will be delighted to see that the same research piece by CRR shows that in 2015 there were only 24 retail failures, closing 728 stores and affecting 6,845 employees.  Admittedly still too many but every market has its annual casualties irrelevant of macroeconomic conditions so the trend overall is a positive one.

So with green shoots of recovery are now visible and even pure-play online retailers such as the mighty Amazon are opening their first physical store in Seattle.

Single-use technology vs multi-leveraged technology

Loss-prevention leaders are no strangers to investing large sums of their company’s cash into technology dating back decades.

By the time I entered the industry as an 18-year-old Apprentice Engineer in 1996 you didn’t question the procurement habits of ‘security’ teams. The primary reason for this was that market leaders such as Sensormatic and Checkpoint had proven their technology in the early 1970s so ‘electronic article surveillance’, for example, was widely adopted as a ‘security’ technology.

Fast forward to 2016 and the onset of Internet Protocol based technology such as IP Cameras and things are more complex than placing EAS pedestals at an entrance/exit and making them beep when a tag is presented.

Again, if I recall my days as a CCTV installation engineer it was simple: a camera in each corner of a store, are we getting a picture and is it recording? If so, operational requirement fulfilled.

New technologies change the game due to multiple applications, cost sensitivities surrounding typical loss prevention purchases and the possibility of the technology being leveraged by none-LP stakeholders.

New tech adoption: more haste, less speed

The system integrator and technology vendor community now find themselves in quite a unique position of ‘selling’ technology to retailers which isn’t proven in a lot of cases.

As I said above I and many of my peers joined the industry when so-called security’ technology was already proven to do its primary job so we found ourselves in ‘roll-out’ situations – ie, old methodology and rules no longer apply.

The best example of up-selling to LP and wishing for quick end user adoption of a new technology is video-based retail analytics (CCTV software).  If not handled correctly this great technology could be looked back upon as a fad which faded due to lack of ROI and ultimate adoption through perceived lack of value.

Longer sales process through consultation

I understand the need to upsell IP video with the promise of retail analytics to overcome challenges such as legacy analogue estates, which many retailers have, but feel a slight change in approach would benefit all concerned.

The reality is that telling every retailer they need a heat map won’t cut it and will certainly not recognise a roll out situation of this new technology.

However, working alongside that retailer over a period of time with multiple department stakeholders assembled to define a realistic brief would be of far greater benefit to everyone concerned.

Vendors and installers have at times been their own worst enemies by throwing out buzzwords such as facial recognition, age and gender, magic mirrors, smart fitting rooms, business intelligence and big data, to name a few.

All very real technologies in their own right but not all applicable to every retailer and certainly not available as an off-the-shelf, integrated solution which can be quickly deployed.

We as trusted advisors to retailers need to be empathetic to their business and understand that they may not, for example, have data analysts sitting around to make sense of the data which a BI platform produces.

With that in mind, simple data visualisation is key to allow LP to get the buy-in from creative teams such as VM and marketing, who by their nature are very visual people who could really use this tech to improve the retail operation.

No retailer needs a heat map or an IP camera to trade and sell goods. They do, however, in this rapidly changing consumer environment need ways to increase profit and provide a wonderful in-store environment that promotes greater consumer engagement and strengthens their brand.

We as vendors and integrators have the tech to enable that. We just need to realise that like the relationship reference at the top of this piece, it shouldn’t be rushed.

The proof-of-concept stage is an exciting opportunity to tailor the solution to that particular retailer, break down silos and ensure the solution becomes a key component in store and doesn’t end up being looked back on as a fad that never delivered.

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