Checkpoint Systems recently announced the release of its new IPV enhanced monitor.
This new public display monitor is capable of being interfaced with existing EAS systems. Users can configure the monitor to display marketing messages as well as audible announcements to customers, offering assistance.
The message seems positive, though I feel many people will find the messages harassing, much like the annoying pop-up advertisements that used to plague web browsers everywhere. Messages from public display monitors may be annoying, but that is not the most concerning part about interactive PDMs.
Voice theft alarm
When interfaced with the retailer’s EAS system, the IPV enhanced monitor can display more aggressive messages whenever the EAS system is triggered. In the video example from Checkpoint, a would-be thief triggers the EAS alarm and turns to find his face displayed on a big screen monitor with the words “Stop. Please purchase your items”. At the same time a similar message is played through the monitor’s speaker system. At first this may appear to be a good idea, but that would only be if EAS systems were one hundred percent accurate.
Like any other consumer, I have triggered dozens of EAS alarms — either because a tag was not removed at the register or a box was not scanned properly. Any time it happens I am forced to walk sheepishly back to the cash register to have my merchandise reexamined.
Some of these systems false alarm so regularly that cashiers simply signal for customers to ignore the alarm. I now try to imagine having my image displayed on a public display monitor with the message alongside it to “STOP” and purchase my items before leaving. I cringe at the thought. What Checkpoint might have overlooked is that this message will mostly be displayed to honest customers who have done nothing wrong, and it will embarrass and offend them.
Balanced approach
I speak from experience. A few years ago I created a similar system for a local car dealership.
The system was designed to scare away would-be-thieves from the clients’ rear parking lot out of hours. To deter criminals we installed a speaker system that would alert anyone walking into the lot that it was now closed and to “please leave immediately or the authorities will be dispatched”. The system worked like a charm, until the complaints started rolling in.
Customers were furious they could not browse the lot on a Sunday afternoon when the dealership was closed. Within two weeks the system was modified to only operate during the darkest hours of the night.
Securing retailers can be a fine balance. Unlike other commercial clients (where you secure a facility and the employees inside it from outside threats) in retail applications you are securing store owners against their own customers. To a certain degree every customer is actually a suspect.
You want to prevent shoplifting, but at the same time you do not want to offend honest customers by making them feel distrusted.
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Interesting that this balance is only struck once the complaints start – I guess there’s no better way to test a system than to deploy? Afterall, everyone’s customers will react in different ways.
Using monitored CCTV/audio could help, a human interface will see the difference between a browser and a stealer and target his audience! Linked with a help point, it could even be used by customers to book test drives or appointments for a car they like!
I could not even imagine the embarrassment of my face being displayed on a monitor when a security device is mistakenly set off at a store. I actually stopped shopping at one retailer location because they decided to have an associate stand at the exit and examine peoples receipts and the contents of their shopping bags upon leaving. You didn’t even get a chance to step through the security device before they were on you asking to see your receipt. I found it embarrassing and insulting so I stopped shopping there. It is one thing to check someones receipt and… Read more »
StaceyE, you’re right, they could have implemented better mesaures to prevent theft or to catch shoplifters instead of lining each and every customer as if they had done something wrong.
I walked out of a store once and the alarms rang out so loudly. I had paid for all of my purchases. It turned out that the cashier had forgotten to take the tags off of one of my items. She apologized profusely and there was no lasting harm done, but I took no pleasure in being stared at and chased after by store personnel when it happened.
The situation you were in is embarrassing enough, without the big screen picture of your face and an automated voice yelling at you to stop. Accidents happen, and I have no problem returning to the cashier if an alarm sounds…but the alarm and being chased down by employees is enough in my opinion.
We’re really in a golden age of realising some of the cool things beyond surveillance we can do with the technology. Tony, this is a great example.
On the other side of the coin I’ve heard reports of some stores employing a ‘don’t challenge anyone’ approach, exactly due to that. They don’t want to risk offending anyone, so even if you’re baltently stealing they’ll say ‘have a nice day’ and wave you on their way. Not sure I believe these reports completely, but I’m sure there’s something to it.
Sometimes it happens when you walk into a store, what’s that about? I guess you’ve got a product that wasn’t de-tagged properly in another shop?
Tony, car dealerships do have a bit of a unique setup with their merchandise available for viewing outside of business hours, in a open lot. I haven’t seen any systems yet that interact with browsing customers but that’s not a bad idea. I did hear recently that some dealerships are using cameras with heat mapping to determine which vehicles are being viewed the most in the back lots. They can then move the most popular vehicles into the front lot or onto the showroom floor.
I don’t think it’s fair to tag customers as guilty since it’s not their fault. It’s kind of misleading and surely I do not want to get into a misleading situation like that and been tagged as guilty ? Do You ???
@ Rob
I think the do not challenge anyone would be a very risky approach for a business trying to protect its interests. There has to be a happy medium, I can not see how a business could succeed if its employees just observed as someone stole, and did nothing to try to stop it. Soon enough , their most “frequent shoppers” would be just shoplifters…getting everything at a five finger discount.
StaceyE, I know it’s a bit of a strange approach but believe it or not it can work. I have one client that implemented the “don’t challenge anyone” rule. Just as you predict in your comment these people will always come back, sometimes even the same day. When they do, the store calls mall security who are then waiting for the crooks as they leave with their second taking.
@ ColinBodbyl
That makes more sense to me if they are calling for security when the thieves return…..(or when they see it happening). I can see not approaching them in the store, mainly for safety reasons, but there has to be a plan, like you describe to deter them from becoming repeat offenders.
Ah, I see, yes that does make more sense. That’s the missing piece of that puzzle. Yes, this is probably the best way to deal with such a situation. Where it becomes impossible (or difficult at least) is when you’re on a High Street rather than in a shopping centre. Thanks, Colin.
Makes sense. I did an interview with some peole from Axis Communications on Friday and it seemed pretty clear that providing these kinds of business insights is one of the most important growth areas for them.
@STACEY ESTEY Certainly, worker safety also needs to be at the forefront of the planning process. Rob
@ Manshi
I agree with you. I think before stores start blasting customers faces on a big screen, they first need to fix the problems with their alarm technology. Perhaps if they could elliminate the “false alarms” then I think the idea of the big screen and the audible message telling the person to stop might be a good idea.
I actually stopped shopping at one retailer location because they decided to have an associate stand at the exit and examine peoples receipts and the contents of their shopping bags upon leaving.
@STACEY ESTEY, this system is implemented in most of the retail shops in India because number of people who visit the stores is very high and it is very difficult to track each individual using security cameras.
Just as you predict in your comment these people will always come back, sometimes even the same day. When they do, the store calls mall security who are then waiting for the crooks as they leave with their second taking.
@ColinBodbyl, interesting. I think this is a very neat idea because they dont offend the customers. But its risky as well because what if the crooks dont return, it would be huge loss to the shopkeeper.
I agree with you. I think before stores start blasting customers faces on a big screen, they first need to fix the problems with their alarm technology.
@STACEY ESTEY, true, Fixing the problem with the alarm technology is very crucial for stores else it will create a mistrust between stores and the consumers and thus might deter the consumers from visiting that store.
@ Sunita T
That would be a hard thing to get used to, but I guess if it is the norm, as you say, in India that people would just have to deal with it. It is too bad that we live in a world where everyone is suspect until they prove themselves not to be.
@ Sunita T Absolutely! If I were wrongly accused of theft everytime I visited a store, I would shop somewhere else. As long as there is human error, the system will never be perfect. If an employee forgets to remove a security tag an alarm will sound. I bought a camera awhile back and there were five security tags attached to it and its packaging. The cashier found and removed four of them…but the alarm still sounded. Once I got home and opened the camera to insert its battery, I found the fifth tag inside the camera where the battery… Read more »
Agreed, a sad place we live in if everyone’s a suspect. The process of getting people through the doors must be tortuous. I’m remembering queues at security screening in any context here, and they’re always long. The ‘exit’ area of the shop must have a bigger queue than the till!
But retail loss is likely to be less damaging that reputation damage I think is the sum they make
I think we’re overlooking the deterrent factor. Retail stores don’t want to catch thieves — that’s far too time consuming. They want to deter them from stealing, and this system would certainly do that. In fact, that was the initial point of public view monitors – to show would-be thieves that they are being watched, so they’ll go somewhere else. ADT will tell you that the most valuable part of their residential alarm system is the sticker that says the premises are monitored. CCTV cameras do 90% of their job, just by being there. So maybe a face on a… Read more »
The process of getting people through the doors must be tortuous.
@Robert Brown, true. Many people here dont link this system and what they do is they order the same products online.
They want to deter them from stealing, and this system would certainly do that.
@Robert Spurr, true this system acts as a deterrent but it believes customers are guilty until proven innocent which many customers dont like.
If enough customers dislike it enough to take their business elsewhere, it will be a bust. But people who object strongly tend to be in the minority, and I suspect that most people will take this in stride, grumble a bit, and get over it. It’s far less intrusive than having your bag searched at the movie theater, or your receipt scanned and the items in your cart counted as you leave the store. And we’re guilty until proven innocent in many aspects of our lives already. Airport screenings, traffic cameras, the tax man — we accept these things in… Read more »
@Stacey: Yes indeed. They have to fix their internal issues first. Then it would be easy for them also to monitor customer behavior on big screens.
@ manshi
Monitoring customers is a good solution, depending on the size of the retailer and the number of customers it has. It would be very difficult to monitor all customers in real time if there were 150 people in the store at the same time. That wouldn’t be very cost-effective because you would have to have at least fifty people monitoring all the time.
(Think I’d just leave it and shop somewhere else) Thanks for all this SunitaT
Good point. The classic ’empty’ alarm box on a house has always worked surpisingly well, as well.
They would argue it’s a win win I’m sure. By making customers feel more welcome and helping upsell, while deterring thieves.
@Stacey: Yes its not easy at all even for a small scaled company but at least to let to know the customers that their behavior is being monitored will do some sort of a justice for the company. Anyway its been happening in most super markets right now via CCTV Cameras so not a new thing indeed.
@ manshi
Yes, CCTV monitoring has been going on for a long time with retailers, my point though is that it would be impossible for a store with 150 customers in it to monitor every customer in real time. They would have to have a staff of people just to watch the monitors. Most people do know they are being recorded when they walk into a Walmart store, and that possibly someone is even sitting in a back room watching them…but, live monitoring of every customer would be a costly and difficult endeavor.
It would be very difficult to monitor all customers in real time if there were 150 people in the store at the same time.
@STACEY ESTEY, true. Its very difficult to monitor all the customers therefore companies should also think of attaching RF tags to each of the costly items so that even somebody tries to steal it, it should sound an alarm.
@sunita tirlapur An RFID tag seems like a much more feasible solution to me than live monitoring of EVERY customer at ALL times while they are in a store. To do that with video surveillance one would need cameras basically everywhere in the store…not just in “key” locations…and like I said before, a staff that is dedicated to watching customers at all times. It would be simpler to make each customer have a chaperone shop with them to make sure they are not stealing. RFID tags on store items seems like it would be a much easier and less insulting… Read more »
stacey you are right but let me ask that the chaperon shop or RFIDs are provided by the store or it should be made compulsory for the customers to have that once entering the store. I think store based RFIDs will be beter option but it will add to your cost that it might not be possible. Yes if regular customer perchase it from the store then it might be workable.
I am of the opinion that what ever measures you do you have to keep a margin of lost items in a buisness and you cannot stop it whatever measure you take. However thinking process needs to continue. I think for stores at a limited scale the cameras and workforce will be fine but at bigger stores more practical things need to be introduced.
The RFID tags would be security devices attached to products…therefore, the customer could not “supply” them..it would serve no purpose. The store would put the tags on the items, and then remove them when the item has been purchased so the customer could leave the store without sounding an alarm. And in regard to the chaperone suggestion, I was merely being facetious. I was expressing my opinion that if EVERYONE in a store with a hundred customers was being monitored “live” at all times through CCTV that it would take 100 people to watch the monitors all the time….and you… Read more »
@ Sheh
I think you are right, retailers will always have a magin of loss, because people who want to steal something will always find a sneaky way around security. But still, retailers must be able to stop as many instances of loss as they possibly are able to.
Stacey you are right. I know that whenever people starting with their buisness they always keep marging for items that will not be available for sale due to any reason. If things past that margin its loss for the company and if it remains within that limit its a happy situation for them.
agree, this days for start-up a lot of the factors need to be taken in the account… for me most important for Co. to know they would stay afloat…
agree but a lot of the times you know approximate amount of shrink and put in the price… or you could calculate it with time…
Batye I think security is good as we know it but iwe take security very seriously then people visiting the stores might feel uncomforatable and think that comfort has taken away from them and if its too light then its a loss for the company. CO. needs to find a happy mix between minimizing the loss but keeping the customers comfortable. A real headache for the company.
yes, you are right… solid point… as if no customers shopping inside the store… in few weeks it would be no store…
Shoplifting is a common problem for most of the retailers; although they know it’s happening they have no way of proving the customer without the help of CCTV.
@StaceyE- Yes it’s annoying when security thinks and examines you like a thief, that’s when you really start hating the retailer.
@Hazel Chua – I feel that retailers have the technology but don’t use it to prevent shoplifting. Do you know why? I wonder if it’s the cost of setup.
“The situation you were in is embarrassing enough, without the big screen picture of your face and an automated voice yelling at you to stop. Accidents happen, and I have no problem returning to the cashier if an alarm sounds…but the alarm and being chased down by employees is enough in my opinion.”
@StaceyE- I don’t think making mistakes should be considered serious as long as it was not done intentionally.