Saw — means won! On the use of video surveillance systems in retail.
Modern video surveillance technologies are a mandatory element of a comprehensive security system for a retail enterprise, a real tool in preventing illegal actions and proving the facts of damage. Video surveillance ensures continuous control of the protected area at any time of the day, prompt monitoring of the situation in the hall during working hours, allows you to «track» a suspicious visitor, and provides the ability to view the video archive in order to identify the fact of theft. Sometimes the video footage is the only evidence of theft — the recording can be shown to the denying offender so that he returns the goods or, if necessary, with the appropriate software, present it in court.
Choosing equipment
According to consumer CCTV preferences, large chain retailers can be divided into two main groups. The first chooses branded equipment from well-known manufacturers, such as American Dynamics, Bosch, Panasonic. The second uses functional, but simpler and cheaper equipment from Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers, such as Infinity
The choice of this or that equipment is connected, on the one hand, with the capabilities of the companies, and on the other, with their approaches to security, existing quality standards and requirements for the technical characteristics of the equipment. For some, for example, it is enough to just see that the buyer has picked up the box, while others need to examine the label, and sometimes the barcode on the box.
The CCTV equipment set is also selected depending on the store format, product range and the role that the store owner assigns to the video surveillance system in preventing theft. The minimum set includes cameras, registration equipment and communication equipment that allows online monitoring of what is happening in the sales area. Operational surveillance should be carried out by a specially trained operator who can accompany a shopper suspected of theft around the entire perimeter of the sales area, monitoring the image from several cameras.
The SensorRail mobile video surveillance system provides effective support for a suspicious buyer, allowing you to follow him practically from the entrance to the store and get the necessary image magnification by controlling the camera with a special joystick. You can even see minor movements of the intruder's hands. The mobile technology is quite new, but has already been implemented at a number of sites where it is necessary to protect expensive and/or small-sized goods. For example, the mobile system has been installed in Castorama building materials hypermarkets, the Seventh Continent chain, the Wester chain, and many warehouse complexes.
Sometimes, in order to save money and relying only on the psychological aspect, stores install dummy video cameras and hang up notices that the store is under video surveillance. However, this method only works until the attacker realizes that the camera is not real.
The optimal solution for large and medium-sized commercial properties is video surveillance using digital video cameras. Their demand is due to the product range in different price categories and wide functionality. The key issue here is the right choice of cameras, taking into account the tasks facing the customer and the features of the facility where CCTV is installed.
The use of IP cameras in retail establishments is the exception rather than the rule. For example, to solve a specific task that cannot be accomplished in any other way. In particular, at one of the Russian METRO Cash & Carry IP facilities, video surveillance of the facility was provided online from an office in Germany. In another hypermarket, thanks to the mobility of IP video cameras, the problem of constant video surveillance of expensive goods, the location of which on the store shelves periodically changes, was solved.
Main risk areas
Increased risk areas that require constant monitoring are the entrance to the sales area, service exits from utility rooms, the landing stage (loading and unloading area), the pre-checkout area, storage cells for customers' bags, the main aisles of the sales area and the exit area without purchases. Video surveillance is also necessary in the car park, in the open trade area and along the perimeter of the building.
Video cameras are needed not only to detect thieves among customers, but also in the most significant loss area — the cash register line. Special software allows for full control of the cashier's actions: compare the image captured on video with the operations performed by the employee at the cash register, and identify discrepancies, the so-called alarm events, as well as generate warnings based on chains of events — a certain sequence of actions. Such events include all possible options for potentially illegal actions. At the same time, this software package does not require the constant presence of an operator. When analyzing event reports, it is possible to see all abnormal situations at any number of cash registers in a matter of minutes (our organization has 48 cash registers) and make an appropriate decision on them. At the same time, it is possible to resolve conflict situations between the cashier and the buyer.
Features of video surveillance depending on the assortment
The technical solution for video surveillance in a sales area largely depends on the range of products the store works with. For example, in grocery supermarkets, where some of the goods are on high shelves, and some are in refrigerated display cases, both dome robotic and stationary cameras are often used simultaneously. Dome cameras are cut into the ceiling or installed on a suspended structure and placed in an open space, for example, above the cash registers or in the entrance area, and stationary cameras monitor the passages between the shelves. In addition, in a grocery store, risk areas that require increased control are the wine and vodka department, the coffee display rack, expensive individual and related goods.
In cosmetics stores, due to the fact that most of the goods are small in size and quite expensive, it is recommended to equip the entire sales area with controlled dome color video cameras in combination with stationary color video cameras to record in detail the actions of the buyer at the shelf with the goods.
In stores offering household goods, risk zones also include small-sized and high-priced goods (drill sets, small tool kits, etc.). As a rule, such stores have large retail areas, and instead of multiple color dome video cameras, it is more practical to use color mobile video cameras on a rail system in combination with stationary video cameras. Mobile rail video cameras are used for operational surveillance and provide the most complete coverage of the protected area. The operating principle of this system is that the camera is invisible to the eye, moves almost silently along the guide profile at a speed of up to 6 m/s, allows you to track all suspicious actions of violators and continuously accompany them in the maximum possible control areas. At the same time, the camera is almost invisible to the violator — he cannot know at what time the camera is in a particular place.
The efficiency of this system is increased by using a rotating dome video camera in the design, which provides high-speed viewing in the vertical and horizontal planes, eliminates all «blind» viewing angles and provides full video coverage of the controlled space regardless of lighting. At the same time, this dome video camera makes it possible to examine an object in the smallest detail due to a 242-fold increase in the object.
Features of video surveillance depending on the store format
Nowadays, video surveillance cameras are installed not only in supermarkets and hypermarkets and/or expensive boutiques, but also in small stores with an area of 200 sq. m.Of course, the larger the store and the more expensive the goods it offers, the more serious the approach to video surveillance and the more complex (higher quality) the system. Thus, in small supermarkets and counter-trade stores, two or three video cameras may be enough: one or two are placed on the side of the display case so that they do not confuse the buyer, but are still noticeable. Another camera is at the exit from the store so that the buyer can see that the equipment has remembered him.
In hypermarkets and self-service stores, cameras are installed in the most visible places — at the entrance/exit, main aisles in the sales area, above display cases with expensive goods, the loading/unloading area, near refrigerators, in production workshops and other risk areas.
A special feature of the approach to security issues in a shopping center is the division of responsibility for the safety and security of material assets between the tenant and the owner of the shopping center.
Main control zones of the shopping center: entrance/exit
passage zones, stairwells, common areas, etc.
goods loading/unloading zones
goods storage areas
main passages in the sales area
production workshops
routes for the movement of material assets
vehicle parking
Main control zones of the shopping center tenant:
entrance/exit
checkout area
utility rooms
Maintaining the functionality of the equipment
The most optimal type of service is comprehensive, which includes not only a response to a situation that has already occurred, but also a set of preventive measures: both regular scheduled maintenance (for example, quarterly) and consulting support on issues of maintenance and proper operation of equipment.
As for prompt troubleshooting, a technical support system is effective when the central office of a service company monitors each object of its client's expansion. For example, in the company «SM TRADE» a three-level support system is currently in place to solve this problem, in which the front part is the dispatch service and a number of specialized departments specializing in various market products of the company. The other part of this system is the company's single production base, designed to ensure the most effective solution to emerging problems. Wherever the client is, to receive technical support, he only needs to call the dispatch service, which provides a single point of contact. An experienced dispatcher, using a single information system, will record his request, identify the problem and, in accordance with established regulations, transfer it to the appropriate level, ensuring high-quality receipt and further distribution of information between responsible persons. This approach is traditional in the service market and ensures a fairly high response rate to requests.Currently, one of the hypermarkets of the Lenta chain is testing a new information monitoring system for the market, which ensures control over the operability of various elements of the security system at remote sites. The system is a set of interconnected software tools that function as a single database and communication platform that provides up-to-date information instantly and simultaneously to the customer company and the service company, thereby helping to eliminate any problems in the shortest possible time. This approach automates the entire process of monitoring and alerting about incidents in the security system, IT infrastructure and engineering systems, allows you to keep track of equipment and configuration changes, automates the technical support service and monitors the process of resolving incidents. Automation reduces the human factor to almost zero and does not require the involvement of the company's own resources to identify a service case.
The price of the issue
If you correctly calculate the use of CCTV at a facility, the company's losses are reduced several times. First of all, this is due to the fact that the possibilities of preventing theft increase sharply — an experienced security officer will immediately see that the buyer is going to commit a theft. However, the cost of video surveillance itself is only part of the costs associated with the implementation of a security system for a facility. The estimate also includes costs associated with the necessary equipment for building security, fire alarm, access control and sound notification systems. And this all depends on the specific parameters of the retail facility and the tasks set for the system. Therefore, it is very difficult to calculate the average cost of a solution for an average store. Here, everything is very specific and individual. On average, for a hypermarket with an area of about 10,000 sq. m, a video surveillance system will cost $ 125,000.
What else does retail use?
Experienced security professionals know that you can't stop at implementing only a video surveillance system. Achieving the highest level of security for a trade business requires a balanced, comprehensive approach. A facility security audit allows you to design an optimal system that includes the most necessary and effective components in reasonable quantities and the right combination, be it CCTV, anti-theft systems, observation mirrors, video monitoring of cash transactions. For expensive goods, such as electronics and computers, reusable protective safes and systems for protecting goods on shelves, etc. As world practice shows, only the comprehensive use of the entire arsenal of tools and methods can reduce the likelihood of theft to almost zero.