Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a current trend for retailers. This growing market allows owners to enhance their business in numerous ways – from automating specific tasks, predicting the market demand, and even increasing the customer’s shopping experience (in person and online). And it’s not going away. In 2021, the AI retail market was $4.84 billion, and they’re anticipating it to grow to $31.18 billion by 2028! (source)

If you’re wondering what this has to do with loss prevention – the answer is everything. From inventory management, theft prevention devices, and EAS systems, AI technology can play a vital role in the profitability of your business. Learn how AI is changing retail loss prevention strategies and what you can do to incorporate it into your business. 

4 Ways AI is Changing Retail Loss Prevention Strategies

Since the average dollar amount lost per shoplifting incident is $461.86, 52.8% of companies are allocating technology resources to address this growing concern (source: 2021 NRF Survey). Some of the technology includes AI because it allows owners to free up their employee’s time to focus more on the customer.

Here are three ways that AI is changing retail loss prevention strategies and devices. 

#1 Self-Checkout Technology

If you haven’t noticed, most self-checkout stations include a video security system to monitor for theft and to learn how theft occurs. What makes AI so beneficial is that not only does it notice when theft occurs, but it also can look for predictive behaviors that might lead to it. This allows the system to notify staff if theft is occurring and if there’s suspicious activity. 

#2 Smart Shelf Technology

There are several types of smart shelf devices on the market. Their primary purpose is to use AI to secure merchandise and monitor theft. For example, you can configure the Swing Gate device to notify employees of any unusual activity, which can include:

  • Keeping the gate door open too long
  • If someone removes more than 1 product at once

Additionally, AI technology makes it easier to inventory merchandise so employees can restock it before items run out.

#3 EAS System and RFID Technology

In the past, EAS systems could only monitor a security tag if it left the store without being deactivated. Now thanks to AI, an EAS system can act as another employee.

  • Ability to detect shopper’s directionality to help prevent false alarms
  • Increase security strength by pairing the system with third-party and legacy devices
  • Access real-time data to quickly see current inventory levels
  • Uses in-store dashboards so you can monitor products and see benchmark data

The most significant benefit AI offers is the growth of RFID. You can incorporate this technology into numerous loss prevention devices to strengthen your security and use it as an inventory management tool. Learn more about RFID.

Tips on How to Incorporate AI Loss Prevention in Your Business

You’re not alone if you’re unsure how to begin adding AI to your business. Whether your concern is the cost or learning how to use the technology, we can help you. The Product Protection Solutions (PPS) team will work with you to find the strategies and tools that make sense for your business. We’ll also provide you with the resources and knowledge to effectively use those devices.

Contact us to learn where you can start or review the ideas below to learn how to incorporate AI loss prevention into your business.

  • Improve your inventory data and reduce errors
  • Add an automated assistant to your website to help online shoppers with product recommendations 
  • Strengthen protection on small merchandise without them “locking up” 
  • Gain customer insights using advanced algorithms to learn more about customer purchasing habits to improve the store’s layout strategically 
  • Increase the ordering accuracy using AI demand forecasting tools to predict purchasing changes 
  • Upgrade traditional video systems to ones with AI to allow for video searchability features to:
    • Look for potential shoplifters 
    • Investigate unusual shrinkage 
    • Monitor for employee theft 
    • Search for suspicious behaviors form shoppers 

Work with the Leaders of Loss Prevention 

When the future of loss prevention is AI, PPS is at the forefront. Our team has years of experience applying AM, RF, and RFID technologies throughout retail stores to strengthen a business’s loss prevention, electronic article surveillance, and supply chain areas.

Choose PPS to be your trusted partner for the future.