More new technology heading into retail stores. A tiny sensor placed on a display or a peg which will alert store personnel that someone needs help with high-dollar merchandise OR if they are possibly looking to steal it. Ideally the store personnel then comes over and helps the customer or deters the thief.
The only flaw I can see is that in many companies (such as mine) there are probably not going to be enough store personnel available to respond to the sensor. But at least there will be statistical data available after the fact to show when and what someone was stealing at the time.
No more Loss Prevention undercover agents are needed. I think the next step would be the ability to send a current through the sensor if the product is being stolen to zap the potential thief and give them second thoughts.
Indyme empowers retail sales teams with new shelf ‘talker’
ORLANDO, Fla. — Indyme announced Friday the introduction of Smart Sense Touch, a new technology which instantly alerts retail staff to sales opportunities and suspicious activities.
“The results were overwhelmingly positive in [our test] stores; not only in significantly reducing shrink through increased awareness, which we expected, but the stores also enjoyed a surprisingly strong uptick in high-value merchandise sales and even scored higher on customer satisfaction ratings,” said Joe Budano, Indyme CEO.
“Retailers are increasingly under pressure to deliver a higher level of service and customer experience while protecting their sales and products. This new technology enables retailers to instantly identify in-store customer activity and execute a response strategy to leverage these previously untapped sales and loss prevention opportunities,” added Terry Clancy, Indyme’s Western Europe Commercial Director. “Our own research reveals how highly shoppers value good service, with some 78% deeming it an important shopping experience element. The study also revealed most shoppers will only wait five minutes for assistance before leaving; often straight to a competitor. This represents a huge loss of sales due to failure to engage customers. Smart Sense Touch provides real time awareness empowering staff to effectively and efficiently increase engagement rates.”
The Smart Sense Touch technology detects the handling of displayed merchandise to identify when and where shoppers have interest and may need assistance; additionally, some activity types also pinpoint possible theft activity. Instant store team notification of these actionable events empowers staff to efficiently and proactively engage shoppers, an action known to significantly increase sales and deter merchandise theft.
A small wireless Smart Sense Touch sensor, which readily mounts to almost any type of store fixture, detects vibrations induced by merchandise removal from shelves or peg hooks anywhere on that fixture. Sophisticated algorithms analyze these vibration signatures identifying events of interest, which are then processed by flexible business rules to instantly notify appropriate store staff when needed.
For example, Touch sensors placed on high-value, high-service merchandise displays typically notify staff as soon as a customer handles these items. At evaluation stores, this dramatically increased proactive customer engagements, resulting in increased conversions and higher tickets.
Conversely, at high-risk merchandise locations, Touch notifications may occur only when events such as possible sweeps or attempts to cut packaging from locked peg hooks are suspected. Proactive engagements to these events are a powerful theft deterrent. This increased awareness of high-risk stock movement often permits unlocking secure displays to improve access, reduce customer frustration and increase sales of items.
In addition to staff notifications, a small flashing light and “chirp” annunciator on the Touch sensor activates during a suspicious event, also a proven theft deterrent. Potential thieves fear what they don’t understand or anything that draws attention to them, yet this simple chime is typically unnoticed by honest shoppers.
The sensor’s wireless design, small size and adaptable mounting means monitoring can be implemented without impacting retail planograms or attracting unwanted attention. This enables the sensor to vigilantly monitor activity at all times, even in otherwise hidden merchandise locations.