Co-op Supermarkets combat 44% spike in retail crime with AI and enhanced security measures

Retail companies are witnessing a steep rise in shrinkage and players like Co-op Supermarkets are taking the situation head on. In the backdrop of a 44% increase in retail crime, Co-op has started rolling out visual AI across their network of stores (click this link for the full story).

Theft in the aisles

Items taken from the shopping aisles are typically concealed in clothing or bags, and partial payments made at the checkouts. In some cases, customers just pick up the item and don’t bother to conceal or even fill the basket or trolley – they walk straight out of the store with the item. In the absence of automated detection systems such as Visual AI, the store staff are unaware that such incidents have occurred.

How Visual AI can be helpful

Visual AI can help retailers overcome the challenges of monitoring the aisles by providing continuous monitoring and instantaneous alerts to store staff so that they can help prevent instances of shoplifting.

Some of the ways in which Visual AI can help include:

Type of Theft	How Visual AI can Prevent Theft
Concealment	Detect the customers who are concealing items in their clothing or bags.
Pure Theft	Detect a combination of the following types of theft: Cart Pushout: The customer places all items in the cart and exits the store without making a payment. Pick up Items and Walkout: The customer picks up a couple of items and walks out of the store. Partial Payment: The customer makes a payment towards a few of the items that are in the trolley or basket.

Rising popularity of Visual AI in retail

Visual AI solutions which can work with the existing technology infrastructure appear to be the preferred choice for most retailers. SAI Group's Visual AI platform can detect concealment instantaneously and send alerts to the handheld devices in the store. As these alerts include images and videos, which capture the suspicious activity, the store staff get sufficient time and the required evidence to interact with the customer and prevent theft.

SAI Group’s Visual AI platform also provides – at the press of a button – consolidated footage which can be submitted to law enforcement, thus saving valuable time and effort spent in sifting through hours and hours of footage. This can greatly enhance the efficiency of theft and concealment detection, and reporting of incidents along with legally admissible footage.

SAI Group's Visual AI platform provides data analytics, intuitive dashboards, and robust reporting capabilities to three of the top five retail companies in the UK. Contact us today, if you are on the lookout for a Visual AI platform that provides immediate return on investment.

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About SAI

As a leader in computer vision technology, SAI Group delivers cutting-edge, multi-modal AI solutions into retail environments. Using a unique platform approach, its technology uses existing camera systems to target losses, increase store safety, and underpin operational efficiencies.

All solutions are built from the ground up to ensure the highest levels of security and data protection, respecting the privacy expectations of the public and operating to stringent ethical standards while delivering substantial value to our clients. Globally, SAI monitors millions of transactions per day, protecting the revenues from tens of millions of product sales and hundreds of millions of customer interactions. Its models also accurately identify anti-social behaviour, aggression and violence, helping to de-escalate situations with real-time interfaces to security officers and operations centres.