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Featured article in issue 42 of the Security Middle East Magazine.

New futures for retail CCTV

Major retailers and shopping malls in the region are finding ever more imaginative ways to integrate CCTV with other business functions

CCTV in the retail environment is being increasingly used not just for security but to deliver other benefits. In particular larger system users, such as high-end chains and retail malls, are investing in camera systems that can do a lot more than just provide evidence of a theft.

Many retailers, not just the bigger players, are currently concerned about the extent to which increasing cost pressures may lead to greater criminality. The level of theft, both from shoplifting and internal shrinkage, may well increase as a result of rises in the cost of living. The fact that retailers themselves are having to manage rising costs is driving consumer prices upwards, particularly where high value goods are concerned – making them even more attractive to thieves.

CTV has proved itself in the retail environment over many years and in the current economic climate there are even more reasons why it’s a good bet, says Salim Idris, general manager of Dedicated Micros in the Middle East. “To manage their operating costs efficiently retailers have realised that they need to stay at the forefront of technology adaptation,” he says.

Systems integration, particularly the integration of CCTV with other aspects of the retail infrastructure, offers some potentially attractive benefits. For example, access control and CCTV are being linked, and this is proving particularly useful in areas such a loading docks, warehouses, accounting areas, safes, data centres and security rooms. It not only allows remote viewing and evidence recording but, if needed, remote authorisation and control of who enters and leaves a particular area.

Likewise, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and CCTV are being integrated more than in the past. EAS may be the retailer’s primary tool, however store managers are increasingly seeing a need to integrate CCTV to capture video evidence both as a deterrent and to provide better evidence following an incident. An integrated EAS/CCTV set up can be programmed to automatically deliver close up images and a higher rate of recording whenever an EAS alarm is triggered.

The threat of fire is a major concern and huge losses can result from trading down-time even when an alarm is false. The integration of realtime monitored CCTV with fire detection systems offers users greater control of incidents and earlier confirmation of whether an alarm is genuine. With the rapid development of new technologies such as Video Content Analytic (VCA), and IP monitoring, it is becoming ever more practical to use cameras as a visual verification tool or as a very early warning system.

Then there’s the question of general management information. Until now the function of people counting – for marketing, planning and security purposes – depended greatly on older technologies such as thermal detectors. As a solution this was both higher in cost and less reliable, says Salim Idris. Again Video Content Analytics are beginning to provide a cost-effective answer, and one that can be easily integrated with a retailer’s management information systems.

VCA can also be used to reduce risks in the area of health & safety, helping to cut liability costs and reduce the potential for accidents by spotting possible areas of hazards.

In the arena of inventory management the benefits of integrating cash registers with CCTV have been proven, with reductions in both internal pilferage or crime at the cash register where value transactions are flagged up and real time video evidence recording is triggered. CCTV can also be used as a secondary tool for inventory management.

Finally, there are the critical functions of marketing and shelf management and again CCTV is being recruited to help.

Several retailers are reported to be experimenting with using VCA to trigger recordings in particular areas of display and logging this information over time to analyse customer behaviour.

Overall the use of CCTV has widened from security to marketing and MIS applications. But beyond this, the trend of building mega malls and hypermarkets in the region is also creating a need to closely integrate CCTV and other security applications within the IT infrastructure. Typically retailers see the IT backbone as the primary carrier of video signals from CCTV cameras, however they are very keen to keep the recording at the edge of the network in a distributed design. This avoids both a single point of failure and loss of recording if the LAN is down or loaded with newer applications. The latter, in particular, is a common occurrence in retail environments.

“Going further into the future a couple of high end retailers in the region are experimenting with live video purchasing for their VIP customers who, for various reasons, are either unable to visit the store or prefer to make their selection from the privacy of their homes,” adds Salim Idris. Unlike other purchases on line, where only a photocatalogue is available to help you make your selection, a live video purchase system will be used.

This will allow the customer to use free remote viewing software, such as NetVU Observer, to see and select the goods in real time and to be able to view it from different angles or inspect it closely before purchasing.”

Such access to live video purchase systems can be limited by time or to a particular CCTV camera in restricted areas. It looks likely to remain a specialist option for the most exclusive retailers, at least for the foreseeable future – but it shows how growing awareness of the potential of cameras, and a bit of imagination, are now redefining the field of retail CCTV.