It’s a well-known fact that surveillance play a valuable role in deterring crime and preventing losses in the retail sector. However, it’s not well-known that the value of surveillance in retail goes way beyond surveillance. In fact, modern AI-powered surveillance systems can add tangible value to any retail business in many other ways as well. This article explores three such ways.
New-age surveillance systems include capabilities like intrusion detection, object recognition and detection, facial detection, and real-time alerts that enable retailers to monitor their premises, detect anomalous or criminal activities, and act early and quickly to strengthen security. And with the addition of AI analytics, these systems are not just security tools. They are valuable business assets.
In addition to video recordings, these modern systems now provide useful intelligence for numerous business use cases. Retailers can leverage these capabilities to adjust store staffing, optimize inventory levels, and design personalized marketing strategies – all of which can boost their sales, revenues, and profits.
In any retail business, sales and revenues depend on converting more potential customers (“window shippers”) into actual paying customers. But to achieve this goal, staff members are required – to engage with shoppers, answer their questions, and (gently) encourage them towards purchase. Here’s where AI analytics can be very useful.
AI-powered surveillance systems can provide up-to-date video data and insights that enable retail managers and decision-makers to understand where customers spend the most time and if there are enough sales associates to engage with them. They can determine if more staff members should be added to one or more areas, or during certain time periods (such as rush hour) for customer engagement and payments processing. In this way, they can adjust staffing levels in order to convert more visitors into sales.
Inventory overstocking and understocking are both serious problems in the retail sector. Overstocking increases operating and holding costs, while understocking may lead to lost sales. Both affect a retail business’ revenues and weaken its bottomline. Needless to say, all retailers want to minimize inventory overstocking and understocking. Here too, AI analytics can be a huge help.
Surveillance systems with AI analytics capability provide real-time inventory information that enable inventory managers to monitor inventory levels, and identify understocking and overstocking situations before they get out of hand. They can also analyze historical sales data and current trends to assess customer demand. On the basis of this information, they can determine how much inventory to stock to minimize losses, and maximize sales and revenues.
Advanced surveillance systems provide AI-powered insights about customers and their shopping behaviors. These insights enable retail marketing and promotions teams to understand customers better. They can look at video data and leverage facial detection to identify returning customers, and look at historical sales data to identify that customer’s preferences and past purchases.
Based on all this information, they can make personalized recommendations to enhance the customer’s shopping experience. They can also target the customer for personalized promotions, discounts, and even cross-sells and upsells. Tailoring all recommendations and promotions to that shopper and their needs increases the probability that the buyer will spend more and give a big boost to the store’s sales and bottomline.
Modern retail surveillance systems can create a powerful competitive advantage with real-time, high-fidelity video footage and actionable AI-powered insights. These insights enable retail decision-makers to understand shopper demographics and requirements, monitor visitor paths and dwell time, and assess shopping trends over time – in order to optimize store operations, layout, inventory levels, customer experiences, and more
To know more about the benefits of AI -based video analytics for your retail business, join MVP-Convergint MEA’s upcoming webinar: Redefining Surveillance for Malls & Retailers: From a Cost Center to a Revenue Generator.