Retailers must monitor everything happening in their store environments. They also need “to balance that customer experience with the loss of a sale and the theft of a product,” said Andy Szanger, director of strategic industries at CDW, at NRF 2025.
If consumers need assistance in an aisle or can’t find the products they’re looking for, that can mean the loss of a sale. “I once went to Home Depot because I needed to cut down a tree branch outside my house. I waited about 10 minutes in the aisle for help. To my right was a handsaw that cost me $5. I picked that up, I brought it to the cashier. I spent $5 instead of $150 because I couldn't get assistance to get an item out of a locked counter. So, the store lost a bigger sale.”
LEARN MORE: Experts share their strategies on stopping loss and fighting crime in retail.
But retailers can also lose money through “sweethearting” or “under-ringing” if cashiers take products behind the counter, said Johanna Hinkle, director of portfolio management, innovation and inclusion at Toshiba. That’s why self-service checkouts will soon be able to train cashiers in real-time and detect what the human eye cannot.
Computer vision cameras capture an aerial 360 view of the scene and use “behavior recognition systems to understand a consumer’s intent to purchase an item,” she added. Here are three ways artificial intelligence computer vision cameras are improving retail:
Click the banner belowto keep up with exclusive stories from BizTech as an Insider.
