Q&A with Dara Riordan, President of FaceFirst

Three hundred U.S. and U.K. senior retail leaders recently told researchers the current “theft crisis” is their number one business concern. They cited facial recognition as their top tech solution. Can you provide more context?

The new research commissioned by Avery Dennison focused in part on tools that both detect and prevent theft. Retail leaders cited facial recognition as the most effective deployed technology or product, ahead of license plate recognition, RFID tags, and other solutions. That said, it’s never one tool alone. The complementary approach of integrating face matching with traditional CCTV, cart containment, RFID, access management solutions, parking lot towers, and more is the emerging technology landscape. It’s being used to enhance solutions retailers have already invested in. Forty-four percent of the executives said they have used facial recognition technology in the past year, and 37 percent said they intend to deploy facial recognition in the next two years. The need for proactive solutions to combat this “theft crisis” is critical, not just to prevent loss but for life safety.

Why do you think so many grocery retailers, in particular, have deployed FaceFirst’s face matching solution?

FaceFirst currently protects 15 of the top 50 U.S. grocery stores. The habitual recidivism we see is astounding. Grocery retailers in the recent research specifically ranked facial recognition as the most effective solution. FaceFirst CEO Dan Merkle touched on the theft impacts in his recent interview with LVT’s David Studdert. “Some people believe ORC is a victimless crime,” David said. “But ORC affects our communities. It trickles down to each of us, whether we’re paying more at the checkout, or loss of jobs, or heaven forbid, shutting down stores.” Dan keyed in on the very real human costs: “Grocers are shutting down stores in high-crime areas and creating food deserts. That is a travesty. If we can protect those communities, that’s an impact we can’t overlook. And a vast majority of retail employees don’t feel safe in their jobs. That’s a terrible thing. There’s a human and emotional side of this beyond the economics.” For details about preventing in-store violence, reducing loss, and the vital importance of providing human oversight, check out the whole Retail’s Most Wanted episode.

What are retail executives who use facial recognition technology in their stores telling others about their experiences?

FaceFirst’s rapid adoption has been attributed in part to our passionate clients sharing the impact of the technology. Retailers are making store safety their top priority. It’s a team sport, as the entire industry has a shared goal of safer stores. This means collaboration among retailers, sharing what solutions are making an impact and which are not. Retailers are applying FaceFirst’s powerful investigative search features to focus on sophisticated theft operations.

At a recent industry event, a long-time client shared an experience with an audience of his peers: “We just had a big win with a skimmer crew. We had a very observant cashier see someone placing a skimmer on top of our POS device. We ran FaceFirst searches on the two individuals. Two suspects turned into 10, and one store turned into 54 stores. We found four more skimmers that had been placed in the past three days. We had zero victims, which makes our CEO pretty happy and supportive of the technology. We were able to complete the investigation from start to finish in five hours. No other tool can do that for you.”

Based in Austin, Texas, FaceFirst is a global leader in fast, accurate, and scalable face matching systems with high levels of security, privacy, and accountability. Learn more at facefirst.com.
 

'Sophisticated' ORC Groups Traveling from State to State
Police say little penalty for property crimes is leading to uptick in retail theft
In mid—July, a store inside a St. George mall was burglarized, resulting in the theft of $500,000 of merchandise. Police said the theft was committed by a sophisticated, international crime group that travels from state to state, committing retail theft. It’s part of a rising trend of organized groups targeting Utah as a hotspot for stolen goods.

Police say there has been a steady rise in sophisticated crime groups traveling from state to state to steal large quantities of goods since 2020. Recently, nine people were arrested during a shopping mall blitz in West Valley City.

Some of the people committing crimes are local repeat offenders. However, police said most are from out of the country, traveling from the border to different states to commit theft. They said the route in Utah often involves hitting stores along Interstate 15 from other states. They also said weak penalties on property crime have influenced them to come back again.

“They hit the same stores, they travel a route and know where they’re going to hit those stores,” said James Russell, supervisor of the CASE task force built to combat theft. “They feel confident they can get away with it.”

Steve Jensen, an officer on the task force, said it’s more than just a retail problem for larger stores.

“If it was just a retail problem, they would’ve fixed it by now,” he said. “They’ve done everything they can, from locking up products to monitoring these situations, to contacting police to making reports. So, this is a community problem, and it’s about all of us coming together.”

Police say most international theft groups originate in Romania and countries in South America, accessing the United States from the southern border. They claim more strict penalties for these crimes would help make it more difficult to commit them. They also said the legislature is keeping a close eye on the numbers.  ksltv.com


The Theft Surge Impact
Should More Luxury Retail Be Appointment-Only Like Saks Fifth in San Francisco?
Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in San Francisco’s Union Square will switch to an appointment-only shopping model starting Aug. 28, 2024, likely aiming to offer more personalized service and address concerns about theft and staffing costs.

The move seems to be signaling a rising trend with luxury retailers to adopt appointment-only models. Other examples include Neiman Marcus in Las Vegas, Brunello Cucinelli in New York, and Gucci Salon in Los Angeles. This practice is also becoming more commonplace in Asian countries, especially for VIP clients, according to Amanda Lai, a director at McMillanDoolittle.

In this case, San Francisco’s rising retail theft rates may have also played a role in the decision to change models.

The shift will unfortunately result in job cuts at the Union Square location, a spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle, though Saks has not detailed the extent. While some upscale retailers continue to do business in Union Square, the area is facing major challenges, including a rising 20.6% retail vacancy rate, per CoStar’s data.

This is not the first time Saks has tried out appointment-only shopping. As reported by CoStar, “The luxury chain now has 16 ‘suites’ at hotels operating by appointment only,” though this seems to be the first standalone store to test the model.

Users on Reddit have shared varying opinions on the move, with many predicting that it signals the end for Union Square, or at least for department stores in the area. Most also voiced disappointment in the lack of freedom of being able to walk by and browse on a whim. Meanwhile, some workers expressed sadness when they learned of the news.  retailwire.com


Has the Anti-Theft Product Lockup Backfired?
Retailers Locked Up Their Products—and Broke Shopping in America

CVS, Target and other chains have barricaded everything from toiletries to cleaning supplies. It’s backfired in almost every way.

Several years ago, Americans emerging from the early days of the pandemic found that aisles at some of the country’s biggest retailers had begun to change. After a year of shoppers mainlining online deliveries and battling unpredictable product shortages, stores finally replenished their shelves, but with a catch: Many products were locked behind acrylic barriers. The plastic shields, once used sparingly to secure certain kinds of expensive or heavily regulated items such as cellphones or cigarettes, were now holding hostage run-of-the-mill toiletries and cleaning supplies. To negotiate their release, you’d need a key-wielding store employee. If no one was around—and no one ever was—you could press a call button and hope for the best.

The practice has since metastasized to so many kinds of products in so many more stores—big-box discounters, beauty retailers, chain pharmacies—that it’s become routine to discover entire aisles transformed into untouchable product galleries armored in plexiglass. The whole thing has a whiff of pawnshop, which might actually be unfair to pawnshops. They, at least, have someone ready and waiting to take things out of lockup. bloomberg.com


Liquor Stores Targeted by Thieves
Virginia ABC sees 50% increase in theft from liquor stores
Thieves increasingly are targeting Virginia’s liquor stores this year, according to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC).

Through June, about $800,000 worth of merchandise has been swiped from ABC store shelves — almost a 50% increase over the same time last year, according to ABC data.

Earlier this month, a 27-year-old D.C. man and three juveniles were arrested and charged for more than a dozen ABC store thefts in Fairfax County. That crew is linked to 26 ABC store thefts, allegedly stealing more than $145,000 worth of merchandise, ABC said.

Virginia ABC said it is continually reviewing and implementing changes to better deter and detect theft, including staff interactions with customers, more frequent inventories, additional audits and enhancing camera systems.  nbcwashington.com


Youths Fueling Violence Up North Too
Toronto sees ‘troubling’ rise in youth gun violence, fatal shootings
Data released on Wednesday shows that shooting events in Toronto during the first half of the year are up 58 per cent compared with last year, while the number of fatal shootings increased from 16 in the first half of 2023 to 28 so far in 2024.

Youth involvement in violent crime particularly appears to be growing. So far this year, police said youth firearm arrests are up 75 per cent compared with the same period in 2023 — with 114 arrests this year, compared with 65 the year before.

He called on all levels of government to tackle the issue of youth violence “long before a young person makes the decision to get involved” with criminal activity. globalnews.ca


Retail theft in Burlington has doubled in one year - what's going on?
 
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The Costly Kroger-Albertsons Merger Effort
Kroger, Albertsons have spent $864M, so far, on acquisition effort

Price tag to jump by $600M for Kroger if the deal fails

Nearly two years have passed since Kroger announced its plan to acquire one of its biggest rivals, Albertsons, and during that time, the two companies have spent an estimated $864 million on costs related to the transaction.

WCPO 9 in Kroger’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, reported on Tuesday that the expense of defending the proposal, which has been challenged by the FTC and 11 attorneys general, equals roughly 3.5% of the total $24.6 billion cost of the deal.

That’s enough to give every employee at both companies a $1,200 bonus, according to the story.

The majority of the cost has been paid by Kroger, which spent $535 million on the merger through the end of May. Meanwhile, Albertsons has spent $329 million through June 15, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. supermarketnews.com


200 New Shops Coming
Kohl’s starts rollout of Babies"R"Us shops to 200 stores

Kohl’s has kicked off its partnership with Babies"R"Us.

The department store retailer, which announced its partnership with Babies"R"Us owner WHP Global in March, is planning to open 200 Babies"R"Us shops by the end of September. The first two locations are now open, at Kohl’s stores in Woodland Park, N.J. and Brookfield, Wis.

The Babies“R”Us shops feature a curated assortment of baby gear, furniture, activity, bath, safety, accessories and more, with a total of approximately 800 items. Kohl’s has rolled out an expanded assortment of more than 2,000 items online. chainstoreage.com


CVS Health alerts vulnerable customers to extreme weather

McDonald's says fast food sales are suffering most in California

Lidl Fine-Tunes U.S. Shopping Experience One Store at a Time