LPRC Innovation Lab Provides Asset Protection Professionals an Educational Environment for Retailer's New Omni-channel Challenges

Retail is undergoing fundamental and foundational change. Shoppers are empowered with information like never before. New competitors with new retail business models are emerging with increasing frequency. The stakes for continuing to innovate with respect to retail protection strategies has never been higher. But crime and loss will continue, and of course evolve with the new retail dynamics.

How do Asset Protection professionals keep up with these powerful dynamics and understand how to deploy solutions and technologies to capitalize on business opportunities while minimizing the associated risks?

The Loss Prevention Research Council's (LPRC) Innovation Lab at the University of Florida, opened in 2014, is critical to the LPRC's mission of providing an environment to develop and enhance anti-crime measures, while educating the Asset Protection community around changing trends and new challenges within retail. Sponsored by Tyco Retail Solutions, and supported by numerous other solution providers, the Innovation Lab provides a setting where Asset Protection teams can meet to better understand new and emerging threats as well as collaborate around the strategies, best practices and technologies to address them.

"We have been working for a number of years with retailers who are trying to develop their omnichannel retailing capabilities," says Randy Dunn, Sales Director for Tyco Retail Solutions Store Performance Solutions business. "We've seen many different approaches from many different retailers around how to attack this challenge, but almost universally the Asset Protection programs to support new omnichannel business processes have been an afterthought. Tyco wanted to find a way to help our core customers find their voice related to these critical omnichannel conversations, and sponsoring the LPRC Innovation Lab is the ideal way for Tyco Retail Solutions to do that."

"Asset Protection is critical to successful retailing since they work to protect highly desirable merchandise, as well as employees and shoppers But with all the disruption taking place within retail today, the Asset Protection body of knowledge is even more rapidly growing and changing," says Dr. Read Hayes, LPRC Director. "The LPRC's mission is to help Asset Protection professionals address these new challenges and implement solutions that work. The Innovation Lab is one of our key tools to help us accomplish that objective, and we are grateful for the assistance we are getting from Tyco and other solution providers to help make this a reality."

Each October, the LPRC hosts their annual IMPACT Research Conference at the University of Florida. IMPACT is a two plus day program designed to help participants better understand how they can use research approaches to help reduce loss, crime and increase sales. The program consists of presentations and panel discussion with retailers, brand owners, researchers and solution providers. Attendees will be able to experience and learn more about the Innovation Lab when the event kicks off on Monday, October 5th, 2015 at the Welcome Reception.

For more information or questions on the LPRC Innovation Lab or the IMPACT Research Conference, please contact Jessi Dudley at jessi@lpresearch.org or 352.222.8202.
 

The LPRC and Tyco Retail Solutions Celebrated the Innovation Lab's Sponsorship during a Private Ceremony held on Monday, September 28th, 2015.


Pictured from Left to Right is: Jessi Dudley, Brittany Griffin, Mike Giblin,
Randy Dunn, Star Davis, Dr. Read Hayes, Stephanie Lin