The Future of Video Security in Retail

With rising incidents of theft, evolving safety standards, and more complex stores to oversee, retailers are juggling more threats than ever before. On top of that, with retail shrinkage reaching record highs, there’s simply no room for blind spots when it comes to visibility.

This difficult security situation is one reason why video surveillance is now ubiquitous in retail environment and evolving so quickly. The other reason is technology.

Quick adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a new era of retail security. According to a recent report by The Business Research Company, the artificial intelligence (AI) in the video surveillance market is expected to grow from $5.63 billion in 2024 to $6.81 billion in 2025.

As the world around us is being reshaped by AI, it’s time for retailers to move beyond basic CCTV systems and switch to smarter, real-time surveillance systems.

Intelligent Surveillance with Digital Signage and AI-powered Video Analytics

When most people think of video surveillance, they picture cameras quietly recording while someone reviews the footage after something goes wrong. But that approach is no longer enough.

With AI now built into cameras, they aren’t just recording suspicious activity, they’re helping businesses understand risk in real time, surfacing losses they might not have discovered otherwise, and reducing the man-hours needed to achieve strong security.

This is a big step up from the old way of watching hours of footage manually.

By handling boring, repetitive tasks, AI gives teams more time to focus on what really matters. These smart surveillance systems can spot suspicious behavior, track how people move through the store, alert staff when something doesn’t look right, and even learn and get better over time.

When AI video surveillance is combined with digital signage, it becomes even more useful. Instead of just watching what’s happening, it can respond in real time. This transforms video surveillance from a passive monitoring system into a smart tool that helps manage stores.

Retails are Benefitting from Next-Generation Security Features

There are several distinct ways that retailers are already starting to benefit from the combination of AI-enabled security cameras and digital signage. Here are the ones we feel are the most compelling.

Intelligent Facial Recognition

Today, just the mention of facial recognition in video surveillance in a retail setting can raise privacy concerns, and rightly so. Privacy is a hot-button issue across many industry verticals, including healthcare, finance, and retail.

AI-powered security systems can help you achieve your goals and balance the desire for stronger security with the need for privacy.

For example, with some simple configurations, Coffman Media and i3 International can deploy a camera solution to help retailers track repeat offenders or VIP customers. But for privacy-focused retail organizations, we can also create systems that blur or anonymize faces, allowing you to achieve compliance requirements as needed and protect customer trust.

Weapon Detection

With rising gun safety issues across the US, video surveillance combined with real-time weapon detection capabilities are other popular applications for AI-enhanced video analysis. Using AI and object recognition, these systems can identify weapons in real time and trigger immediate alerts, reducing false dramatically increasing security without the need to hire more dedicated security staff.

Fast automated weapon detection can save your company valuable time in a violent incident, enabling you to formulate a proactive response that protects customers and staff long before a situation escalates.

Risk Management and Liability Protection

Video security isn't just about stopping bad actors, it's also about protecting your business from everyday risks and potential lawsuits.

Loss Prevention

Shrinkage has always been a major problem in retail. Regular video cameras can help, but they only act as a warning, or show what happened after a theft, unless someone is watching them live. In contrast, AI-powered video surveillance presents a smarter solution. These cameras can detect unusual behavior as it happens.

This shift from reacting after the fact to addressing issues in real time makes a significant difference.

When integrated with digital signage, the system can even subtly deter bad behavior. A live feed or real-time message displayed on a screen near a high-theft area can make people think twice. Unlike security personnel, who can’t be everywhere or monitor multiple screens easily, AI can track activity across multiple aisles, stores, and branches simultaneously.

Premises Monitoring

With growing store sizes, one major bottleneck for monitoring the area around your store is the limitation in human resources. Typically, staff had to manually spot issues, report them to managers and then wait for action to be taken. This was and continues to be a slow, reactive and cumbersome process.

AI-powered cameras change this paradigm by continuously scanning the store environment. Real-time information about everything from spills that could cause slip-and-fall incidents to blocked emergency exits help you identify issues before they become accidents, protecting your customers, staff, and bottom line.

Customer Satisfaction  

Camera systems gather a lot of data because they’re always on the job. However, in most retail chains, this data isn’t easily organized or valuable because realistically, no person is going to review hours of footage daily.

Now, with AI and analytics, store owners have access to actionable insights that were previously out of reach. Smarter systems give retailers important insights, which include the following:

• How many people visit the store daily, hourly, weekly, including at both peak times and off hours.

• How customers shop and move through the location and engage with different promotions and sections.

This data gives retailers the insights they need to optimize how to place products and arrange the store layout based on real-world behavior, without guesswork, conjecture, or blind experimentation.  

In fact, AI-enhanced video surveillance doesn't just improve store layouts; it also transforms how retailers communicate with customers.

A Deloitte study found that shoppers preferred getting information from interactive digital signage rather than asking employees for help. This customer preference is driving technology adoption, with the National Retail Federation’s 2022 Retail Technology Report showing that 65% of retailers planned to increase investment in digital signage.

Combining signage with these AI systems creates a virtuous cycle in which a deeper understanding of customer behavior triggers relevant real-time digital messaging. The result is a more responsive, customer-centric shopping environment that benefits both customers and retailers.

Enhance Security and Profitability with Coffman Media

As technology continues to shape the retail world, it’s clear that AI and digital signage are driving significant changes. Video surveillance and digital signage are no longer just about security; they’re key components of broader modernization strategies.

If you want a partner to help you navigate the challenges that this modernization can present, the Coffman Media and i3 International teams are here to help.

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