Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining importance in numerous economic sectors. AI trends and AI technologies are also leading to changes in the retail sector. With AI, retailers can, for example, optimize logistics routes and warehousing, personalize customer communication, or analyze customer behavior in stores. AI video surveillance is essential for (real-time) analysis of sales areas.
AI video surveillance in retail
Smart AI video surveillance includes security cameras, screens, sensors, and software. To leverage the potential of AI, retailers can usually use their existing security cameras. Depending on the area of application, additional security cameras may be necessary to cover the desired field of view. AI video surveillance really shows its strength in real time, automatically responding to relevant events and interacting with customers.
Theft protection
AI video surveillance enables continuous monitoring of the sales area and automated identification of atypical behavior and conspicuous activity by customers. The AI camera system uses training data to recognize which customer gestures are most likely to be suspicious. These can include hiding an item, swapping labels, or constantly looking around.
Compared to human security personnel, an AI camera system does not tire and can monitor a large sales area at the same time. Accordingly, AI video surveillance helps to reduce shoplifting and personnel costs. In addition, the AI camera system learns from its mistakes. Retailers can also use AI video surveillance at self-checkouts to identify customers with unscanned goods.
Inventory monitoring
Retailers can also equip shelves with cameras and sensors to monitor interaction with individual items and inventory. With the so-called smart shelf, retailers are able to transfer inventory monitoring to AI systems. These systems automatically transmit inventory reports at an early stage to prevent empty shelves.
Intelligent AI video surveillance also detects misplaced items. This significantly reduces the overall workload for employees in inventory monitoring. Avoiding stock shortages also reduces potential sales losses. When customers encounter empty shelves less often, the customer experience improves.
An AI system can also generate additional data. For example, it can analyze how many customers pick up an item and then put it back, or how long customers spend looking at an item.
Personalization
AI video surveillance can evaluate the age and gender of all customers and segment them. In addition, the AI camera system analyzes the walking routes and dwell times of customers on the sales floor. Based on the information obtained, personalized information is displayed to customers on digital signage displays. This can include application tips for products, items with cross-selling potential, or references to promotional items.
Store layout
AI video surveillance also helps with the data protection-compliant analysis of customer movements and customer behavior in a store or branch. The aggregated data on visitor frequencies, walking routes, and average dwell times provide starting points for optimizing the store layout. This applies to the basic customer-oriented design of the store and high-turnover product placement.
Benefits of AI for retailers
A large number of studies predict that the use of AI will transform business processes and significantly improve customer experiences. This will lead to increased sales and, above all, increased profitability. There are four key advantages to using AI.
Efficiency gains and cost reduction: AI helps to perform processes and tasks with a high degree of precision and speed. It analyzes large amounts of data in a short time and reliably recognizes relevant patterns. The use of AI can prevent human error and reduce the amount of personnel required for certain tasks and processes. This increases efficiency and reduces costs. Since AI can primarily take on time-consuming and repetitive tasks, employees can be assigned to more important tasks.
Improved customer focus: AI makes it possible to respond even better to customer wishes and address them in a more personalized way. This is because AI video surveillance can be used to analyze customer behavior on the sales floor in detail. It also helps to target customers using digital signage and self-checkout. These innovative customer experiences improve the shopping experience.
Optimal decision-making: In retail, managers must continuously make decisions about operational processes. AI technologies help to automatically analyze data, identify patterns, and make predictions about trends, business development, and customer behavior. Based on these constraints, AI systems then enable autonomous decision-making, which in turn is subject to AI performance monitoring.
Strategic competitive advantage: Pioneers always have the advantage of learning from new experiences and benefiting from these experiences in the further development of technologies. For retailers willing to invest, the opportunities outweigh the risks of adapting their business model at any time. Especially in the highly competitive retail environment, the use of AI means a strategic competitive advantage. This guarantees a positive future outlook for your retail business.
Crosscan - your partner for the future
We provide independent advice on the possible applications of AI in your company. We guide you safely through the challenges associated with AI technology in retail. With successful AI integration into existing business processes, you can fully exploit the potential and benefit from countless advantages. Contact us for a no-obligation consultation.
Are you ready for the adventure of digital transformation and retail analytics?
Let us turn your vision into reality. Contact us today to get your brand started on the path to data-driven management of your visitor areas.
Crosscan Data Insights Blog
Check out our other blog articles to learn how data-driven insights are transforming brick-and-mortar retail and helping to analyze visitor areas.