StopLift’s Scan-It-All video recognition technology detected more than 130,000 ‘sweethearting’ and other scan avoidance incidents at the checkout, including many at the self-checkout, in 2010.
Tesco, the third largest retailer in the world, is now using the technology. StopLift say they will reveal more details on Tesco in the near future.
Scan-It-All, by StopLift Checkout Vision Systems, has expanded its reach to the self-checkout. The technology has already been in use for detecting unscanned items on the conveyor belt or in the shopping cart, or items unscanned through operational error – all of which leave no data trail.
“Retailers always suspected that self-checkouts would be highly prone to scan-avoidance, and our technology has certainly found this to be the case,” said Malay Kundu, CEO of StopLift. “Furthermore, using the incidents detected from their own stores, retailers are now able to train staff on the signals, indicating when customers are either having problems using the self-checkout or are exhibiting suspicious behavior.”
US Retailers estimate that about $10 billion of employee theft is due to “sweethearting” at the checkout, according to the NRF. While retailers have trouble increasing their revenues in this economy, they can reduce their shrink.
Scan-It-All detects “sweethearting”, when cashiers pretend to scan merchandise but deliberately bypass the scanner, thus not charging the customer for the merchandise. The customer is often a friend, family member, or fellow employee working in tandem with the cashier. In addition, Scan-It-All finds any incidents of scan-avoidance where merchandise is not scanned or rung up before being given to the customer. This includes incidents which may be due to cashier or operational error with items on either the conveyor belt or left in the Middle of the Basket (MOB) or Bottom of the Basket (BOB).
Chains across the country have installed StopLift’s software for monitoring existing security cameras mounted on the ceiling over the checkout registers. (Security cameras are at best sporadically monitored.) As soon as a “sweethearting” incident occurs, the software, which constantly monitors 100% of the security video, flags the transaction as suspicious. It quickly reports the incident, identifying the cashier and the date and time of the theft.
StopLift’s patent-protected computer vision technology visually determines what occurs during each and every transaction to immediately identify fraud at the checkout. Dishonest associates are identified on the basis of video evidence the first time they conduct a fraudulent transaction, rather than months or even years down the road, significantly reducing inventory shrinkage, deterring future theft, and boosting profitability.
“The technology eliminates costly, time-consuming human review of video, drastically reduces and deters fraud at the checkout, and significantly improves profitability,” said Kundu. “Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach, StopLift develops targeted applications to address the specific needs of retailers from different sectors including general merchandise, grocery, and specialty retail.”
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