LP Spending Holding Steady

The unstable economy is taking its toll on retail. Reluctant shoppers are spending less; layoffs and store closings have become more common. And crimes against retailers, including employee theft and shoplifting, are inching upward.

Still, retail loss prevention executives refuse to be victims of these recessionary times. A survey of 334 retail LP decision-makers found that more than 93 percent expect investments in security measures and technology to increase or remain the same over the next three years.

Department store LP executives lead the pack when it comes to future spending plans: nearly 50 percent expect to increase their security budgets. In addition, more than 39 percent of food and discount retailers anticipate an increase in expenditures.

The study, conducted by National Analyst for Boca Raton, Fla.-based ADT Security Services, takes a look at the security measures currently in place at retail, explores goals for deploying LP technology and provides a glimpse of the types of applications retailers will be looking to purchase or implement in the near future.

“The findings represent good news for the industry, particularly in the midst of the current economic downturn,” says Lee Pernice, director of retail marketing for ADT Security Services. LP executives “indicate that the technology they’ve already deployed is working – which, of course, bodes well for continued investments in the most up-to-date tools.”

Case in point: monitored security systems. The research found that more than 82 percent of those polled use them (among department stores, the figure rises to 93 percent). Specialty hard goods retailers were least likely to have installed this type of technology, but they were most likely to be planning to purchase a system in the near future.

Video surveillance is the top technology among those with monitored security systems already in place. The flexibility and scalability these tools provide is part of what makes them attractive; retailers also report that information from a video system can be relevant to multiple store operations, including human resources, sales and marketing.

The survey found that the transition to Internet Protocol cameras, which enable video to be accessed remotely, has begun. So far, food retailers (24 percent) have bitten off the biggest chunk of the IP camera pie; department store (6 percent) and discount (3 percent) retailers, typically leaders in embracing up-to-the-minute LP technologies, trail in this instance.

Pernice is convinced that once the economy begins to recover and more capital is available for investment, department store executives will become aggressive adopters of IP cameras. “They have a big footprint so the investment is substantial, but there’s no doubt that real cost savings can be achieved, and that will eventually drive adoption,” she says.