Ardène Goes Full Coverage

A Canadian chain of accessories stores targeting teenage girls needed a system that would help discourage what its security and loss prevention manager calls “stealing for kicks,” as well as theft committed by organized retail criminals.

Rather than install multiple digital cameras in its 350 stores, however, Montreal-based Ardène chose to install the Axis PTZ Internet Protocol camera.

The latest generation of security cameras, IP cameras entered the retail realm about two years ago and are now installed in hundreds of stores operated by big-box chains, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers and do-it-yourself stores.

For its deployment, Ardène chose the Axis 215 IP PTZ, one of the smallest high-performance pan/tilt/zoom cameras on the market. “We were going the ‘Full Monty,’ investing in a surveillance camera system that we know will give us everything we need,” says Angie Dalios, the chain’s security and LP manager.

IP cameras operate over an IP network, which means there is no need to lay coaxial cables in stores or to add additional hardware to convert analog signals into digital signals.

Based in Sweden, Axis Communications introduced IP technology to the security camera marketplace in 1996. Early adopters included educational and government institutions. Big-box operators led the way among retailers, and mid-size operators like Ardène are now in the process of upgrading their infrastructures to allow for migration to advanced technologies like IP camera surveillance.

Retailers have the option of working with Axis’ software partners to create a wide variety of customized applications that can be used to analyze sales trends, as well as drill down into data that can enhance LP investigations, says Jumbi Edulbehram, director of strategic channels for Axis.

Easy installation
Ardène required a system that could be installed quickly and easily without diminishing the speed of credit card processing and customer checkouts. Adding the cameras in each store took less than an hour, Dalios says.

Ardène’s stores vary widely in size. “It would be nice to have several cameras in every store, but it can get very pricey,” Dalios says. “So instead of going with several analog cameras — which would add up to a large amount of money [and] lower quality — we went with one good camera that can take care of the whole store.” It is “incredible what you can do with these cameras,” she says.

At press time, Ardène was “tweaking” the installed cameras as it prepared to move into the second phase of rollout, “so it’s too early for us to measure benefits,” Dalios says, “but we are pleased.

“A person who wants to steal, the first thing they look for when they come into a store is whether there is any camera surveillance,” she says, “especially if they are professional thieves. It’s a great deterrent.”