AI Must Play a Role in Making Our Stores Safer

Increasing incidents of violence and aggression in retail spaces and shopping areas demand no shortage of public policy and societal changes. But I believe an AI-fueled technology shift will need to be part of the response. Technology isn’t a panacea to all that is going on, of course. It’s far from it. But technology – and AI specifically – might be the fastest and most realistic action to take that can still alter the trajectory of store violence and give businesses an opportunity to be proactive. And it can have an impact. The precautions and processes to better ensure the safety of shoppers has never been more important. The issue now has the ear of retail CEOs and its board members. Action needs to follow. In addition to the moral imperative to protect human lives however possible, shopper safety is also a customer experience and reputational issue. Stores considered unsafe, especially if they’re the site of incidents involving weapons, theft, or aggression, will see reduced customer traffic. As with brands’ conscious social responsibility, safety is a top-level issue that speaks to retailers’ customer relationships and core values. The good news is that startups and technology companies have begun more rapidly building AI-driven applications with unprecedented capabilities for remediating a range of human-threat scenarios. We’re seeing more every month, and there is truly remarkable technology emerging. The promise – and the power – of AI here is to detect and react to threats before it’s too late. Teaming store and parking lot cameras with AI-trained applications to recognize weapons, aggression, and suspicious behaviors gives stores proactive power. And it can save lives. The importance of physical safety for retailers Camera-centric security strategies have long been budgeted under loss prevention – but this isn’t that. Rather, the stakes of personal safety demand that emerging AI capabilities play a larger (and public-facing) role in brand conversations. AI has until now been mostly transparent to customers in its ‘traditional’ retail use cases. Stores use AI for handling product recommendations, inventory, predictions, customer counting, etc. But AI-based security can take the spotlight as a feature that provides confidence and assurance to shoppers. Doing so increases both brand trust and store traffic. Strategies in this new and distinct category – call it “threat prevention” – offer stores the opportunity to demonstrate and differentiate themselves as the safest locations for customers to do their shopping – because they are. The pandemic provides a clear example of the effects that meaningful and visible safety precautions can have on boosting customer traffic. Businesses were able to offer safer customer experiences by providing hand sanitizer, systematically wiping down carts, and installing protective plexiglass. As a result, customers felt the trust and comfort they needed to conduct their business. AI-based shopper safety protections can achieve that same impact on customer perceptions. An opportunity for real differentiation This potential for differentiation is analogous to recent shifts in the digital security world. Traditionally, IT security and data privacy have been necessary business expenses with no particularly discernable brand benefit. Companies like Apple are changing this: Apple commercials now promote devices as the best-in-class for keeping personal data private. For example, the fact that iOS automa…