Brick and mortar retailers have faced no shortage of challenges in recent years. But one of the most concerning is a huge spike in theft that is costing hard-pressed businesses billions of dollars a year, biting hard into already thin margins and leaving some operators on the brink of bankruptcy.

So concerned is the National Retail Federation (NRF) by the retail crime wave that last year it broke with three decades of tradition by not publishing an annual report on overall shrink, choosing instead to report specifically on the impact of theft and violence on US retail.

The document makes for grim reading. It found that shoplifting and other crime incidents in US stores leapt by 93% between 2019 and 2023, while dollar losses increased by 90% in the same period.

With total shrink estimated to have reached $100bn a year, and crime accounting for around a third of that, it’s easy to see why combating theft has become a top priority for so many retailers. Inevitably, many are looking to technology to provide answers.

Innovation so often comes to the rescue when the need is greatest. As retail crime reaches crisis point, hi-tech security solutions are emerging at just the right time. Here are three that are helping lead the fight back against retail theft.

AI-Powered Surveillance

CCTV has been a go-to tool in the fight against retail crime for decades. But with shoplifters getting wise to the need to disguise their identity to avoid detection, the effectiveness of video surveillance as a deterrent has waned.

But AI promises to breathe new life into it. Computer Vision AI means CCTV no longer just passively captures footage. Video recordings can be analyzed as a data source, with AI algorithms picking up on suspicious behavior to preemptively raise the alarm, or even profiling perpetrators by physical characteristics to aid with identification.

Smart Shopping Carts

Smart shopping carts are generally associated with reducing friction at checkout. Sensor systems built into the cart log items as they are taken off the shelf. When the customer gets to POS, all they have to do is pay.

But this also doubles as an effective security system. Anything that is taken off a shelf and not put back is automatically logged for sale. The only opportunity for theft would be to attempt to leave the store without paying. But the store systems would know exactly what had been taken. Some smart cart systems are also linked to mobile apps. So everything is logged to a customer account, anyway.

App-Controlled Cabinets

One solution many retailers have turned to in their efforts to combat theft is to lock merchandise away in secure display cabinets. But one of the issues with this is that it adds friction to the shopping experience. Customers have to wait for a member of staff to access items they want.

Drugstore brand CVS recently announced it is trialling a solution that uses a customer app to unlock cabinets. This gives customers a convenient means of accessing products. But as each app is uniquely registered to a customer account, it also serves as an effective deterrent to theft. If a customer subsequently stole any items, the company would know exactly who they were from identifying which app unlocked the cabinet.