Flower Power Garden Centres Trims Losses With March Networks Searchlight

FLOWER POWER GARDEN CENTRES, an Australian retailer with 10 locations in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, took a major step toward managing its point-of-sale losses when it acquired a March Networks Searchlight™ for Retail software solution.

Searchlight integrates Flower Power’s March Networks® video surveillance with transaction data from the retailer’s point-of-sale systems, allowing Audit and Loss Prevention Manager Joshua Nicol to review reports of potentially suspicious transactions and immediately click through to the corresponding video.

“The Searchlight reports point me in the direction I want to focus on and give me a great overview of the transactions that have occurred,” said Nicol. “I can review refunds and voids, as well as sales under or over a certain amount, or identify training opportunities for cashiers handling certain types of transactions. Searchlight is an absolutely fantastic tool for identifying fraudulent patterns and trends.”

Finding losses from theft and fraud is critical for retailers like Flower Power. According to the 2014-2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer study, shoplifting and employee theft cost Australian retailers US $2.44 billion, or just above one percent of sales. Globally, employee theft accounted for 39 percent of total losses and shoplifting 38 percent, with the remainder attributed to administrative or non-criminal losses.