What The Doers Say: Top Retail Surveillance Trends

March 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Jackie Andersen, retail business development manager, Axis Communications Inc.

IP video now offers scalable and affordable solutions featuring expanded analytics for retailers of all sizes.

When you’re a business development manager, the art of prediction is somewhat implied by the title. You can only really develop a business if your predictions are true — or close to it, anyway. But, despite what prognosticators might have you believe, predictions don’t just come out of thin air. So, I spent my work week talking to the retail “doers:” the LP managers, security and surveillance staff, merchandisers, and VPs of operations, who are seeing firsthand where surveillance is headed.

1. Migrating To IP Will Now Be The Standard
Because of the retail industry’s decades-long history with analog surveillance, it’s one of the last to convert to digital video. But with costs of IP-based systems dropping, new technologies making it easier to integrate, a growing IP expert integrator base, and the wide range of security and operational benefits of network video, many retailers are making the switch.