Insight From LP Game Changers
By Melissa Morris, publisher
Loss prevention and asset protection professionals have taken on a new level of relevance, stature, and influence in the retail org chart, thanks in no small part to the interdisciplinary value of the tools of their trade.
When we began covering LP operations and the technologies that support them, the conversations we had with retail LP pros and the vendors who serve them were all about the future. We wrote about the coming day when IP surveillance systems would be "smart" enough — and integrated enough — to provide high-value, actionable intelligence for operations and merchandising decision makers. We talked in forward-looking terms about a day when video would be used to do more than build fraud cases. A time when handheld devices would allow store managers to pull fresh video of associates in action and train them on the spot, and when merchandisers could study end cap and display performance and traffic and conversion rates in real-time using an IP video network.
That future is now. Retailers are actually doing this stuff. Still, even as technology integration is enabling this cross-disciplinary value, retail LP, IT, and operations professionals are exploring — and often struggling through — the integration of the departments and personnel that make it all work. That exploration brings with it a host of questions that retailers are wrestling to the ground today. What new cross-disciplinary technology and operations solutions are on the market? How do we define their value? How can we support the integration of these technologies and solutions — IP video, POS, people counting, display monitoring, exception reporting, and more — in an efficient way that exploits the value for all possible stakeholders? Who takes the lead? How do we influence relevant departments — and C-level decision makers — to get on board? Who foots the bill?
Starting with this issue of NextLP, we'll address these questions with insights and answers from the tech executives that are leading the charge. A new feature called the LP Leadership Series kicks off today, and fittingly, the inaugural article was penned in part by a retail tech veteran who inspired its start.
At this year's NRF BIG Show, I sat down with Lee Pernice, director of business development at Tyco, to discuss the "reinvention" of her company. That reinvention has been brought about by the aforementioned forces of change in retail operations, and Tyco's recognition that traditional LP and asset protection technologies play a lead role. As a case in point, Pernice pointed out her company's new partnership with retail execution management software provider Reflexis, a union that just ten years ago would have left many scratching their heads but which today makes perfect sense. We agreed that a series on why, and perhaps more importantly how vendors are reacting to this new cross-disciplinary environment through change, acquisition, and partnership — and the implications of that change on you, the retailer — was in order.
Next month, we'll hear from Best Security VP of Sales Eric Brotherhood. In May, DigiOp President Rich Mellot will weigh in. The idea has caught the attention of leadership from Axis, Corporate Safe Specialists/FireKing, Direct Source, Envysion, Vector, and Wren, all of which will be contributing to the LP Leadership Series this year.
We hope you find this new series educational, and we hope it inspires creative cross-departmental thinking in your company. If you have questions, comments, or a desire to get involved in the series, contact me at melissa.morris@jamesonpublishing.com.