The New Frontier of Retail Security: Biometrics

Biometrics for a Safer, More Convenient Retail Experience

“Shrink” refers to the loss retailers incur through shoplifting, employee theft and fraud, and operational errors. It’s a big issue that costs retailers more than $61 billion annually, amounting to about 1.62% of annual sales — or a much higher percentage for fashion retailers.

Reducing shrink has always been a top priority, but retailers struggle with balancing security against a positive customer experience. No one wants to feel like they’re entering a locked-down facility when shopping for their bread and milk — and the inconvenience of waiting for authorized employees to produce products under lock and key makes many shoppers walk away without purchasing.

What if there were a way to empower all staff with access to even the most high-value inventory without the risk of employee theft? What if enhanced security were easy for employees to manage, even while preventing fraud?

It can be — with biometrics. A recent HID Global executive brief dives into how biometric solutions provide simple and secure proof-of-presence without passwords to remember or ID cards that can be lost, lent or borrowed. We’ve discovered that fingerprint biometrics can solve retailers’ biggest problems, including theft, failure to pay and administrative errors.

The benefits go far beyond employees, however. Retailers are also implementing biometrics for age verification and theft prevention at self-checkout kiosks. New applications will undoubtedly emerge in the coming years, and it’s easy to see why. Biometrics offers easy, convenient and nearly irrefutable identity verification — with the touch of a finger.

Discover how retailers are adding security and convenience in our executive brief, How Forward-Thinking Retailers are Using Biometrics to Solve Their Biggest Problems.