Envisioning Decreased Shrink
[The following article has been edited from its original version based on additional information received by RIS. – Ed.]
Since 1967, Big Lots has offered brand-name products at 20-40% discounts. The closeout and overstock merchandise retailer has since grown to over $4 billion in annual revenues and 1,500 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
The company was looking for a single platform to provide remote visibility into every store, to support investigations and prosecutions while reducing threat in hopes of maximizing prevention efficiency. It would also provide enterprise-wide reporting capabilities, instant validation of exceptions with video and a platform for adding new capabilities, such as people counting.
Big Lots discovered managed video as a service (MVaas), a cloud-based approach with robust POS and data integration as well as unlimited users. It ties video to critical company data, providing operators with instant and actionable insight.
Broad utilization of this type of powerful video-driven business intelligence has the potential to increase an operator’s profitability by up to 15%.
Rapid RollOut
The Envysion Insight solution was rolled out across more than 1,200 stores in less than six months, while the retailer removed all old VCR and DVR technology to improve operations and training efforts.
Envysion’s Managed Video as a Service (MVaas) solution enables businesses to improve store-level performance through video-driven business intelligence. By integrating with business systems such as point of sale (POS), Envysion provides retailers with unfiltered and actionable insights to identify fraudulent transactions and shrink. In addition to strengthening loss prevention
efforts, it provides unparalleled access to day-to-day store operations.
efforts, it provides unparalleled access to day-to-day store operations.
Enhanced Visibility
“Successful loss prevention professionals recognize that theft is only one of many factors that reduce profitability,” says Lance Williams, director of loss prevention for Big Lots. “With that in mind, we wanted a video tool that would give us a more comprehensive understanding of store-level operational challenges. Envysion enables us to give hundreds of users from our operations, marketing, risk management and HR teams enhanced visibility to the store.”
Envysion also helps Big Lots cover more locations, allowing it to identify and reduce fraud in minutes.
Video-Based Insights
Envysion supports company-wide initiatives for increasing store traffic, conversion and size of basket. It can seamlessly integrate with people counting capabilities, calculate conversion rates to create a powerful data source and tie traffic and conversion data to video to provide insights into root causes.
Big Lots is now carrying the rollout through its loss prevention, operations and human resources departments.