industry focus
'Body' of evidence points to greater colleague confidence
The last 12 months have been challenging for an embattled retail sector. Still finding their post-COVID feet, frontline stores have stumbled headlong into a cost-of-living crisis that is likely to impact High Street spending this Christmas and well into 2023.
These crises are unfortunately framing part of a wider malaise around who we are as a society and the all-too-often forgotten values of respect for others when confronted ‘face-on’ with challenging circumstances.
According to a survey of 1,000 store workers by the Retail Trust in November, two-thirds said verbal and physical attacks have worsened in the last two years and that they were stressed or anxious about going to work. Nearly half of that figure had considered quitting, a conservative figure considering the endemic issue of under-reporting. Indeed, as many as 25 per cent do not report incidents to their manager, with many believing it is ‘part of the job’.
Conversely, a YouGov poll of 2,000 shoppers, also commissioned by the Retail Trust, found nearly half admitted to getting annoyed with a retail worker and, of these, 81 per cent had lost their temper or became aggressive, blaming most of the frustration on items being out-of-stock, slow service or not enough staff or checkouts, with two thirds pinning their anger on rising prices.
During 2022, the unfortunate continued increase in violence and aggression towards colleagues has resulted in many retailers investing in preventative technologies such as body worn cameras (BWC). Originally used by security guards, law enforcement and frontline emergency workers, the cameras are now ubiquitous among retail colleagues and have played a key role in deterring and defusing incidents of aggression and abuse, as well as building confidence among frontline staff.
“As a leading supplier of BWC and digital evidence management, we recognise this widespread adoption as ‘game-changing’. Suddenly, colleagues have an independent witness which can not only help to calm an escalating conflict but can also provide unbiased and admissible evidence,” said Matthew Dawes of Reveal Media.
“One grocery retailer experienced a 41 per cent decrease in violent incidents, while one leading health and beauty retailer saw a 68 per cent reduction in such incidents in one of its high-risk stores. For us at Reveal, what has been so rewarding has been the reaction of store colleagues to the technology. Anyone who has been sceptical initially, invariably becomes a convert as soon as they have cause to use it and it makes them feel infinitely safer, protected and more confident.”
Besides the de-escalation of incidents, BWCs deliver other commercial benefits. Retailers have reported reductions in stock loss as they acted as a deterrent to would-be shoplifters, while others have made operational savings which have justified the asset investment and delivered significant return on investment.
In terms of digital evidence gathering via BWC, one leading department store achieved 30 per cent more convictions by police as a direct result of having available and useable footage.
The last year has seen BWC come out of the shadows and into the mainstream as a cost-effective risk mitigation tool with huge untapped potential across the retail estate including more live streaming of footage back to Security Operations Centres (SOCs) as well as greater deployment in DCs and with lone working delivery drivers. Whatever the application, front facing BWCs are, in more ways than one, always looking forward.
For more information, contact Reveal Media.
