Retail workers see a lot of bad behavior while they are working.
From shoplifting to violence and general harassment, hourly workers keeping their stores running smoothly often deal with more incidents than the average person.
Some retailers, including Walmart, responded by testing the use of police-style body cameras in specific locations as they were looking for ways to improve workers' safety. Others, like Home Depot, continue to invest heavily in the control of shoplifting and other organized retail crimes, gathering evidence to repeatedly prosecute offenders. Off-price retailer TJX has a large list of job openings that require employees to “wear fully-company approved uniforms, including body-worn cameras.”
Axon, a leading manufacturer of police body cameras, introduced a version of its law enforcement product that was fine-tuned for retail and healthcare use last year.
The Arizona-based company reported total revenue of $2.1 billion last year, of which nearly $247 million came from body cameras and accessories.
Now, Axon is telling Business Insider that it will launch a lightweight, smaller version for frontline workers early next year.
Axon's new Body Workforce Mini Camera. Axon
“We know it keeps people safer, we know it limits contractions, but now it's about dialing the right form factor,” said Axon president Josh Isner.
The Body Workforce Mini is roughly the size and weight of the Airpods Pro case, and comes with new communication, AI, and HD video features.
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“When you're using the video, as we saw in public safety, it's an escalator,” Isner said. “These cases start to get intense and less conflict.”
Frontline workers can plunge into difficult situations with customers filming and posting videos on social media, from flight attendants to forced airline mask mandates during the pandemic to barista missions writing down names in the cup this month.
Motorola, which makes competing products, surveyed around 1,000 US retail workers last year and found that two-thirds of them had experienced shoplifting incidents over the past year, with 46% saying they threatened or abused customer interactions.
Larry Barton of Crisis Consultant told Loss Prevention Magazine that many retail workers feel that “no one is looking at their backs” when it comes to dealing with criminals and abusive customers.
While many retailers have a policy against trying to stop shoplifting or otherwise stopping it, BodyCam videos can provide useful information in real time and after the facts.
Isner also says Axon's new cameras can be integrated with the store's existing security systems via a video aggregation platform, offering multiple advantages of incidents, including a first-person perspective.
“The body camera view, the camera view in the car, everything could be playing over time,” he said. “That's exactly our vision for retail.”
Communication and AI tools offer new use cases
The new cameras have two-way communication capabilities, allowing workers to seek help and retrieve important information from living people and virtual AI assistants, including translation services when there is a language barrier, the company said.
Isner said AI capabilities introduce a full range of new possibilities for daily retail, which has little to do with safety or security.
“We may need a simple answer as to where it is in the store, whether there is something cost, or if there is a line in the register,” he said. “In contrast to people who go out on the radio and say it, they might start getting those alerts through AI.”
Evidence and cloud services are larger than the devices themselves, with Axon companies selling more than $888 million last year.
He also adds that audio transcripts can be analyzed to guide administrative decisions on how to better run stores and train employees.
In fact, some companies use cameras mounted on robots to scan passages to update inventory information. Similar data can be collected reasonably from the bodycam as workers restock the shelves.
Isner says Axon's initial focus is improving workplace safety, as other applications are on the horizon. But he said that large companies dealing with a higher proportion of retail crimes will see the cost of offsetting their systems due to lower theft savings.
“I really believe that by deploying these cameras and keeping the workforce safer, we can save money for these retailers,” he said.
