LVT Use Cases in Retail

LiveView Technologies helps retailers protect their property and the people on their property. LVT Units are rapidly deployed and do not rely on traditional wiring or internet links. Since they are quick to set up and move they are an ideal solution for retailers who have ever-changing needs.

Increased safety

LVT Units are hard to miss. This is purposeful. We believe that overt security methods have the same potential as covert methods with the added bonus of deterrence. LVT Units help increase safety because they rely heavily on overt security methods. In fact, our mobile security trailer, which is the most common mounting option for retailers, is over 22 feet tall and weighs more than 1,800 pounds. Then to top it off, we put flashing lights and a speaker on it. 

Overt security, like LVT’s, rely heavily on deterrence but it also comes with other added bonuses that help increase safety. For example, one large retailer who partners with LVT, noticed that female customers and employees actually preferred parking next to the unit because it added to their feeling of safety.

Across the country, LVT has helped retailers make their property safer. In fact, retailers who have an active unit on their property have reported up to a 70% decrease in parking lot incidents, including everything from violent crime to theft and vandalism. In fact, one large retailer had a chronic problem with violent crime. In the past year alone, this client had 15 shootings on their property and made daily calls to local law enforcement. After placing a LVT Unit on their property, they have had zero shootings and zero calls to the police.

Each time a LVT Unit is placed, retailers see dramatic and almost instant results. The safety of their customers and employees increases, while the number of incidents decreases.

Decrease theft and fraud

According to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, theft and fraud cost retailers $61.7 billion in 2019 or about 1.62% of their bottom line. A little more than one percent sounds like a small problem, but to put this in perspective—the top five retailers of 2020 generated between $136.86–$523.96 billion in sales. A loss of 1.62% of sales is $2.19–$8.38 billion, which is not exactly pocket change. In fact, that is more than what some of the top 100 retailers even sold in 2020. This is why preventing theft and fraud is so important to retailers and LVT.

After increasing safety, the top use case for LVT Units in retail is to help prevent theft and fraud both inside and outside the store. LVT Units are predominantly in the parking lots of big-box retail, so it is easy to see how the imposing trailer discovers, deters, defends skirt front items, employee cars, and more. It has a direct line of sight to these items. So how does the unit help prevent theft inside the store?

People behave differently when they are under surveillance. If they know they will be recorded with a stolen item(s) as they leave the store, they are less likely to steal or commit fraud because of the increased likelihood they will be identified and caught. In fact, one retailer had a woman commit return fraud with stolen items. After they discovered the fraud, the store narrowed in on the time and description of the woman, used the LVT Unit in the parking lot to get high quality images of the woman as she left the store, and forwarded these to the police.

Another example of how deterrence helps was when a would-be thief called LVT because he thought the unit was fake. The man was going to steal from a retailer, but after seeing the unit in that retailer’s parking lot and confirming that the unit was live, the thief left without committing any crime.

As stated earlier, LVT Units are easy to spot and rely heavily on deterrence. This not only helps increase safety, but also helps decrease theft and other malfeasance in parking lots. For example, smash and grabs are typically a spur-of-the-moment crime, or opportunity crime. Employee vehicles are often the targets of this crime because they are left for many hours. However, a LVT Unit in the parking lot helps limit the opportunity for thieves to commit such crimes.

Reduce vandalism and property crime

Retail locations are frequent targets for vandalism and other property crimes because of the hours they are closed and the high value of the goods they store. In 2020, there was a dramatic increase of property damage, looting, and other vandalism. Retailers had to bear the brunt of this.

Vandalism has both direct and indirect costs associated with it. Obviously, business owners have to pay to repair, replace, and clean up vandalism. This alone can cost thousands of dollars per incident. However, vandalism can also cause an interruption in business, a loss in sales, and can even cause retailers to raise their prices. It creates a poor environment for customers and employees and can tarnish the company’s image.

That’s what makes the deterrence and surveillance provided by LVT Units so valuable. Not only can it help prevent the upfront costs of vandalism, but also the indirect costs that are harder to repair.

Disband illegal gatherings

Retailers don’t want people loitering on their property. That attracts other crimes and liabilities like fights and drug deals.

LVT Units monitor 24/7 so customers can be constantly aware of what is happening on their property. One LVT customer was able to disband an illegal gambling ring that was taking place in their parking lot after hours.

Creative use cases

Not all of the applications of LVT Units are associated with negative events. One of our clients uses their LVT Unit to play music in their parking lot during business hours. This creates a fun shopping atmosphere while drawing more attention to the unit. Another customer uses the LVT Unit as a way to talk to employees as they are coming and going to work. This adds another layer of safety for employees and is a fun way to say good morning and good night to them.

More use cases for LVT Units are constantly found. Some are the typical security while others are more creative. However, the real strength of a LVT Unit comes from the increase in information and actionable data.