Most retailers in the small business sector work strenuously in their business and put in many extra hours in an endeavor to get the return they deserve on their investment. They take pride in their achievements and yet they are often disappointed at the end of the year when they assess the bottom line.

It is a fact of business that there are others who also take an interest in the business and plan many devious ways to get their hands on a share of the action. A share which they certainly do not deserve.

Some customers indulge in taking an ‘additional discount’ and unfortunately there are also employees believe in ‘topping-up’ their weekly pay packet.

In both cases it is the business proprietor who is funding the illicit activities of these individuals. People who seem to take great delight in taking a share of the profitability of the business.

Recent innovations in Electronic Surveillance Systems now provide opportunity for astute Retailers to discover just how wide spread these activities really are within their business, and to identify the perpetrators and to put a stop to their “profit sharing” activities.

According to Martin Coughlan, Security Division Manager at Scanning Systems Australia, it is not just a matter of installing a quality security system, but rather the combination of a number of technologies that will provide the power to enable management to trap the offenders. Internal theft represents up to 80% of losses sustained by Independent Retailers, and this is largely due to inadequate investment in systems and procedures that are necessary as control measures in a self-service retail store.

A smart POS system, fully integrated into the latest digital video technology will enable the Retailer to establish the linkage between what is going on, and who the individuals are & whether they be customers or staff.

Martin Coughlan explained that the new PosGuard Extreme Security system marketed by SSA has been fully integrated into the Profit Track point of sale system developed by SSA. The end of day management reports from the Profit Track POS identifies suspicious transactions and enables the Manager to recall the video evidence by simply clicking the mouse on any event of interest.

These new concepts being introduced by SSA, provide functionality for the checkout operators to touch a security icon on the POS register screen and view live images straight from any of the security cameras in the store. In effect each checkout operator becomes a security officer assisting Management to achieve the reward that is rightfully theirs.