StopLift

Last updated

StopLift is a checkout vision system designed to prevent shoplifting and employee theft in retail businesses. StopLift, Inc., also known as StopLift Checkout Vision Systems, is the company which developed the system. StopLift, Inc. is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

StopLift is stated to be first such system capable of successfully detecting sweethearting between cashiers and customers. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] ("Sweathearting" is when cashiers pretend to scan or ring up some items for favored customers, usually family or friends, while actually not charging the customer. [1] [2] )

Video surveillance of checkouts is common, but reviewing the resulting tapes manually is often prohibitively expensive. The new system attempts to detect unusual and possibly fraudulent behavior on the part of the cashier, such as blocking the bar code, stacking items up and just scanning the bottom item, and directly bagging the merchandise without ever scanning it. The system then highlights the place on the video where the possible theft had occurred, so that a human need only review a short segment. [1]

In practice, many of the problems the software catches seem to be employee errors rather than intentional fraud. Some customers are using it to train or reassign employees who prove more prone to such errors. [1] [3]

Several grocery chains are now using the system, and others are testing it and may install it. [1] [2] [3] The system is being offered on a subscription rather than a purchase basis, reducing up-front costs. [1]

Malay Kundu, founder of StopLift Inc, began researching theft from retailers while attending Harvard Business School. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cash register</span> Device to register and calculate retail sales

A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other valuables. A modern cash register is usually attached to a printer that can print out receipts for record-keeping purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shopping cart</span> Cart supplied by a shop

A shopping cart, trolley, or buggy, also known by a variety of other names, is a wheeled cart supplied by a shop or store, especially supermarkets, for use by customers inside the premises for transport of merchandise as they move around the premises, while shopping, prior to heading to the checkout counter, cashiers or tills. Increasing the amount of goods a shopper can collect increases the quantities they are likely to purchase in a single trip, boosting store profitability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point of sale</span> Time and place where a retail transaction is completed

The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice for the customer, and indicates the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt, as proof of transaction, which is usually printed but can also be dispensed with or sent electronically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoplifting</span> Theft of goods from a retail establishment

Shoplifting, shop theft, retail theft, or retail fraud is the theft of goods from a retail establishment during business hours, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items from the store and leave the store wearing the clothes. The terms shoplifting and shoplifter are not usually defined in law. The crime of shoplifting generally falls under the legal classification of larceny. Shoplifting is distinct from burglary, robbery, or armed robbery. In the retail industry, the word shrinkage can be used to refer to merchandise lost by shoplifting, but the word also includes loss by other means, such as waste, uninsured damage to products and theft by store employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashier</span> Person who exchanges money for goods at a store

A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the context of accountancy for the person responsible for receiving and disbursing money or within branch banking in the United Kingdom for the job known in the United States as a bank teller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retail loss prevention</span> Practices to reduce loss of goods in retail stores

Retail loss prevention is a set of practices employed by retail companies to preserve profit. Loss prevention is mainly found within the retail sector but also can be found within other business environments.

Scan-based trading (SBT) is the process by which suppliers maintain ownership of inventory within retailers' warehouses or stores until items are scanned at the point of sale. Suppliers, such as manufacturers or farmers, own the product until it is purchased by the customer, with the store or venue then buying the product from the supplier and reselling it to the customer. Analysts in the grocery sector estimate scan-based trading accounted for $21 billion dollars in consumer goods purchased in the grocery industry alone in 2020, or nearly 3% of overall sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-checkout</span> Machine for customers to complete a retail transaction

Self-checkouts (SCOs), also known as assisted checkouts (ACOs) or self-service checkouts, are machines that provide a mechanism for customers to complete their own transaction from a retailer without needing a traditional staffed checkout. When using SCOs, customers scan item barcodes before paying for their total shop without needing one-to-one staff assistance. Self-checkouts are used mainly in supermarkets, although they are not uncommon in department or convenience stores. Most self-checkout areas are supervised by at least one staff member, often assisting customers process transactions, correcting prices, or otherwise providing service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated cash handling</span>

Automated cash handling refers to the process of dispensing, counting, and tracking cash within various business environments using software and hardware devices such as banknote processing. Automated cash handling is used by banks, retail stores, check-cashing outlets, payday loan/advance providers, casinos, and more. This process is facilitated through the use of specially designed hardware and software, with the primary goals of preventing loss, deterring theft, and reducing the need for constant manual oversight of cash operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrinkage (accounting)</span> When a retailer has fewer items in stock than in the inventory list

In accounting, shrinkage or shrink occurs when a retailer has fewer items in stock than were expected by the inventory list. This can be caused by clerical error, or from goods being damaged, lost, or stolen between the point of manufacture and the point of sale. High shrinkage can adversely affect a retailer's profit.

The Inventory Information Approval System, or IIAS, is a point-of-sale technology used by retailers that accept FSA debit cards, which are issued for use with medical flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement accounts (HRAs), and some health savings accounts (HSAs) in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Fresh</span> Grocery store chain and delivery service operated by Amazon.com

Amazon Fresh is a subsidiary of the American e-commerce company Amazon in Seattle, Washington. It is a grocery retailer with physical stores and delivery services in some U.S. cities, as well as some international cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, and some other locations in Singapore and India.

Return fraud is the act of defrauding a retail store by means of the return process. There are various ways in which this crime is committed. For example, the offender may return stolen merchandise to secure cash, steal receipts or receipt tape to enable a falsified return, or use somebody else's receipt to try to return an item picked up from a store shelf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GS1 DataBar Coupon</span>

The GS1 Databar Coupon code has been in use in retail industry since the mid-1980s. At first, it was a UPC with system ID 5. Since UPCs cannot hold more than 12 digits, it required another barcode to hold additional information like offer code, expiration date and household ID numbers. Therefore, the code was often extended with an additional UCC/EAN 128 barcode. EAN 13 was sometimes used instead of UPC, and because it starts with 99, it was called the EAN 99 coupon barcode, and subsequently GS1 DataBar. After more than 20 years in use, there is now a need to encode more data for complex coupons, and to accommodate longer company IDs, so the traditional coupon code has become less efficient and sometimes not usable at all.

In the retail industry, sweethearting is a form of theft by employees at the cash register, where they give away merchandise to a "sweetheart" customer. Cashiers are able to do this in numerous ways, including:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Go</span> Convenience store chain operated by Amazon.com

Amazon Go is a chain of convenience stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, operated by the online retailer Amazon. The stores are cashierless, thus partially automated, with customers having the ability to purchase products without being checked out by a cashier or using a self-checkout station. As of 2023, there are 43 open and announced store locations in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, London and New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caper AI</span> US software technology company

Caper is a software technology company that develops and deploys AI-powered automated checkout devices as well as AI-based software applications for retailers, grocers, convenience stores and other general merchandising store formats. Caper AI was established in 2016 by Lindon Gao, York Yang, Yilin Huang and Ahmed Beshry. It is headquartered in Manhattan, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashierless store</span> Store that does not contain a checkout

A cashierless store is a store which allows customers to shop their products and leave without having to wait in line and pay at a checkout. Cashierless stores can currently be found in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The Scanner Price Accuracy Code is a Canadian retail voluntary practice managed by the Retail Council of Canada and endorsed by the Competition Bureau. It was introduced in June 2002 as Canadian retailers were in the midst of updating their point-of-sale systems with barcode readers to "foster consumer confidence" with the new systems. It provides consumers with compensation for items with an incorrectly scanned price.

Trigo is a computer vision technology company founded by Michael and Daniel Gabay in 2018. Trigo provides a cashierless shopping solution for grocery retailers to implement partially or fully automated stores.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Flandez, Raymund (12 June 2008). "Stop That Thief". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Abelson, Jenn (27 January 2008). "Software casts eye on cashier theft". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Sherr, Ian (10 July 2009). "U.S. retailers continue struggle with employee theft". Reuters. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  4. Dannen, Chris (1 May 2009). "StopLift's Grocery Cameras Peg "Sweethearting" Cashiers". AP. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  5. Moore, Galen (20 March 2009). "StopLift sees a way to end retail inside theft". MHT: The Journal of New England Technology. Retrieved 20 December 2009.