Alex Smith |
Home furnishing brand RC Willey has been selling household appliances, consumer electronics and more in western USA for over 85 years.
The company maintains millions of dollars in inventory for its distribution and retail centres to meet its commitment to customer delivery and had been using Axis Communications’ surveillance cameras to keep track of this inventory for several years.
The company's management was therefore confident in choosing to deploy additional Axis security video, audio and analytics technologies. As the original Axis cameras reached the end of their life, the company replaced them with newer models and added thermal cameras and security radars to increase surveillance coverage.
The retailer also integrated Axis Perimeter Defender analytic and network horn speakers to detect trespassers and broadcast messages, while the Axis P8815-2 3D People Counter was deployed to track the flow of customers and report other business intelligence. RC Willey also replaced its previous video management system with Axis Camera Station and adopted Axis Device Manager to monitor all of its networked security devices.
One of the most immediate payoffs of the new investment has been in loss prevention. Since deploying Axis Perimeter Defender and Axis horn speakers at its distribution centres, RC Willey has significantly reduced theft and vandalism across the sites.
“We were having tremendous overnight theft and vandalism problems at our distribution centres,” says Rod Mosher, director of loss prevention and safety for RC Willey. “At the Las Vegas centre alone, I was spending $100,000 on private security and still losing between $40-50,000 a year. Since deploying the Axis cameras and analytics we have yet to have a single loss at that location, despite it being situated in a high-crime area.”
The data from the Axis P8815-2 3D People Counter has been correlated by the Axis Store Reporter, helping the company evaluate the success of advertising campaigns in driving traffic to their retail stores. Store managers can drill down into the statistics for their location to make informed decisions about staff planning, operating hours and operational efficiency.
“We’re also exploring the possibility of carving our stores into different areas using the people counter technology,” says Mosher. “That way we’d not only know the traffic walking through the front door, but we’d also know the traffic walking into electronics, carpeting, refrigeration, mattresses or other departments.
“When I get a product from Axis, I know it’s going to work. I know they're going to be here tomorrow, five years from now and 10 years down the road with high-quality products and support.”
This article was originally published in the Winter 2022 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.