Portrait of a typical shop thief in Russia
The typical Russian shoplifter is a man under 35 who is under the influence of alcohol, has no regular income and has already committed violations. The average amount of theft is a thousand rubles, experts found out.
Who steals in Russian shops?
The vast majority of those caught shoplifting are men (78%), about 60% of the total are between the ages of 18 and 35. This is stated in a study (available to RBC) of BIT, a developer of software solutions to combat shoplifters. Its experts, using the data of the customer face recognition system in the STOP Shoplifter retail chains and the statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for January-November 2018, analyzed 64.7 thousand cases of theft in Russian stores.
Most often, a shoplifter does not have a permanent source of income, has previously committed illegal acts, and is also under the influence of alcohol with a probability of more than 30%.
The average amount of theft is a thousand rubles, according to the study.
What are they stealing?
As a representative of the press service of the Magnit network confirmed to RBC, most often petty thefts are committed in stores - the amount does not exceed a thousand rubles. These are mainly alcohol, coffee, chocolate, cosmetics, perfumes, as well as products that fit in pockets or under clothes. According to the interlocutor of RBC, a set of security measures are in place in Magnit stores to prevent theft: points are equipped with modern anti-theft systems, video surveillance, and security guards work in large formats. “In addition, the trading space of the hall is organized so that the products that are most often stolen are located in the visibility zone of employees,” he added.
A representative of the Azbuka Vkusa network agreed with BIT's conclusions about the shoplifter's age, but made the following clarification. “According to our observations, most thefts occur in groups and on order. Perhaps this is due to the positioning of the network.
The Auchan and X5 Retail Group companies refused to comment on the issues of shoplifting.
How effective are facial recognition systems in fighting thieves?
The STOP Shoplifter system now operates in 14 retail chain stores in major Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg; it remembers images of visitors caught stealing, and when they appear at the guards, an alarm is triggered.
Previously, the largest number of implementations of such systems was in the public security segment, where law enforcement agencies acted as end users, but now commercial companies are actively adopting the technology, says Alexei Kadeishvili, technical director of the developer of Vocord video surveillance systems. “The possibilities of face recognition technologies are not limited to security tasks, but they seem to be the most understandable for businesses,” he notes.
The company has a similar product, Vocord FaceControl, which allows you to recognize the faces of store visitors and match them with a blacklist, and also provides the store security service with additional analytics. Vocord does not disclose the number of thefts prevented or solved using the company's technology.
According to Alexander Khanin, co-founder of VisionLabs, face recognition of customers and employees has been used in banks for a long time, while recognition systems are less common in retail. “They are mainly used to identify persons from the black list (thieves, hooligans, etc.). There are systems for recording the working time of employees. Solutions for making purchases with the help of selfies are also being used, ”Khanin noted.
Facial recognition systems are used in many casinos in the world. “They are synchronized with the blacklist of those who were once seen in fraud,” he said.
Source: RBC
Who steals in Russian shops?
The vast majority of those caught shoplifting are men (78%), about 60% of the total are between the ages of 18 and 35. This is stated in a study (available to RBC) of BIT, a developer of software solutions to combat shoplifters. Its experts, using the data of the customer face recognition system in the STOP Shoplifter retail chains and the statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for January-November 2018, analyzed 64.7 thousand cases of theft in Russian stores.
Most often, a shoplifter does not have a permanent source of income, has previously committed illegal acts, and is also under the influence of alcohol with a probability of more than 30%.
The average amount of theft is a thousand rubles, according to the study.
What are they stealing?
As a representative of the press service of the Magnit network confirmed to RBC, most often petty thefts are committed in stores - the amount does not exceed a thousand rubles. These are mainly alcohol, coffee, chocolate, cosmetics, perfumes, as well as products that fit in pockets or under clothes. According to the interlocutor of RBC, a set of security measures are in place in Magnit stores to prevent theft: points are equipped with modern anti-theft systems, video surveillance, and security guards work in large formats. “In addition, the trading space of the hall is organized so that the products that are most often stolen are located in the visibility zone of employees,” he added.
A representative of the Azbuka Vkusa network agreed with BIT's conclusions about the shoplifter's age, but made the following clarification. “According to our observations, most thefts occur in groups and on order. Perhaps this is due to the positioning of the network.
The Auchan and X5 Retail Group companies refused to comment on the issues of shoplifting.
How effective are facial recognition systems in fighting thieves?
The STOP Shoplifter system now operates in 14 retail chain stores in major Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg; it remembers images of visitors caught stealing, and when they appear at the guards, an alarm is triggered.
Previously, the largest number of implementations of such systems was in the public security segment, where law enforcement agencies acted as end users, but now commercial companies are actively adopting the technology, says Alexei Kadeishvili, technical director of the developer of Vocord video surveillance systems. “The possibilities of face recognition technologies are not limited to security tasks, but they seem to be the most understandable for businesses,” he notes.
The company has a similar product, Vocord FaceControl, which allows you to recognize the faces of store visitors and match them with a blacklist, and also provides the store security service with additional analytics. Vocord does not disclose the number of thefts prevented or solved using the company's technology.
According to Alexander Khanin, co-founder of VisionLabs, face recognition of customers and employees has been used in banks for a long time, while recognition systems are less common in retail. “They are mainly used to identify persons from the black list (thieves, hooligans, etc.). There are systems for recording the working time of employees. Solutions for making purchases with the help of selfies are also being used, ”Khanin noted.
Facial recognition systems are used in many casinos in the world. “They are synchronized with the blacklist of those who were once seen in fraud,” he said.
Source: RBC