As many security integrators are aware, the retail security market has experienced a pretty dramatic shift in the past decade, which makes selling to this huge market a trickier proposition. Retail security departments that are dominated by decision makers from the loss prevention side of the equation are dwindling. Analog cameras are reaching their end of life — and with that, a retail security operation’s need for live operators is declining as well.

Bottom line is that it will take a forward-looking integrator, entrenched in the world of IP technology and IT departments, to make inroads in the retail market.

“It is just a more complex sale,” explains Chris Lesnewski, CEO of Cam Connections Inc., Lakeland, FL, an integrator specializing in, among other things, loss prevention and retail security.

A Decade of Technology Change
One only needs to look back at the last 10 years to see the dramatic technological changes that have affected retail security.

Since many big-box retailers made such huge investments in analog cameras, many of them were still tied to VCRs and multiplexers just 8-10 years ago.

“A few years later, most were converted over to DVRs and higher-resolution analog cameras,” Lesnewski says. “Where they used to be 280-300TVL cameras, they went up to 500-600TVL.”

“They still have quite a bit of investment in (analog technologies), and the equipment is still working. However, some of it is starting to reach end of life, and we are just now getting into that period the last couple of years where large-box retailers can start to make a change,” Lesnewski continues. “They have gotten enough ROI and lifespan out of that analog equipment, they have justified it, and now they are ready to start going to IP.” Lesnewski continued