TUSKYS plans to introduce facial recognition technology to curb shoplifting by detecting faces of shoppers entering its stores.
The retailer’s chief operating officer Peter Leparachao said they have already engaged a biometric equipment and software provider, and hi-tech cameras will be in all stores by the end of May.
“We are bringing in facial recognition system to end shoplifting,” he said in an interview on Friday after the launch of a partnership with Safaricom Sacco to enable members shop on credit at the retailers’ outlets.
Tuskys own 52 stores spread across the country and it plans to open another 72 express shops in the Shell branded fuel stations.
“If a shoplifter is caught in any of our stores, we will take his or her picture and put it in the system. Any time that person comes again, the system will beep a warning automatically,” he said.
The shoplifting menace has been a huge problem for retailers globally, causing them billions in losses annually.
Tuskys, which is the second largest local retail chain in turnover, last year reported that it was losing more than Sh100 million annually, through theft syndicates involving staff and outsiders.
The global retail theft barometer 2015 indicates that retailers recorded a 1.2 per cent shrinkage in annual revenues which is equivalent to a loss of $123.4 billion.
According to the study, theft is mostly caused by employees and shoplifters.
The retailer traced majority of theft cases to the BebaBeba branch, located in the Central Business District in Nairobi, and sacked 91 employees stationed there.
Tuskys further fired another 16 staff members at its Embakasi branch.
“The problem has always been with our legal system because shoplifters and their accomplices are treated like petty crime offenders. They get a lenient bond when we take them to court,” Leparachao said. “We also think the police are also tired because these guys are so many,” he said.
