A combination of people-counting and fisheye cameras paired with the HikCentral VMS improved operations.
International household goods, cosmetics, and food retailer Miniso deployed Hikvision cameras across 117 stores and multiple logistics locations across North America. The Hikvision solution helped the chain to increase the reliability and effectiveness of in-store security systems, while boosting efficiency through centralized security management.
Challenge: Improving loss prevention with real-time alerts
Miniso needed to reduce inventory shrinkage and to improve operational efficiency. In addition, they wanted security staff to receive real-time alerts in the event of security incidents, as this enables stores to quickly take action to deter theft, and prevent customers leaving the store with items that weren’t paid for.
In the past, Miniso worked with a mixed camera setup from multiple manufacturers. This meant that the performance and reliability of devices was variable across different store locations and could not be centrally managed. Additionally, the use of multi-brand cameras meant that maintenance and support was complex and expensive. In addition to these challenges, Miniso's multi-brand set of cameras meant devices could not be integrated into a centralized security system. Security had to be managed individually on a store-by-store basis.
Miniso also wanted to explore the benefits of video data analytics and business intelligence to improve their operational performance. In particular, the chain was interested in people-counting technology using thermal camera heat mapping, which provides visual color-coded image clarity for the areas of the store that are most visited. Using this data, the retailer can improve product placement and merchandising to enhance their bottom line.
Miniso decided to implement a highly reliable, fully-integrated security solution for better operational efficiency, centralized security management, and data-driven decision making.
Solution: Single source camera manufacturer centrally managed via HikCentral VMS
Miniso implemented a single-source camera system from Hikvision across their 117 North American store locations, as well as at several key logistics locations in multiple countries.
All the security cameras from the new system are integrated into the single, centralized HikCentral Professional video management system (VMS) by Hikvision. This allows security staff to keep an eye on all stores, and other locations, from two security centers based in Vancouver and Los Angeles. These centers are staffed by Miniso employees who view video footage and send alerts to in-store staff in real-time in the event of a security incident.
The Hikvision solution is also able to provide a whole range of managerial insights thanks to its built-in Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities. For example, using a combination of people-counting cameras and fisheye cameras, store managers can visualize footfall across individual stores and identify the “hot zones” that are most visited by customers. They can also gain an important understanding of how long customers remain in the store (dwell time), and how long they typically wait at the checkouts. These intelligent business insights allow them to make decisions about promotions and merchandising based on real customer behavior.
Benefits: Heightened efficiency, better business intelligence, boosted bottom line
The new, comprehensive Hikvision security system has given Miniso the reliability and performance needed to identify and mitigate security risks during open hours with little or no unplanned downtime to in-store cameras. This has minimized losses from inventory due to shoplifting, boosting their bottom line.
The Hikvision system also augmented Miniso’s existing head count by offering better quality and automated video security that is easy to manage centrally so they can do more with less.
The new system is also extremely easy to maintain. Every camera in every store can now be checked, managed, and updated from a central location. This delivers major time and cost savings for the Miniso IT team.
The business intelligence capabilities of the system will make it possible for Miniso to evolve to more efficient, data-driven operations across their network of stores. Already, the new system is providing data insights to enhance the store’s operations, from product selection to placement and merchandising, store layouts, and staffing levels based on customer footfall throughout the day.
Miniso’s project manager, Mabon Zhang, spoke highly of the results: "Thanks to Hikvision, we now have a highly reliable, centralized, efficient security infrastructure that spans all 117 of our stores in North America. As well as helping us to enhance our security capabilities and respond to incidents faster and more effectively, the new solution is also easy to manage and support, delivering significant time and cost savings compared to our previous way of working."
Product Adopted:Retail