Miniso safeguards stock at 117 stores with a reliable, efficient security solution from Hikvision
International household goods, cosmetics, and food retailer Miniso has deployed Hikvision cameras across 117 stores, and multiple logistics locations, across North America. The Hikvision solution will help the chain to increase the reliability and effectiveness of in-store security systems, while boosting efficiency through centralized security management.
The need to minimize losses due to inventory shrinkage is critical for all retail stores. In addition, security staff should receive real-time alerts in the event of security incidents, as this can enable stores to prevent customers leaving the store with unpaid-for items.
These were some of the most pressing challenges facing Miniso North America, an international store that is renowned for providing high quality household goods, cosmetics, and food, at very affordable prices.
In the past, Miniso has worked with a mixed camera estate from multiple manufacturers. This has meant that the performance and reliability of devices was variable across different store locations. Additionally, the use of multi-brand cameras meant that maintenance and support was typically complex and expensive. In addition to these challenges, Miniso's multi-brand camera estate meant that devices could not be integrated into a centralized security system, and that security had to be managed on a store-by-store basis.
Additionally, Miniso wanted to explore the opportunities of video data analytics and business intelligence in terms of improving operational performance. In particular, the chain was interested in people counting technology for 'heat mapping' stores, which provides more clarity on which areas of the store are most visited, thereby improving product placement and merchandising.
To improve in-store security, operating efficiency based on centralized security management, and data-driven decision making, Miniso wanted to implement a new, highly reliable, fully integrated technology solution.
To address these many different issues, and to enhance store security and operating efficiency, Miniso has implemented a new security solution from Hikvision. This is based on Hikvision in-store security cameras deployed across all the 117 North American Miniso stores, and at several key logistics locations in both countries.
All the cameras in all the stores are integrated into single, centralized Hikvision HikCentral Professional software platform. This allows security staff to keep an eye on all stores (and other locations) from just two security centers based in Vancouver and Los Angeles. These are staffed by Miniso employees who view 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.
The new Hikvision solution has given Miniso the reliability and performance needed to identify and mitigate security risks during opening hours, with little or no unplanned downtime to in-store cameras. This is minimizing inventory and revenue losses due to shoplifting.
Another area where Hikvision is enabling financial improvements for Miniso is by reducing staffing overheads. This is because the new, centralized security infrastructure reduces the need for local security personnel at each store location.
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 savings and – again – cost savings for the Miniso IT team.
In the future, the business intelligence capabilities of the system will make it possible for Miniso to evolve more efficient, data-driven operations across their network of stores. Already the Hikvision solution is providing data insights that could potentially enhance all aspects of the store’s operations, including product selection, placement and merchandising, and decisions about the layout of stores and staffing levels based on customer footfall throughout the day.
Mabon Zhang, the Project Manager at Miniso, says, "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."
Related links
Newsroom
Explore the latest news, customer stories, and industry insights from Hikvision
You are using a web browser we don’t support. Please try one of the following options to have a better experience of our web content.