5 Ways AI-Powered Digital Signage is Improving Retail Security

This blog is written in partnership with Coffman Media’s CCTV and AI analytics partner, i3 International.

Retailers have always struggled with security and theft, but in recent years, those struggles have reached a fever pitch.

According to the National Retail Federation, incidents of retail theft are up 93% over pre-pandemic levels, while organized retail crime—a problem that existed only at the margins a decade ago—has now emerged as a serious problem for retailers, both large and small.

The good news is that there are strategies your business can use to combat this trend.

Combining artificial intelligence, video analytics, and digital signage can give retailers a crucial edge in their fight against theft and vandalism without adding headcount or significant operational expenses.

Smarter Surveillance with Exception-based Reporting

The new era of AI video security will analyze surveillance footage and generate alerts when any activity doesn’t match normal behaviors or patterns.

This is called “exception-based reporting” in the AI world, and it’s well-suited to identifying common problems in the retail industry, including both shopper and employee theft. Here are some of the benefits of integrating video analytics and AI into your digital signage solution:

Decisively Manage the Threat of Self-Checkout Fraud

The 2025 Commerce Experience Report from NCR Voyix found that 77% of customers enjoy self-checkout. Unfortunately, self-checkout has also become a driver of increased shoplifting and shrinkage.

There are many ways that unethical consumers can steal at a self-checkout aisle. This ranges from not scanning an item at all, to weighing the wrong items, replacing barcodes, scanning only one of a larger group of items (also known as “batch scanning”), and many other methods.

Exception-based reporting and digital signage combined allow you to manage this threat far more effectively than manual security processes.

AI tools quickly identify the behavioral anomalies that predict theft, such as removing labels or scanning the wrong items, without requiring any human intervention or input at all. The result is you spend less time analyzing security footage and false positives while flagging and preventing more fraudulent transactions.

Real-Time Suspicious Activity Alerts

The security situation in a retail store is highly dynamic and can change in just moments. AI-powered security cameras, coupled with digital signage solutions, can help you respond to dangerous or threatening situations before they escalate.

How? AI systems can intelligently monitor every corner of your store, ensuring that high-risk zones such as entrances and exits are monitored by a 24/7 virtual security officer who can alert staff in real time if someone attempts to break in or destroy property.

Digital signage deployed in key locations throughout your stores can also be used to alert staff of robbery attempts, fights, or other disturbances on your premises (interior or exterior), making it easier for staff to notify law enforcement before a situation escalates.

The ability to provide accurate, real-time alerts to staff across your store with integrated cameras and signage is a radical efficiency improvement over an error-prone traditional security process that relies on human staff being vigilant and well-trained.

Tip: Exception-based reporting is also effective at noticing non-violent behaviors, such as employee errors or training gaps. You don’t have to wait for something bad to happen to realize value from AI-powered cameras and signage!  

Customer Tracking and Computer Vision

Security breaches and theft not only cause direct financial loss but also threaten the overall customer experience by disturbing legitimate customers, creating a tense atmosphere for staff, and driving up your security costs.

Customer Trajectory Tracking

Mapping your customers as they move through a store improves security by helping you eliminate blind spots in your store and analyze traffic around expensive products.

Here’s an example: Imagine a large retail environment where every time a shopper attempts to take a cart outside of your store or parking lot, the store receives an alert that shows the location of the offender so that staff could prevent that loss.

But using AI tools to track customer movements isn’t only about security; it’s also identifying bottlenecks and making optimizations that improve your checkout lanes and other high-traffic areas, while helping manage long lines more effectively and creating a store that’s more enjoyable to shoppers.

AI-assisted shopping experiences will soon follow. Machine learning algorithms are starting to analyze purchase histories and in-store behavior, allowing retailers to deliver targeted promotions, tailored product recommendations, and dynamic pricing in real time.

Identify Repeat Offenders

Facial recognition technology, which belongs to a form of artificial intelligence known as “computer vision,” has emerged as another important tool in the fight against retail theft and crime.

One common application for this technology in retail environments is to identify people you’ve previously caught shoplifting inside your store. AI systems, trained with the right data, can detect those people as they enter your store and send automatic alerts to your management’s digital display so they can intercept that thief before they steal from you again.

While the use of facial recognition may sound a bit too intrusive for some retailers, some individuals are already using the technology to unlock their phones, while others are using it to pass through airport security checkpoints.

As this technology moves further and further into the mainstream, and the public defines a set of socially accepted best practices, the number of applications for facial recognition is sure to increase, providing huge opportunities for retailers to disrupt organized retail crime (ORC) rings.

‍Access Control

AI-enabled access control solutions that combine digital signage and camera technology are revolutionizing how retailers provide physical security.

At the simplest level, these systems are replacing awkward physical keys, allowing your company to flexibly grant and revoke access to staff on an as-needed basis. Because they’re based on biometrics such as facial data, next-generation access control eliminates the hassle of key management while improving security.

This alerting can easily extend outside the store, helping to recognize license plates and grant access to parking structures as needed, securing facilities without having to hire additional guards.

Coffman Media and i3 International – Partners in Cutting Edge Retail Technology

Coffman Media and i3 International are dedicated to keeping retailers on the cutting edge of both efficiency and customer satisfaction. If you’re interested in digital signage or how AI-powered video analytics can enhance your business, don’t hesitate to contact us at or info@coffmanmedia.com.

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