Loss Prevention Research Council Weekly Series - Episode 59 - Generations Impact on Retail and Top 5 Physical Security Trends
With Dr. Read Hayes, Tony D'Onofrio, and Tom Meehan
Post-pandemic playbook: What Gen Z want from physical retail
https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/post-pandemic-playbook-what-gen-z-want-from-physical-retail-adidas
GenZ individuals born between 1997 and 2012. There are 67 million in USA. Third largest generation after Millennials and Baby Boomers
https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/
Despite being the most digitally savvy generation, Gen Z very much loves to shop in physical stores. But their motive is different than older consumers’ and that spells change for brands.
67% of Gen Z shop in store most of the time.
Only 22% use a browser to shop most of the time.
Only 13% use an app to shop most of the time.
Retail as therapy - Gen Z is one of the loneliest and most isolated of all generations. According to the 2019 Cigna sponsored survey, 79 per cent of Gen Z describe themselves as lonely compared to 71 per cent of millennials and 50 per cent of boomers.
Top 3 reasons for choosing the store to shop by GenZ, 68% say wide product choice, 67% proximity of store location, and 66% product availability.
Which U.S. Generation Yields the Most Economic Power?
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/which-u-s-generation-wields-the-most-economic-power/
|
Generation |
Economic Power Share |
|
Baby Boomers |
43.4% |
|
Gen X |
26.1% |
|
Silent |
17.6% |
|
Millennials |
9.7% |
|
Gen Z |
3.3% |
But when it comes to money and economic power, our research has concluded that Baby Boomers, those between the ages of 57-75, have more influence than Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z combined.
While Boomers entered the workforce in a prosperous post-WWII era, Millennials and Gen Z have either started their careers in the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis, or in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To put it in perspective, when Baby Boomers were as old as today’s Millennials in 1989, they held 21.3% of U.S. wealth. That’s more than four times higher than what Millennials hold now.
ENERGY
Visualizing the Power Consumption of Bitcoin Mining
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-power-consumption-of-bitcoin-mining/
Cripto currencies have been in the news lately from a negative perspective when Elon Musk announced that you could no longer buy a Tesla with bitcoin.
The reason is the high power consumption required to produce crypto currencies which is not exactly a green initiative.
So how much power does it take to create a bitcoin?
On March 18, 2021, the annual power consumption of the Bitcoin network was estimated to be 129 terawatt-hours (TWh). Here’s how this number compares to a selection of countries, companies, and more.
|
Name |
Population |
Annual Electricity Consumption (TWh) |
|
China |
1,443M |
6,543 |
|
United States |
330.2M |
3,989 |
|
All of the world’s data centers |
- |
205 |
|
State of New York |
19.3M |
161 |
If Bitcoin were a country, it would rank 29th out of a theoretical 196, narrowly exceeding Norway’s consumption of 124 TWh. When compared to larger countries like the U.S. (3,989 TWh) and China (6,543 TWh), the cryptocurrency’s energy consumption is relatively light.
Top 5 Physical Security Trends in Retail to Watch in 2021 and Beyond
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-5-physical-security-trends-retail-watch-2021-beyond-d-onofrio/
During the early days of strict lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus, governments around the world categorized some retailers as “essential” and others as “nonessential,” leading to a $285 billion transfer of wealth from nonessential retailers to essential retailers and a $250 billion transfer of wealth from small retailers to larger companies. This created a massive shock to the worldwide economy with GDP levels initially dropping 30% or more.
Even with widespread store closures, the United States saw an increase in retail fatalities and violent incidents in brick-and-mortar retail stores. In 2020, 485 violent incidents, up 14% from the previous year, led to 523 fatalities, up 5% from 2019. Customers, store associates, and security personnel made up 76% of the victims with the remaining 24% being suspects (Source: D&D Daily).
The security “new normal” will include these top 5 physical security trends in retail to watch in 2021 and beyond.
- Innovative Uses for Existing Security Technologies
During the pandemic, physical security technologies were enlisted in the fight of the COVID-19 virus. From monitoring mask compliance, checking occupancy, and even remotely monitoring body temperature for potential fevers, the traditional video camera stepped up to a new store control role.
China took this to the next level by outfitting police officers with fever-detecting cameras.
- Increased Cybersecurity Risks and the Rise of Ransomware
In Q3 of 2020 alone there were almost 4 million email threats and over 1 million hits on malicious URLs related to COVID-19.
Studies have estimated the cost of ransomware attacks to reach as much as $20 billion in 2021. Downtime caused by ransomware increased by 200% in 2019 while the cost of downtime has become 23 times greater than the average ransom request.
Cybersecurity investments are expected to have a CAGR of 10.4% in the next few years, with all industries including retail increasing their investment to protect critical computer networks.
- Greater Focus on Privacy Protection
Data privacy will prove to be a driving force in the pursuit of responsible and innovative technology solutions for consumers and businesses.
In a McKinsey survey, Retail ranked 5th as most trusted industry in protecting data and privacy. The most trusted sectors are health care and financial services. Retail is less than half of the trust factor as these other trusted sectors.
As we move toward a more privacy-focused approach to technology, retail loss prevention professionals must evaluate their legacy security equipment and older systems, which often cannot support the fundamentals of data security.
- More Investment in Emerging Technologies
Advanced technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning has often been heralded as the technology of the future — but it’s already here.
The artificial intelligence in security market will reach $14.18 billion by 2026.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have led to major advances in physical security by powering new solutions like proactive monitoring, false alarm detection, and video analytics, all of which make a security team more efficient than ever before.
- Further Transition to Centralized Security Operations Centers (SOCs)
Security operations centers (or SOCs for short) are a critical component of the future physical security solution portfolio. Future iterations will process vast amounts of data, much of it from AI-enabled cameras, through intensive machine-learning engines.
Centralized AI-enabled SOCs will lead to faster decision-making capabilities, improved operations, and more highly secured physical stores. The centralized SOC will merge physical and virtual elements into smarter security solutions. Over the forecast period below, SOCs market size is expected to reach a CAGR of 11.9%.
It is clear the technology will play a bigger role in physical security in retail and other industries. But unlike previous eras in history where technology has replaced human workers, these technology trends will empower security professionals to better understand the security landscape, make data-driven decisions, and respond to threats before they happen.
