Brian Hurley, Head of Sales and Business Development for Johnston Retail Services, discusses the latest developments in retail technologies and age verification.
As consumers, we have all seen massive changes to the overall retail experience through constant advancements in technology.
This is a trend that shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.
Whether it be the evolution of paper product information to electronic labels, the transition from in-store static digital imagery to interactive behaviour-led signage, the increasing presence of self-service kiosks, or the move to autonomous retail, one thing is certain – technology is leading the change.
As retailers, driving efficiencies, controlling shrinkage, and managing P&Ls, while striving to constantly enhance the customer experience, are everyday challenges.
Ensuring your operation has a technology focus is now more important than ever.
Those who adopt and embrace the technological solutions available tend to reap far more success with a lot less effort than one may think.
We have seen AI solutions now adding an intelligent layer to the traditional CCTV solution.
This technology now adds to your security armoury an immediate, pre-emptive suspicious store activity alert system, which allows weakness or threat areas to be more easily identified and, ultimately, offenders being stopped, or at the very least deterred, from stealing from your store.
This cost-effective solution has proven to be invaluable, not only for loss prevention, but also in security operations management.
Responsible Selling
Many people would also have heard terms such as Age Proxy Selling or Age Restricted Selling or, as we at Johnston Retail Services like to call it, Responsible Selling.
While these terms may be more prevalent recently, the concept is far from new.
Restrictions on certain products and services have always carried a qualification or verification requirement.
The focus now is on how retailers are enforcing and adhering to these restrictions.
There is a myriad of examples around us that fall into this verification category.
Of course, many are well known.
Cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, and vapes are all now set at 18 years or over.
It is illegal to buy or sell to anyone below that age.
Other products and services carry various age restrictions, for example, fuel, video games, lottery, gambling outlets, and even Christmas crackers.
These all carry legal age restrictions, but not all are 18 years or over.
This varied age restriction on different products isn’t ideal for retailers.
However, it is the retailers’ legal obligation to enforce these age restrictions, or as the RGIS puts it, ‘As a retailer, it is imperative to follow the rules and laws around age-restricted products and services.
‘These laws restrict the sale of certain products and services to underage customers.’
AgeAI Solution
For this reason, Johnston Retail Services were delighted to bring the AgeAI solution to the Irish market earlier this year, in partnership with Swiss company Privately SA.
It is a simple, accurate and extremely efficient age verification tool that not only satisfies all GDPR requirements but assists with mitigating a potential source of conflict at checkout.
With our fully managed AgeAI solution, a customer simply looks at a small screen which provides an instant notification on whether the customer appears to be above a certain age.
If a positive indication is shown, checkout continues.
If it is not, a request for identification can be made.
It really is that simple.
An additional inherent benefit outside of the accuracy and efficiency of this solution, is the human detachment from the initiation of the verification request.
AgeAI is 100% anonymous, with no images transmitted or stored, and is GDPR certified.
Its highly accurate age estimations help avoid costly fines and protect staff by reducing the need for unnecessary ID checks for adults that can be a source of conflict.
AgeAI operates a verified accuracy of less than 1.03 years of variation for 18-year-olds.
The process is lightning-fast at the checkout and incredibly easy to setup.
AgeAI will also automate a ‘refusals register,’ which further assists retailers in monitoring store compliance and adherence to age-restricted selling protocols.
Making Selling Simpler
There can be no doubt that the enforcement of age-restricted selling will become more and more prevalent in retail environments.
AgeAI is extremely simple, affordable and, in our opinion, an indispensable tool that we are excited to be able to offer our customers to help with this legal selling requirement.
At Johnston Retail Services, our success has been built, not only on delivering exceptional products and services to our clients, but on staying abreast of (and ahead of when and where possible) market trends, regulation and requirements to bring innovative solutions that help our clients to run successful retail businesses.
Responsible Selling is not a new retail ‘thing.’
It has just evolved more due to advances in technology that are helping retailers to operate responsibly and efficiently with the sale of age-restricted products.
With our AgeAI service, we have just made selling simpler!
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