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Safety and productivity for retailers

Facing the COVID-19 outbreak, many countries and regions have introduced prevention and control measures to fight against the pandemic, such as closing non-essential business establishments and restricting people’s movement in public places. Like many others, supermarkets and stores have also adopted safety protocols to comply with government directives, including hand sanitiser stations, customer and staff temperature monitoring, reduced capacity limits, contactless customer service and payments, etc., in order to keep their customers and staff as safe as possible.

However, a recent report from AP News shows that a lot of major non-essential retailers worldwide have been affected by COVID-19. According to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, more than 190 000 stores have temporarily closed, accounting for nearly 50% of US retail square footage. At the same time, Swedish fashion retailer H&M; also implied that after temporarily closing 3441 of its 5062 stores globally, it may be forced to lay off some employees permanently. How to survive during the pandemic and take effective prevention and control measures after work resumption has become a major consideration for retailers across the globe.

In response to the challenges facing the retail industry, Dahua Technology has launched a professional ‘Retail Epidemic Safety Protection Solution’ to help retailers maintain safe operations and improve business efficiency during the pandemic, as well as providing upgraded plans to increase ROI after business resumption.

Improve store safety and business efficiency

Featuring thermal body temperature monitoring and customer flow control, the solution combines two technological advantages enabled by AI to provide double value for retailers, assisting in slowing the spread of the virus while creating a safe in-store shopping experience for customers.

The Dahua thermal body temperature monitoring camera allows highly accurate body temperature monitoring of ±0,3°C (with blackbox). With a built-in AI algorithm, it can simultaneously monitor a group of people from up to 3 metres, enabling fast and non-contact access. When installed at the entrances of supermarkets and shopping malls, it can help retailers with preliminary screening of employees and customers with abnormal body temperature. It notifies users to take corresponding measures before the temperatures change significantly, thereby enabling the appropriate protocol and conducting a second verification by medical professionals if necessary.

Customer flow control

For retailers who require limited customer flow during the pandemic, the Dahua AI-empowered people counting camera can automatically and accurately calculate the real-time number of people entering the store, avoiding congestion and helping to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. When the number of shoppers exceeds the set value, the device will sound an alarm and will display on the digital signage at the entrance of the store that the number of people inside is full, reminding customers to wait at the door.

Moreover, the Dahua DSS software integrates all the information and functions into one system, creating a visualised central platform for retailers to manage their stores, staff, and customers more efficiently.

Intelligent analysis to boost business after resumption

It is worth noting that this is a cost-effective solution that offers multiple functions to retailers. In addition to basic monitoring features, this system can also help retailers create business value after the pandemic. Boasting intelligent business analysis functions, it can help retailers understand their customers better and adjust business strategies based on statistics such as customer profiles and preferences, traffic flow during peak hours, the impact of weather and temperature on customer flow, etc., thus increasing the store’s appeal to its customers.

The Dahua Retail Epidemic Safety Protection Solution provides retailers with a long-term and effective solution that helps secure operations during the pandemic and subsequent recovery. Combining many of the aforementioned functions, this solution is suitable for a wide range of retailers, such as supermarkets, shopping malls, grocery stores, restaurants, casinos, pharmacies, etc.

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