The utilisation of video analytics – KEY FACTS

• Video analytics adoption is just 10%, but set to grow 77%
• Nearly half of retailers plan non-scan analytics to cut self-checkout loss
• Shopfloor analytics see minimal use today but 295% planned growth
• Intruder alerts dominate current deployment across stores and distribution centres
• Grocery prioritises checkout analytics; non-grocery focuses on security alerts
• Store entrance analytics remain rare, with adoption as low as 3%
• Reverse-flow, shelf-edge and queue alerts show the strongest growth plans

Video analytics: Low adoption today, big growth ahead

Across the 70 retailers surveyed, current deployment of video analytics sits at just 10% of relevant locations.

But that picture will change fast: retailers expect usage to climb to 18%, a 77% increase on today’s levels.

This planned growth reflects growing confidence in video analytics as a meaningful tool for loss reduction and operational efficiency.

Self-checkout theft drives the biggest planned investments

When retailers look ahead, the clearest priority is tackling loss at self-checkout.

Almost half (49%) plan to deploy non-scanning analytics, with 45% planning mis-scan detection and 39% planning non-payment alerts.

This cluster of investments shows how central self-checkout risk has become to retail loss prevention strategies.

Shopfloor analytics: low use today, explosive growth ahead

Shopfloor deployment is currently minimal, with just 4% of locations using analytics at the time of our survey.

But retailers expect this to grow dramatically, with planned utilisation up 295%.

Key areas include detecting shelf-edge suspicious activity (37% planning), in-aisle suspicious behaviour (29%), and automated low- or out-of-stock alerts (25%).

Security dominates current use: intruder alerts lead across all environments

Most deployed analytics today are security-focused. The top use case is intruder or perimeter alerts in store environments (29%), followed by similar alerts in distribution centres (21%).

High-risk area monitoring and unauthorised door-opening alerts also rank among the most common deployments, showing how video analytics still skews heavily toward traditional security functions.

Grocery and non-grocery retailers invest differently

Grocery retailers concentrate their analytics around checkout risk, with high deployment of non-scanning (29%), mis-scanning (26%), and bottom-of-basket detection (24%).

Non-grocery retailers take a different path, investing most in site security: intruder alerts (30% in stores, 28% in distribution) and unauthorised door-opening (24%).

Two sectors, two distinct priorities.

Store entrance analytics: some of the lowest adoption rates in retail

Video analytics at store entrances remain rare. At the time of our survey, only 3–16% of retailers deployed them.

From 16% using trolley pushout alerts to just 4% using facial recognition or customer-flow controls, and 3% using checkout capacity prediction.

Yet growth plans are steep: facial recognition, for example, rises to 21% planned.

Reverse-flow, shelf-edge and queue alerts show the biggest future jumps

Some analytics categories show extraordinary projected growth. Reverse-flow alerts in the backroom are expected to rise 414%, while shelf-edge suspicious activity is planned by 37% of retailers and queue-management alerts by 26%.

These shifts suggest retailers are moving beyond security-only use cases and into operational optimisation.

Quoting us? Please credit ECR Retail Loss and link back to the research.