MORRISONS AND DYMENSiON

March 1, 2023

Challenge
Morrisons, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains with a history in retail dating back to the 1800s, were seeking an Incident and Risk Management solution for its entire network of 500+ sites with the primary aim of using trend data to keep customers and colleagues safe, along with reducing loss, shrinkage, and correcting security controls, as well as deploying Guarding resources more effectively and efficiently.

Solution
Morrisons entered a collaborative partnership with Kings Secure Technologies’ (KST) cloud-based business solution, DYMENSiON in 2020.

The partnership was created to form Morrisons’ new data, trend and intelligence driven security and loss prevention platform; ‘MySecurity’ utilising the tools within the MySecurity Web (DYMENSiON’s cloud platform) and MySecurity App (DYMENSiON’s OneTouch App); with a slogan “see it, say it, report it’’.

The technology is twofold: security officers have the ‘MySecurity App’ which can be installed on a mobile device and on in-store podiums, providing bespoke incident recording workflow menus to choose from when matching the incident type, for example, theft: stop or recovery. Morrisons’ management team can access the ‘MySecurity Management Platform’ via desktop PCs & tablets to view the dashboards and incident data, and information can be reviewed on a regular basis.

Each dashboard pulls in different sets of intelligence data as charts and graphs that are fully interactive to provide further interrogation of the data. This gives Morrisons’ Loss Prevention Team and KST analysts the ability to drill into the incident dashboards to reveal new data sets such as ‘Incidents by Product Type’. Furthermore, a heat map identifies vulnerable times of the day, days of the week, and areas in store.

Trends can be seen across all stores collectively and, based on data recorded, can highlight which stores have higher levels of incidents where corrective security resources are needed and allocate accordingly.

Incidents can be recorded on either part of the platform. The app can be used to scan barcodes of items that have been stolen and recovered, details of which are automatically recorded on the incident log, with additional specific information. In events where serious incidents are recorded, the app has been designed to notify officers to contact the operations centre where escalation procedures can be activated.

The principal roll-out relied on a multi-internal and external stakeholder approach which presented obstacles in terms of technical understanding and operational requirements. Understanding key requirements for each stakeholder was essential, eg: capturing data and the impact that had on GDPR and compliance frameworks (CF).

In the pilot phase, the route for reporting was predominantly app-based and the main challenge was making the device as secure as possible within the CF. Initially, DYMENSiON and Morrisons designed a two-tier authenticated approach whilst users were in store, however this proved cumbersome and a barrier to success. Eventually a more intricate and streamlined authentication process was designed based on store Wi-Fi settings, which only permitted use when on site; resulting in further benefits from a security perspective by locking down the app to site-only actions.

The platform has simplified the ability to retrieve accurate data, along with reducing overall loss and increasing instore safety since its launch:

• Guards are now easily deployed to different stores by using the app – utilising a combination of QR code technology and WIFI scanning. Reporting errors have been reduced by over 75%.
• The platform allows security personnel colleagues to log and report security equipment faults, such as bodycams, allowing for an improved replace and repair process. Due to this,
  800+ devices have been fixed for future use.
• The collected information from recorded incidents has improved the ability to successfully execute civil recovery claims and banning notices. 1600+ incidents have been sent to a civil recovery partner for review, valuing at £141,000.
• Overall reporting of incidents is up by 26%.
• Total incident value since launch of the platform is over £9m.
• Over 800,000 colleague searches logged, including search outcome and time/date of search. Helping Morrisons understand business risks and trends.
• Over 1.4m online tote checks have been recorded and tracked for compliance.

Live alerts – the platform allows the sharing of secure alerts (including CCTV) from a central Crime Hub to Security Officers and Management teams in store. Store teams have the ability to respond to alerts and report sightings of known offenders, which helps to track and deter travelling criminality.

Conclusion
The full roll-out of ‘MySecurity’ means that it is accessible for reporting on over 2,000 in-store PCs, 1,500 guards’ personal devices, 400 podiums and 2,500 managers’ tablets. The collaboration has revolutionised the approach to instore crime reporting and associated risk, including searches and home delivery checks.