Peak body Retail NZ has called facial recognition technology a powerful tool that can help keep retail staff safe at work and reduce crime.
The comments follow the release of results from a six-month facial recognition technology trial by Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI), which Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young said clearly shows that the technology has made a measurable impact.
FRT matches the faces of people who enter a store against that store’s record of past offenders and accomplices. When the system detects a facial match with at least 90 per cent accuracy, two specially trained team members are alerted and both must confirm a match identification before the information can be acted on.
According to FSNI, research shows that 66 per cent of New Zealanders accept the use of FRT, even if the impact it has on reducing harm from incidents of retail crime is minimal.
In February 2024, FSNI - the co-operative behind the North Island’s New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores - started a trial of FRT at 25 New World and PAK’nSAVE stores.
The objective of the trial was to determine if the technology could help stores identify repeat offenders and enhance the safety of both staff and customers while respecting the privacy of everyone involved. As part of the trial, FSNI commissioned a nationally representative survey to understand how New Zealanders feel about facial recognition being used in retail stores.
Just under two-thirds of respondents (63 per cent) said they’ve seen others being physically assaulted, verbally abused or seen disorderly conduct when visiting a retail store while 44 per cent said they’ve personally experienced physical assaults, verbal abuse or been affected by others’ disorderly conduct.
Meanwhile, 27 per cent can’t say they feel entirely safe when shopping retail. When knowing FR is being used, 40 per cent said they would feel safer.
Just under eight in ten (79 per cent) said they would accept FRT even if it only achieved a 0.7 per cent reduction in harm
Over eight in ten (86 per cent) would accept FRT if it achieved a three per cent reduction in harm, and 89 per cent would accept FR if it achieved a 10 per cent reduction in harm
Only 6 per cent said they will never accept it even if it meant 100 per cent harm reduction.
FSNI general counsel Julian Benefield said it’s important to understand what New Zealanders think about FRT to ensure any future decisions reflect customer attitudes.
"Keeping our team members and customers safe and well is always our top priority,” Benefield said. “At the same time, we’re committed to being one of the most customer-focused retailers in the world. That’s why it’s so important for us to understand how customers feel about the technology we use.”
Independent analytics firm Scarlatti was appointed to monitor and evaluate FSNI’s six-month trial, further to the co-op’s engagement with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Foodstuffs North Island is now awaiting the findings of the Privacy Commissioner’s public inquiry into its trial, before deciding on its future use of FRT across its stores.
“We’ve approached using facial recognition in a responsible way, particularly by ensuring that it’s only the first step in a process where our people always have the final say,” Benefield said. “Most of the shoppers surveyed didn’t have a problem with the use of facial recognition, despite potential impacts on privacy, if it can reduce harm to shoppers and retail staff and be used in the way that we have used it.”
Young, the CEO of Retail NZ, said that while FRT is not the solution for all businesses or all crime, retailers should be able to decide whether it is suitable or not for their stores, alongside the use of other crime prevention tools such as security guards, fog cannons, staff training, and body cameras.
“Retail NZ members continue to face high rates of violence and crime, putting both their employees and the public at risk, as well as threatening the financial sustainability of retail businesses," Young said. "We know that retailers across Aotearoa New Zealand have been watching the trial with great interest and a number are investigating FRT for their own operations in the future.”
According to the peak body, retail crime impacts more than 92 per cent of retailers and costs well over $2.6 billion annually.
Young said that retailers are dealing with threatening, violent or simply unpleasant customers, who are trying to steal or damage their property every day. She added that organised crime groups stealing to order, drug addicts and youths looking for notoriety on social media are all causes of retail crime.
Retail NZ has formed a working group comprising a number of large retailers which is developing agreed approaches to crime prevention measures including FRT.
Young is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on retail crime, which is also tackling solutions to address the increase in this criminal activity.