With a realisation that retailers lost over a hundred billion dollars every year and that there was a lack of effective tech to report, solve and stop retail crime, Phil Thomson and his co-founders created Auror in 2012, a crime reporting platform helping global retailers to reduce losses, and digitising the process with which they reported it internally, as well as to police.
Today, Auror is being used by 85 percent of enterprise retailers in New Zealand, enabling the New Zealand Police to promptly and efficiently investigate crime reported by retailers and focus their energy on the top ten percent of offenders causing 60 percent of the loss.
In the past, information related to retail crime and loss prevention was fragmented and stored in various separate systems, sometimes just a spreadsheet that stored details of offending.
Retailers usually handled these issues internally, meaning privacy was overlooked and information was shared on messenger platforms like WhatsApp. There was a need for a place where retailers could collaborate with their store network safely and securely.
“It’s why we say we’re ‘Privacy by Design’. It is factored into every element of our platform and our role as a data processor,” said Phil Thomson.
“This safe and securely held information allows retailers better visibility of offending, providing their frontline team (frequently exposed to violence and aggression) the intel required to reduce the impact of crime in retail stores safely.”
As a crime reporting platform, Auror is designed to capture structured data, which can also directly be reported to the police via the platform to investigate that matter.
“Previously, retailers would inevitably have to double-handle the reporting of retail crime - they’d report it into their reporting system, whether a spreadsheet or pen and paper and then they’d have to drive to a police station to report the details of that crime. This is why so many crimes historically went unreported, as it was incredibly time-consuming to report.”
The company has been operating in New Zealand for a decade and has seen growing collaboration between retailers and police. This digitised relationship has allowed for better visibility of offending, understanding its size and scope, and connecting previously siloed offending instances into a known network.
Auror’s network also allows understanding clear offending patterns across multiple stores and connecting the dots. If there are repeat offenders, on average, they are four times more likely to be violent and aggressive, and this gives retailers the ability to change how they operate by putting on more staff or security guards at certain times, greeting people at the door and providing exceptional customer service so people who offend cannot rely on being unseen.
“We also know that most crime is profit-motivated. It’s organised, not ad hoc or opportunistic. Having that visibility of who your top offenders are is important to both retailers take steps to stop it and for police who can concentrate on who is causing the most harm and loss to the community.”
As the company moves forward, it recognises the global role new technology and artificial intelligence will play. Over the last two years, Auror has been building processes for considering AI and other new technologies to open-source this framework to help others ensure they’ve understood the impact that technology can have in the broader community.
