Retail

How a Retailer Used AI Camera Search to Solve a Theft in Under 60 Seconds

Sacramento, CA

The Challenge

Before FollowThrough Works

A multi-location retail business in Sacramento was dealing with recurring shrink and had no efficient way to investigate incidents. Their legacy analog camera system produced grainy footage that required hours of manual scrubbing to find a single event. Staff would often give up before finding anything useful, and incidents went unresolved. Back-of-house areas were accessible with shared physical keys that had been copied multiple times.

What We Deployed

Our Solution

We installed smart cameras with AI-powered search across the sales floor, POS stations, receiving dock, and parking areas. When a theft was reported by a floor associate, the manager searched the camera system by description — clothing color, time window, and area — and had the footage pulled up in under 60 seconds. Access control with individual credentials replaced the shared key system on all back-of-house doors.

The Result

The Outcome

The first AI search saved what would have been a 3-hour manual footage review. The incident was documented with timestamped clips and shared with law enforcement the same day. Within the first quarter, the store saw a measurable reduction in shrink. The owner noted that simply having visible, modern cameras changed behavior on the floor before any formal action was taken.

< 60 sec

to find theft footage vs. hours of scrubbing

3+ hrs

saved per incident investigation

Same day

evidence shared with law enforcement

Retail store interior with smart security cameras and AI search interface on a manager tablet

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