Rarely is it possible for me to enter a retail, restaurant or hospitality establishment without, essentially, casing the joint. I’m constantly reviewing the staffing levels, cleanliness, product display, POS and of course, surveillance.

A couple weeks back my wife and I took in a movie at the local theatre. We purchased our ticket from the young employee in the little booth outside. Moving into the bright lights of the lobby, we stood in one of four lines and paid way too much money for a tub of popcorn fit more for a horse than a human.

At that point, my MVaaS senses started tingling. 4-5 POS terminals (one fairly secluded out front) all staffed by employees in perhaps their first or second jobs. I began to imagine the till shortages and overall shrinkage a place like this must experience. I glanced around and was surprised to see that video surveillance was not deployed to help combat what I’d guess is a major hemorrhage on bottom line efforts. I decided to do a little research.

A quick search turned up a great article that speaks to the success of a movie theatre owner who decided to pilot a video solution. The results? Till theft and giveaways are down 75%. The ROI was so compelling that the owner has allocated capital to advance full deployment over the next couple of years.