Focal Systems (Focal), the leader in Shelf AI for retail operations, today announced the launch of Theft Spotter, a new shelf-level loss monitoring solution. Theft Spotter identifies and alerts retailers to specific items that have been stolen, along with the times and precise shelf locations from which they were taken in each store. Built on Focal’s Shelf AI platform, Theft Spotter helps retailers reduce shrink with less effort and more precision.

Retailers are facing increasingly challenging fraud schemes. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), shoplifting incidents rose an average of 18%, and there was a 17% rise in threats or acts of violence during theft events in 2024. Additionally, dollar losses from shoplifting have climbed roughly 90% since 2019.

“Shrink has a real impact on margins, especially in grocery,” said Allison Johnson, Customer Success Director, Focal Systems. “Tools like Theft Spotter help our customers understand loss patterns earlier, so they can take action before issues escalate. This technology will become an important part of how our customers protect profitability.”

With Theft Spotter, stores can finally see suspicious activity as it occurs across store layouts and product categories. Focal’s AI-powered system uses shelf-mounted cameras to detect when items disappear from shelves without a corresponding sale and distinguishes between normal purchasing, shelf work, restocking, and irregular events. When an anomaly is detected, loss prevention teams receive an alert with time and date, aisle/zone, and product/SKU details. Clients using Theft Spotter have more than doubled their theft identification rate while slashing investigative effort.

“Focal can identify when an event occurs, down to the hour of the day, the exact location in the store, and the product stolen. Our team members are spared many hours of reviewing CCTV footage while dramatically increasing detection rates. We’ve been able to catch thieves on their next store visit using data from Focal. This has led to 36 hits/enrollments in the last two months,” said Joe Ripepe, VP Operations, Food Parade.

“For retailers operating hundreds or thousands of stores worldwide, every minute of staff time impacts profitability,” said Kevin Johnson, CEO of Focal Systems. “Theft Spotter accelerates detection and response, enabling faster recovery and mitigation of losses.”

Theft Spotter also connects directly into Focal Systems’ broader product suite, elevating store operations across multiple dimensions, including product availability, planogram compliance, inventory management, and worker productivity. More information about Theft Spotter can be found on Focal’s website or at NRF in Focal’s booth #1936.

About Focal

Headquartered in San Francisco, Focal Systems (Focal), the leader in Shelf AI for retail operations, is an AI-powered retail automation platform revolutionizing how stores operate. Built to solve one of retail’s most persistent challenges—keeping shelves stocked and customers satisfied—Focal combines computer vision, deep learning, and real-time data streaming to maximize product availability and store productivity while controlling inventory costs. Focal conducts over 40 million shelf scans per day to empower the world’s leading retailers to reduce waste, improve margins, and elevate the shopping experience at scale.

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