2019 Retail AP Conference Embraces Innovation

​Each year, we plan our Retail Asset Protection Conference with the goal of presenting attendees with the most engaging, compelling, and relevant content to their role as retail AP practitioners. Over the last several years, with industry and consumer trends in mind, innovation has increasingly become a greater focus of our program.

As retailers look to cutting-edge technology to solve for operational challenges and improve the customer experience, we're excited for the opportunity to curate innovation content for our community of AP executives. Below are program highlights from our upcoming Retail Asset Protection Conference taking place May 5-8 in Denver.

RTech AP Innovation Awards

Now in our fourth year, the RTech Asset Protection Innovation Awards recognize companies with game-changing technologies designed to help mitigate total retail loss and revolutionize retail AP. The conference will allow the Awards finalists – selected by a group of AP technology experts – a stage to showcase their technology to attendees.

After getting a glimpse into these promising solutions, attendees will then cast their vote and RILA will award first, second, and third place, as well as retailers' choice award in a ceremony on the main conference stage.

This year's finalists:

• Alert Systems
• Attensi
• Defendry
• Detective Analytics
• Rapitag
• Signatrix
• Solink
• Ocucon

Speed Dating

To give retailers the opportunity to connect with different startups that could potentially transform their business, this year we're featuring Startup Speed Dating in the Expo Experience. Attendees will be matched with startups based on their chosen innovation topic and will then participate in quick-fire conversations (or "speed dates") with startups. Innovation topics include:

• Frictionless Checkout
• On-Shelf Availability & Hot Products
• Colleague Safety
• Leveraging Data & AI
• Reducing Crime

Key Sessions

In addition to these events, we're also featuring sessions throughout the conference program that give attendees chances to dive deeper into the emerging innovation trends, challenges, and opportunities facing their companies.

• Understanding and Controlling the Risk of Self-Checkout Technologies
  • This session will focus on key insights from recent research into the vulnerabilities with self-checkout technologies and how retailers can mitigate risk
  • Speakers include Paul Jaeckle, vice president, asset protection, Meijer, Professor Adrian Beck, Department of Criminology, University of Leicester, and Stephanie Lin, research scientist, Loss Prevention Research Council
• The Rise of the Robot Detectives: Automating ORC Investigations with AI
  • James Cosseboom, senior manager, investigation & corporate AP, Retail Business Services LLC and Dean Takacs, founder, Detective Analytics LLC will share how the latest advances in AI technology can give investigative teams clarity into criminal activity across the entire organization and deliver pre-linked and pre-built investigative cases.
• Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Boost Your Fraud & Safety Programs
  • In another AI-focused session, PetSmart and Appriss Retail will dive into the technology's role in proactively detecting safety concerns, employee fraud, and other outlier behavior.

To participate in RILA's innovation activities at the 2019 Retail Asset Protection Conference, register to join your AP peers here.