Pets at Home uses data mining to bolster loss prevention

The system, LossManager provided by IDM Software, is expected to provide a return on investment in under a year by improving the efficiency of the retailer’s loss prevention team.

Pets at Home head of loss prevention Scott Holland explained: “We are in the implementation phase at the moment. The system should go live by December, when we leave the stores to get on with selling, which will allow additional focus on training the team.”

The system provides investigative analysis capabilities, automated alert reporting and key performance indicator reporting at store and regional level. Data to populate the system will be taken from Pets at Home’s EPoS and cash and banking systems, as well as stock information.

It is the first time that Pets at Home has invested in a data mining system. Holland said it is the right time for the business to make the investment, as it has done everything else possible within the loss prevention team to maximise profits. He added that the business has now grown big enough to get a lot of benefit from the system. “I think we can get a quick return on investment - in less than a year,” he said.

The returns generated from improving business processes will be just as important as an any reductions in theft or internal fraud made possible through using the system: “I think we will get as much or more return from identifying process failures as we do from fraud,” said Holland.