Modernizing Retail with ACT365

As the retail sector evolves and adapts to changing marketing demand and customer preferences, the desire for integrated, scalable solutions increases. Retailers have to be agile and respond quickly to optimize their offerings for staff and customers alike. In this sense, combining video and access control intelligently makes sense as it allows retailers to adapt and remain competitive to modern-day demands such as 24/7 accessibility.

Sometimes this can mean extending opening hours to remain competitive. This can be achieved by introducing unmanned opening hours or and in fact, was done using Vanderbilt’s ACT365 cloud solution at a retail chain in Sweden

Specifically, the installation company Nessence integrated the ACT365 cloud-based access control and video management system with Mobile BankID in Sweden. Mobile BankID is a citizen identification solution that allows companies, banks, and government agencies to authenticate and conclude agreements with individuals over the internet. This integration comes together to solve a brief put forward by the supermarket chain, ICA Sweden. 

Tobias Olofsson, Project Sales Manager at Vanderbilt, explains that ICA Sweden is a retailer focusing on food and health. They wanted to be open earlier in the morning and later in the evening. “It would be too expensive to hire staff to stay open during these times in smaller locations. This is because the number of customers shopping early in the morning or late at night is minimal. But the store wants to be able to provide its customers with this value-added service,” says Olofsson.

To solve this, the supermarket wanted to open unmanned and needed a solution to allow customers to enter the store in functioning and approved manner by the insurance company.

In Olofsson’s opinion, ACT365 was the perfect solution for this project due to its easy deployment, easy operation, and smooth web API for integration.

“The success of this project means it is now possible for shoppers to open the supermarket’s entrance door by digitally signing into the Mobile BankID on their phone and presenting it to the ACT365 reader located on the outside of the door,” states Olofsson.

Moreover, good accessibility is maintained as all customers do not need to have specific cards or tags for the access system to enter the supermarket.

“A new modern solution has been developed to facilitate trade for private individuals, especially in smaller towns where food stores do not tend to stay open for as long as in the big cities. This project has resulted in increased profits for the supermarket, as well as increased accessibility and convenience for its customers,” concludes Olofsson.