Teradata steals a march on retail theft

Data warehouse supplier NCR Teradata has developed software which it claims can cut electronic point of sale (Epos) theft by almost a fifth.

Teradata Fraud Detection Analysis scans for abnormal Epos transactions such as voids, over- and under-supply of goods, employee discounts and price overrides.

It produces exception reports on transactions falling outside predetermined parameters.

The vendor claims that its software can reduce employee theft by up to 17 per cent.

The Centre for Retail Research estimated that the total loss to UK retailers from theft and error in 2001 was £4bn.

Some 32 per cent came from employee theft, 42 per cent from shoplifting and the remainder from other sources including administrative errors and theft by suppliers.

"Billions are lost to shrinkage in the retail industry annually," said Rick Schultz, Teradata's vice president of retail industry marketing. "We saw the need to give retailers a tool to detect fraud at the front line."

Teradata numbers Tesco and Sainsbury's among its data warehousing clients.