Retailers have never faced more pressure to protect their margins. Shrink continues to rise, reaching $112 billion according to the National Retail Federation, and the causes are becoming more complex.
It’s not just shoplifting anymore. Organized retail crime (ORC), employee theft, refund fraud, and operational errors are all eating into profitability.
For loss prevention leaders, the challenge isn’t just detecting theft, it’s connecting the dots across data, video and operations to stop losses before they happen. The problem? Most retailers are still trying to do that with outdated tools.
Manual audits, DVR systems, and siloed exception reports might have worked 10 years ago, but they don’t work anymore. Yesterday’s loss prevention technologies and processes are not unified or effective, and can’t keep up with the scale and sophistication of modern retail operations.
Today’s best loss prevention strategies are powered by modern software solutions, tools that automate investigations, unify data, and make it easier to act on insights across multiple locations.
In this article, we’ll break down the five essential loss prevention software solutions every retailer needs in 2026, complete with real brands and solutions that you could invest in. These rolls work together to help you build a proactive, efficient loss prevention strategy that protects your profits and strengthens your business.
Explore essential loss prevention software
Discover the 5 software solutions every retailer needs to reduce losses
We all know that loss prevention used to be reactive. A camera recording footage, a spreadsheet of incidents, and hours spent chasing down what actually happened.
With modern technology, however, loss prevention is data driven and predictive.
Modern loss prevention software brings together video, point-of-sale (POS) data, access logs, and cloud AI-powered analytics to show you what’s happening in your business right now, across multiple locations – and what might happen next.
With the right tech stack, you can:
Detect theft, fraud and anomalies instantly
Investigate incidents in minutes instead of hours
Automate reporting and compliance
Improve collaboration between loss prevention, security, IT and operations
When these tools work together, you don’t just reduce shrink, you improve operations, training and profitability across your entire company.
1. AI-powered video analytics
Your retail operation generates millions of data points daily, from sales and staffing to access logs and video events. The challenge isn’t collecting this data, it’s finding what truly matters.
AI-powered video analytics helps your team identify trends, patterns and outliers that indicate loss, fraud or inefficiency. By automating processes and flagging what’s important, your team will gain complete business visibility and save time.
Why it matters:
Detects patterns across regions, employees or product categories
AI can identify anomalies before they become costly problems
It supports cross-departmental collaboration by sharing insights with security, IT, operations and HR.
Turns loss prevention data into actionable business intelligence
Solution to consider
Solink: Combines AI video analytics, POS data, and business insights in one unified dashboard, surfacing anomalies in behavior or transactions automatically.
How retail leaders unlock enterprise value with Al and cloud video
Your complete roadmap to unify operations, reduce support burden, and turn video data into cross-functional business intelligence through the successful adoption of AI.
If your loss prevention strategy starts with DVRs, it’s time for an upgrade. A cloud-based video management system (VMS) should be the backbone of any successful modern retail security and loss prevention strategy.
A cloud or hybrid VMS connects your cameras through a single platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, without the need for expensive on-site servers. It’s the perfect way to optimize your existing video security, turning reactive CCTV into actionable business intelligence.
Why it matters
Gain real-time visibility across all locations
Reduce IT maintenance costs
Access remote investigations and reduce the need to travel between stores for footage
Empower your team with AI analytics to surface important events automatically
Every refund, void, and discount tells a story, and sometimes it’s not a good one. In some cases, these aren’t your typical POS transaction, and, instead, represent employee theft or fraud.
POS exception reporting software helps your loss prevention team to identify suspicious transactions and uncover fraud or misuse at the register.
For best results, pair your exception reporting tool with your VMS, to give every transaction visual content. That connection – between what happened and what was recorded – is where you will find truth and speed in investigations.
Why it matters
It flags unusual transaction automatically
Detects patterns of employee theft or policy violations
Linked to video for faster verification and stronger case evidence
Reduces manual report pulling and data review time for your team
Solutions to consider
Solink: Exception reports are paired with video footage for instant context, helping LP leaders confirm whether a transaction was legitimate in seconds.
Agilence: Offers advanced analytics for exception-based reporting, helping multi-location retailers identify high-risk employees and transaction patterns.
XBR by Zebra Technologies: A long-time retail LP staple that provides robust exception reporting and fraud analytics, particularly for enterprise operations.
Loss prevention doesn’t just happen at the register, it happens everywhere employees and products move. Access control and alarm integration ensures only authorized personnel can enter sensitive areas, such as your stockrooms, cash offices, or loading docks.
Prevents internal theft by limiting access to high-risk zones
Combines access logs with video for clear verification of who entered and when
Alters loss prevention teams to unauthorized or after-hours entry attempts
Simplifies auditing and compliance documentation
5. Case and incident management software
Detecting loss is one thing, documenting, tracking and resolving it is another. Case and incident management software helped loss prevention teams manage the full lifecycle of an incident, from detection to resolution.
Why it matters
Centralize all case data, including reportings, video evidence and communication
Streamline collaboration between loss prevention, HR and law enforcement
Simplify trend reporting and audit preparation
Create a searchable archive for long-term insight
Boost retail security with smart software
Learn about 5 key software solutions that strengthen loss prevention.
The power of integration: Why unified platforms win
Modern loss prevention software is powerful, but only when it works together. The real efficiency comes from unified platforms that combine video, transaction data, analytics and access control into a single view.
A connected loss prevention stack gives you:
One pane of glass for all of your tools
Fewer blind spots across locations and departments
Consistent, real-time insights that drive smarter business decisions – both in terms of loss, as well as profitability and efficiency gains
The ROI? Faster investigations, reduced shrink, cross-functional visibility that leads to increased profitability and lower IT overhead.
This is where Solink shines, bringing your video, POS and analytics together into one powerful, cloud-based security and data analytics platform. Instead of juggling five different tools, loss prevention leaders can manage investigations, review video and analyze trends from a single dashboard.
Why Solink should be a critical part of your modern loss prevention tech stack
Solink brings together the power of all five essential loss prevention solutions, without the complexity.
As a cloud-based, AI-driven video intelligence platform, Solink helps businesses:
Investigate incidents in minutes using video-linked transaction data
Detect fraud, theft, and anomalies automatically with AI
Monitor safety and compliance remotely across every location
Reduce shrink and operational inefficiencies with measurable ROI
Integrate seamlessly with existing cameras and POS systems
With Solink, you get the visibility, speed, and insight to protect profits and improve operations, all from one intuitive dashboard.
See how Solink helps retailers reduce shrink, streamline investigations, and improve profitability – book a demo today.
Frequently asked questions about retail loss prevention software
What is retail loss prevention software?
It’s a suite of digital tools that help retailers detect, investigate, and prevent theft, fraud, and operational losses using integrated data, video, and analytics.
What are the most important loss prevention tools for retailers?
The five essentials are cloud-based video management, POS exception reporting, data analytics, access control integration, and case management software.
How does AI improve retail loss prevention?
AI automates anomaly detection, flags suspicious activity, and surfaces actionable insights, reducing manual review and improving accuracy.
How can LP software improve more than just security?
LP software also supports operations, HR, and compliance by improving efficiency, training consistency, and data-driven decision-making.
Does Solink integrate with my current systems?
Yes. Solink works with your existing cameras and POS systems, making it fast to deploy and easy to scale, no hardware replacements required.
Strengthen your loss prevention strategy
Find out which 5 software solutions every retailer should consider.
