The Future of Retail Security: Insights from NRF Protect’s Big Ideas Panel

Retail crime and safety threats are evolving—and so must the strategies that retailers use to defend against them. At NRF Protect’s Exhibitor Big Ideas session, a powerhouse panel brought together leaders from Home Depot, Amazon, and Flock Safety to discuss how technology, collaboration, and innovation are shaping the future of retail security.

Featuring Benjamin Schwartz, Sr. Manager - Asset Protection Resources & Technology at The Home Depot, Aaron Gertje, Sr. Manager, Resilience at Amazon, and moderator Oscar Arango, Flock Safety’s VP of Retail Strategy, the conversation focused on how the industry can tackle an increasingly complex threat landscape through tech-enabled strategies and operational alignment.

Confronting a Shifting Threat Landscape

One of the panel’s opening themes was the growing complexity of in-store threats. Retailers are facing a broader and more unpredictable array of security challenges than ever before. Traditional theft remains an issue, but it’s now compounded by more organized, aggressive, and nuanced problems.

Organized Retail Crime (ORC) is becoming more sophisticated and coordinated, often involving groups who move across regions to target multiple stores. Simultaneously, store teams are grappling with challenges related to mental health crises, the impact of unhoused individuals, and the ongoing migrant crisis, all of which can create tense and difficult situations on the ground.

These evolving dynamics are testing the limits of existing security systems and demanding a more holistic, people-centered response.

Technology Is Fragmented—and That’s a Problem

Despite the promise of security tech, panelists agreed that many retailers are buried under a disconnected stack of platforms. It’s not uncommon for enterprise teams to juggle between 10 to 40 separate security tools, each addressing a different threat but rarely communicating with one another.

This lack of integration creates blind spots, increases response times, and makes it harder for teams to extract actionable insights. Key pain points include the absence of consolidated platforms, limited API compatibility between vendors, and the sheer operational burden of managing siloed systems.

However, there are promising signs that the industry is recognizing the need for more collaboration between solution providers, with an emphasis on open ecosystems that allow better interoperability.

Innovation in Practice: Amazon’s Decentralized, Data-Driven Approach

Gertje from Amazon shared how the company’s security innovation is deeply rooted in both culture and structure. Amazon leans on a distributed decision-making model, which gives ground-level teams the autonomy to adapt rapidly and surface insights from the field.

Machine learning and predictive analytics are central to their strategy, allowing them to identify patterns and deploy solutions at scale. But Gertje emphasized that technology is only part of the answer. For Amazon, empowering people—those closest to the day-to-day work—is critical to driving meaningful and sustainable change.

This blend of autonomy, analytics, and cultural investment enables Amazon to stay nimble in the face of constant threat evolution.

How to Scale Security: A Framework for Success

Both Arango and Schwartz highlighted a scalable model for deploying security solutions across large organizations. Their three-part framework—Identification, Standardization, and Sustainability—offers a practical roadmap for turning pilot programs into repeatable, long-term success stories.

• Identification starts with a clear understanding of each store’s risk profile and local dynamics.
  
  
• Standardization involves documenting deployment best practices and aligning on requirements.
  
  
• Sustainability ensures that programs are built with longevity in mind—complete with clear metrics and evaluation cycles.
  
  

The conversation also underscored the importance of knowledge-sharing across retailers. More frequent collaboration—whether through joint working groups, case studies, or shared vendor relationships—can accelerate adoption of what works and reduce duplication of effort.

Looking Ahead: Shared Solutions and Human-Centered Tech

In their closing reflections, the panelists looked toward future opportunities that promise both innovation and collaboration:

• There’s growing momentum for cross-retailer collaboration and law enforcement partnerships, especially when it comes to high-value tools like license plate recognition and gunshot detection.
  
  
• As AI and machine learning capabilities expand, they’ll offer even greater potential for early threat detection, but implementation must be measured and ethical.
  
  
• Above all, panelists stressed that human judgment must remain at the heart of any tech deployment—whether in responding to incidents, guiding AI strategy, or building public trust.
  
  

They also urged security leaders to stay forward-thinking and set aside time to plan for emerging threats, not just react to current ones. Agility and anticipation will be vital in navigating what comes next.

Final Takeaway

The NRF Protect panel made one thing clear: the future of retail security lies at the intersection of technology, collaboration, and humanity. To succeed, retailers must simplify their tech stacks, strengthen cross-sector partnerships, and invest in both people and platforms.

Because in today’s climate, safety isn’t just about prevention—it’s about adaptability, resilience, and staying one step ahead.