Smarter Access Control: Unlocking Savings Potential in Retail

The financial impact of traditional key holding models is significant. Across large retail estates, annual costs can easily reach six figures before factoring-in disruption caused by staff turnover, lost keys, emergency locksmith call-outs or delayed alarm responses. As pressures mount, smarter access control is emerging as a practical way in which to unlock savings, while at the same time strengthening security.

Hidden cost of staff turnover 

Low wages, long hours, limited career progression, abuse from customers and the growing gap between pay and cost of living all contribute towards instability at store level.

In 2022, research conducted by retail charity Retail Trust found that one-in-five retail workers, and one-in-three employees at the UK’s biggest retailers, planned to leave the industry altogether.

Fast forward to last year and the problem has intensified. According to the State of the UK Hourly Workforce Report, 63% of hourly employees suggested that they intend to leave their job within the next 12 months.

Property and security costs

High turnover has a direct and often underestimated impact on property and security costs. When employees leave suddenly, sometimes quitting on the spot, retailers face delays, operational disruption and the expense of replacing keys and locks. Multiply this across dozens or even hundreds of stores and locksmith fees quickly escalate.

Traditional key holding methods, including store managers retaining keys outside working hours, offer little flexibility in these situations. Once a physical key is unaccounted for, the safest option is often replacement across the board, including keys held by security providers for outsourced alarm response.

Smarter access control, including the secure storage of keys at the point of need, removes this risk. By eliminating the need for individuals to carry keys off-site, retailers can change access permissions instantly and remotely as and when the requirement arises.

Valuable stock and internal risk 

Retailers have invested heavily in order to combat soaring theft. Security tags, locked cabinets, screens and on-site security officers have become commonplace, particularly so in supermarkets and high-value categories.

Yet not all theft is external. Internal shrinkage remains a persistent issue, notably so for small, high value stock like mobile phones stored in back-of-house areas. While keys may be kept in a safe, access often relies on shared codes, informal handovers and no clear audit trail. During busy trading periods, keys are passed around to save time, potentially leaving retailers exposed.

Smarter key management solutions can bridge the gap between traditional locks and full access control systems. For example, SentriGuard is used by some retailers to secure internal storage areas, providing full traceability of access and activity. For many organisations, this offers a cost-effective way in which to increase accountability without overhauling existing infrastructure or installing a fully digital and hardwired access control system.

True cost of crime 

Retail crime doesn’t stop outside of normal trading hours. When alarms are triggered overnight, speed matters. Delayed access can lead to greater damage, prolonged store closures and lost revenue: costs that extend far beyond the value of stolen or vandalised goods.

Access control plays a critical role in alarm response. Secure and intelligent key vholding allows security personnel or police officers to gain rapid access without forcing entry, thereby reducing damage and downtime.

For stores carrying high value stock, the ability to respond quickly can significantly limit consequential losses.

Beyond security 

The benefits of smarter access control increasingly extend beyond loss prevention. One growing use case is after-hours deliveries.

With secure keys stored at the point of need, delivery drivers can access stores outside of trading hours to drop-off goods without requiring shop staff to be present. This reduces overtime, simplifies logistics and improves accountability through detailed access logs and delivery notes completed using the key access app.

One of our large retail clients originally purchased our smart key management systems for all of its branches to improve security and alarm response. However, the client soon began seeing additional benefits in other areas of operations, particularly so for after-hours deliveries. With keys available at the point of need at all times, drivers are able to gain access without delays, while retailers retain full visibility of the process.

Rethinking the cost 

The financial case is compelling. Average key holding costs sit at around £400 per site per year. For a retailer with 250 locations, that equates to £100,000 annually for key holding services alone.

By way of comparison, modern access control and key management systems can pay for themselves within a couple of years. Ongoing costs are largely limited to alarm call-outs rather than fixed annual fees. Yet many retail property managers never reach this calculation. Faced with daily operational pressures, they’re firefighting rather than forward planning.

Smarter way forward 

Retailers will continue to face complex challenges, from workforce instability through to rising crime. While no single solution can solve them all, smarter access control represents a practical and actionable opportunity to reduce costs, improve security and streamline operations.

In an industry where margins are tight and savings are hard won, unlocking efficiencies hidden in plain sight may be one of the smartest moves retailers can make.

Stuart Wheeler is Managing Director of Keynetics

*Further information is available online at www.keyneticsltd.co.uk