On the one hand, investments in online, on the other, physical stores for recovery: today, for the new shopping experience, it is necessary to streamline processes and take advantage of technologies 

The pandemic and technological progress have had a very significant impact in the retail world. The limitations on store openings have increased the rise of e-commerce, resulting in important new challenges for all the players in the sector involved. However, the market and the strategies of the great national and international giants show that physical stores still remain strategic for business development.

Analyzing the sector, starting from our customers and the over 1000 stores and warehouses for which we at Secursat manage the operational security processes, we imagined a future where it is the integration between offline and online approaches that reinforces the identity of the brand. In our vision, in this future scenario the physical stores, especially if in strategic points in the cities, will remain crucial but will certainly have to convert into something highly "sensorial / experiential" to satisfy today's consumer, who wants to experience a real customer experience inside the store.

By observing and studying how technology has changed consumer habits and shopping experiences, we have understood that technological evolution must also guide changes in the management of services that revolve around physical stores, to make processes more streamlined, flexible and integrated. In particular, the SOC (Security Operation Center) has become for us not only the place where to guarantee constant monitoring of security technologies for the protection of people, goods and places, but also the place where to integrate the management of the various services. that revolve around the store, simplifying its management processes. 

Remote maintenance, to reduce unnecessary mobility and guarantee the correct functioning of security systems over time; integration between alarm systems, including traditional ones, and technological systems - from the climate, to the sound system up to lighting - for proactive, integrated management and oriented towards sustainable models; remote monitoring of cameras as well as energy consumption; chat-bot for an instant resolution of problems and to address the problems of training of resources due to high turnover: these are just some of the integrated services within the SOC Secursat which, for us, have become the main interlocutor to guarantee the continuity of our customers' business.

Thanks to the skills gained over the years and the continuous search for innovation, we have thought and developed over time a series of services that enter the customer's operational process to allow optimizations while ensuring the proper functioning of the shops through remote services. . A completely new model for carrying out traditional security activities, which are linked to the facility and to the general technology management of the store, exploiting the advantages of connectivity.

We have decided to exploit the skills and technologies of SOCs, which have become capable not only of monitoring events and situations 24 hours a day, but also of verifying and guaranteeing the correct functioning of the systems remotely, guaranteeing availability during weekends and holidays in the management general problems that revolve around the stores, manage activities and requests on suppliers, share data and information relating to the store, become the operational backup of internal SOCs or existing structures, to ensure true operational disaster recovery in the event of critical events and situations .

We asked ourselves: how can we accompany the development and evolution of physical stores? How can we streamline technological management to follow the general simplification process of physical locations, and how can we "make security" without compromising the shopping experience? The answer was by exploiting existing technologies, working on the processes and methods of carrying out traditional activities and above all by investing in skills and resources. In this scenario, another theme that accompanied the choices was that of sustainability, to guarantee security and facilities the qualitative leap that the company management is making, even very quickly, on various fronts. We have set up the model in such a way as to remotely operate the activities as much as possible, with significant impacts in terms of unnecessary mobility reduction, as well as exploiting the integration to reduce waste and energy inefficiencies. A concrete model that is already operational for most of our customers, where we are already able to assess the impact in terms of, for example, the sustainability of remote maintenance and where we have a percentage of on-site activities compared to the technological reports managed less than 2%. For us it is a way to take advantage of investments in technology and resources, for the retailer a way to help store staff to focus on sales activities, streamlining the surrounding processes. Opportunities offered by the general digital transformation that has allowed us to create value, through the implementation of technological solutions that ensure the continuity of the company business, and to develop flexible and sustainable management models over time.