Interface Systems’ 2026 report analyzes millions of retail security events, revealing peak incident times and the impact of AI-enabled remote monitoring and intervention strategies.
Interface Systems has released its 2026 Retail Loss Prevention Benchmark Report, an annual study based on 1.6 million remote monitoring events recorded across 18,258 U.S. retail locations and 51 brands throughout 2025. The company, which provides AI-powered security and remote video monitoring services for restaurants, retailers and commercial businesses, said the report is intended to give retail loss prevention leaders large-scale operational insight into threat patterns and intervention performance.
The report analyzes when risk peaks, which threats escalate most quickly and which response strategies are most effective across thousands of monitored locations.
“Loss prevention teams are under more pressure than ever to protect people, reduce shrink, and justify every dollar spent on security. This report gives them the data and the confidence to make those decisions,” said Brent Duncan, CEO of Interface Systems.
Key Findings on Retail Threats and Timing
According to the report, location theft and loss, disturbances, and loitering or panhandling ranked as the top retail threats by volume. Additional tracked threats included criminal events, battery and assault, theft, property damage, robbery and medical emergencies.
Risk patterns were shown to be highly predictable. Store opening times saw a 363% spike in security incidents, while peak incident volume occurred between 6 and 8 PM. Sundays and Mondays accounted for 30% of weekly incidents combined, and Thursdays recorded the highest police dispatch rate.
Employee assistance requests also followed clear patterns tied to store transitions. Of the 1.1 million requests logged in 2025, demand peaked at 10 AM with 97,432 requests and again at 7 PM with 146,672 requests.
Intervention Outcomes and Alarm Reduction
The report found that 62.4% of high-priority security events were resolved without police dispatch when interactive remote video monitoring was used. It also reported that voice-down intervention resolved 99.7% of employee assistance requests without law enforcement involvement.
In addition, 95% of alarm events were identified as false alarms through live video verification and resolved without dispatch.
Loitering and disturbances were noted as higher escalation risks, with dispatch rates ranging from 65% to 82%. These incidents also peaked between 6 and 8 PM, aligning with broader incident trends.
The report also noted that the day before a holiday saw higher activity than the holiday itself, averaging 148 incidents compared to 138 on holidays, a 5.5% decrease.
AI-enabled Perimeter Security Performance
Interface Systems also included performance data from its Virtual Perimeter Guard system, an AI-powered perimeter security solution supported by human monitoring through its Interactive Security Operations Centers.
Across 29 locations, the system was activated 23,810 times. It resolved 96.1% of perimeter threats through automated voice-down protocols and escalated 4% of events to a live intervention specialist. Only one police dispatch was recorded across all activations.
Report Availability
The full 2026 Retail Loss Prevention Benchmark Report is available through Interface Systems and includes detailed charts, segment analysis across discount retail and jewelry formats and operational takeaways for loss prevention leaders. The company also offers a free security assessment to help organizations benchmark incident profiles and evaluate risk reduction strategies.
Interface Systems provides AI-powered security technologies combined with remote monitoring by trained specialists from its U.S.-based Interactive Security Operations Centers. Its offerings include interactive remote video monitoring, managed alarms and access control, video intelligence and managed network and voice services.