Global Electronic Article Surveillance Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Global Electronic Article Surveillance Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Global Electronic Article Surveillance Market was valued at USD 974.7 million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 1,190.9 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.60%, over the forecasted period. Owing to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market growth has significantly slowed down due to the temporary shutdown of retail outlets around the globe, such as clothing, fashion stores among other types of departmental stores. Further, with no new expansions in this period, the demand for EAS systems is expected to be sluggish.

• The protection against inventory losses, shoplifting, and theft are the major reasons for the adoption of EAS products, thus driving the market. For instance, according to the NRF (National Retail Federation), organized retail crime (ORC) costs the retail industry around USD 30 billion every year. Also, according to the National Retail Security Survey (NRRS), a major cause of shrinkage for the retail business is shoplifting. All these instances have forced the retailers to implement a solution that can prevent theft, thereby driving the demand for EAS.
• Moreover, the number of shoplifting offenses in England and Wales in 2019-2020 accounted for 359.24 thousand, according to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom). Owing to the increasing shoplifting cases across the globe, the application of EAS reduces the need for extensive surveillance in every area, which saves a large amount of investment, along with providing maximum safety and security of the products.
• Further, companies are investing hugely in this technology of smart labels. For instance, ThinFilm from Oslo launched a smart label for electronic product security, in order to improve traditional Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technology. The result was a new category of anti-shoplifting labels that is easy to incorporate into merchandise and is compatible with the world’s 8.2 MHz radiofrequency EAS infrastructure.
• Moreover, the increased inclination toward digital operations and augmented growth potential in emerging economies are some of the principal opportunities for EAS providers. The clothing & fashion accessories products stores are anticipated to have a major market share of the EAS technology.

• Tags are expected to witness significant demand during the forecasted period. The tags are being offered in various designs and sizes according to their applications. Vendors are innovating and launching new products at regular intervals. For instance, in March 2021, Prosegur Security introduced DoubleLock, a new EAS tag, which reduced the number of tag defeats by 60% in a use case. The Double Lock EAS tag incorporates a patented hook and magnet release mechanism, making this tag difficult to defeat.
• EAS tags come in multiple form factor types. The most common type is a pin that goes through the item, which is generally attached to the product’s tags with a looping wire. These EAS tags are compatible with AM and RF systems, and some work with RFID technology. Further Incorporation of EAS in clothing & fashion accessories is driven by the benefits provided, such as ease of application, reduced labor, open merchandising and brand enhancement, speed of delivery on the shop floor, and better customer experience.
• Source tagging has been an effective security strategy that retailers use to prevent theft, and it has become a commonly accepted practice. The process includes the direct application of electronic security tags to consumer products at the time of manufacturing and/or packaging the product.
• Further players are innovating and expanding existing technology in tags integrating with AM or RF technology to provide solutions for any retail products. For instance, in Jan 2020, Checkpoint Systems added the Alpha ShoeLok to its line of specialized tags to protect against retail footwear theft. It unlocks with an Alpha S3 HandKey, Multi-Detacher, Super S3 Key providing a two-alarm system making it a high-security solution.

• Asia-Pacific is foreseen to exhibit a significant growth rate in the EAS market. The increasing number of retail stores in the apparel, supermarket, and mass merchandise sector is anticipated to create a significant demand for EAS systems.
• For instance, in Aug 2020, Pomelo, a fashion brand, announced the expansion of retail stores in Southeast Asia, covering countries like Singapore and Malaysia, among others, to enhance the omnichannel customer experience. The company plans to increase footprint by introducing 20 new stores in the region. Such initiatives by fashion retailers drive the demand for EAS solutions in the region.
• Moreover, in 2020 around 12 million kirana stores in India teamed up with mom and pop stores to supply merchandise and upgrade their stores with digital operations to cornerstone the growth of Reliance Retail, Amazon and Walmart Inc-owned Flipkart. Such initiatives are driving the need for various EAS RFID tags in the region.
• The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has reached a deal with five major convenience stores, including Seven-Eleven Japan, FamilyMart, Lawson, Ministop, and New Days, to implement electronic tags for all products sold in their stores by 2025, a total of 100 billion products. All these development are expected to boost the studied market growth in the region.
• In addition, according to a study conducted by the China Commerce Association for General Merchandise (CCAGM) in 2020, 84.4% of China's 90 major department store operators planned to explore O2O (Online to Offline) integration. With the growing popularity of O2O integration, shops will primarily focus on adopting EAS solutions, As a result, demand for EAS increased, contributing to the market's expansion.

The Global Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system market is is moderately competitive, with a considerable number of regional and global players. The rise in the investments for the R&D activities and innovations is expected to enhance the market growth in the near future and offer potential growth opportunities for the new entrants in the coming few years.

• May 2021 - Johnson Controls announced partnership with VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. to further advance Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, to offer retailers the ability to increase consumer engagement at the point-of-purchase and discover demographic insights driving those purchase decisions.
• October 2020 - Agon Systems introduced two new Concept Tag sizes, 40 mm and 45 mm. The 40 mm RF “no ink” Concept Tag has all the usual Concept Tag benefits and is clearly visible as a deterrent to attempted theft and well suited to high-end, higher-value retail.

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