The company added personnel to customer service counters at peak times, for example. “A lottery transaction might take [two] minutes if you’re getting a Quick Draw or something, but if you get behind somebody who’s got a Western Union and wants to do a money transfer, those things can take 15 to 20 minutes,” said Darren J. Wolski, manager of shrink analysis, who spearheaded the program.
The analytics allowed the company to better staff stores that handled more money transfers based on actual data rather than instincts. The analytics program also monitors cashier activity to prevent employee theft.