4 Ways Traditional Keys Are Hurting Your Retail Store and Customer Experience

Managing security and protecting assets in your retail store is a top priority. But if you’re still relying on traditional keys to secure cabinets, displays, or storage areas, your business might be facing hidden challenges that are impacting not only your store’s security but also your customer experience and retail security.

From theft risks to inefficient workflows, managing physical keys could be slowing down your store’s operations and leaving customers and employees frustrated. In this post, we’ll explore four major ways that traditional keys are damaging your retail store and what you can do to turn things around.

The Impact of Traditional Keys on Wait Times and Retail Operations

Today, we unlock everything from our homes to cars using smartphones or simple keypads. Have you ever toured a home or checked into a vacation rental? You probably used a smart lock for easy access. Smart locks let homeowners control who enters and when, and changing access is as simple as updating a code — no rekeying required. This modern solution is so effective that nearly 11 million households in the U.S. are using smart locks. So, if people are making the switch to improve home security, why is the retail industry still relying on outdated traditional keys to protect valuable products?

Rekeying locks for commercial spaces can cost over $100 per lock, and display cabinet locks range from $30 to $50 each. Retailers often rekey when an employee leaves or is fired, or when keys are lost, broken, or stolen. With a 60% turnover rate in retail, that’s a lot of keys to keep track of. Retail security and customer service are impacted every time a key is misplaced or needs to be replaced. Here’s how continuing to use traditional keys is holding your business back from better retail security, smoother operations, and a better customer experience.

1. Increased Risk of Retail Theft and Loss

When keys are lost, stolen, or just misplaced, your store’s security takes a serious hit. Traditional keys are surprisingly easy to duplicate or pass off to unauthorized people. Unlike smart access systems, there’s no way to track who has used a key or when it was used. This makes your store vulnerable to retail theft, whether it’s a simple mistake, a lost key, or even intentional misconduct by an employee or someone with access.

If an employee forgets to return a key after hours or accidentally leaves it in a public place, it creates a potential security risk you can’t easily manage. Plus, if a key gets into the wrong hands, it could give access to valuable stock or sensitive areas in your store, putting your business at greater risk for loss. A digital key management system can provide visibility into every access event, improving accountability and reducing the risk of theft.

Traditional keys create unnecessary disruptions that slow down employees. Every time an employee has to stop what they’re doing to find the right key or unlock a display, it interrupts their workflow. These small delays add up over time, and before you know it, productivity starts to dip. Managing keys takes up valuable time that could be better spent on customer service or other important tasks. Employees might waste time searching for keys or waiting for access to a display. In stores with multiple areas that require different keys, the problem only grows. The more keys involved, the more opportunities for delays, confusion, and frustration.

Studies show that customer wait times have a direct impact on their satisfaction and likelihood to return. According to research by the National Retail Federation (NRF), 70% of customers will walk away from a purchase if the wait time is too long. Retailers who still rely on traditional keys often face delays as employees spend valuable time locating and managing keys, which leads to longer wait times for customers.

Take, for example, a recent experience at a local pharmacy. A Charlotte shopper was hoping to pick up some bodywash before heading home, only to find it locked behind a display. She looked around for a call button to signal for assistance, but there wasn’t one. She went to the register to ask for help, where one employee didn’t know where the key was, and the other returned with a ring of keys attached to a metal ruler. The employee joked, “I don’t want to hurt my hand trying to open that display case. The keys constantly get stuck in the locks.”

Of course, a set of keys attached to a ruler you’d use in a high school geometry class isn’t exactly a high-tech security solution. There’s no tracking or accountability, and the process quickly became a frustrating exercise in futility. The customer waited over five minutes just to retrieve a product, with only two other customers in the store at the time.

When customers have to wait for a display or cabinet to be unlocked, it ruins their shopping experience. Whether they’re waiting for the right key or for someone to finish unlocking a display, long customer wait times are a major source of frustration. And as we know, frustrated customers are far less likely to make a purchase or return to your store.

As your retail business grows, traditional keys become harder to manage and adapt to changing needs. Whether you’re opening new locations, adding custom displays, or reconfiguring your store layout, you’ll need to rekey locks every time — a time-consuming and costly process.

Smart locks, however, are built to stand the test of time. Much like the programmable keypads used in homes, they can be updated and reconfigured with ease as your store evolves. No need to replace or rekey; you can simply adjust access permissions, making it much easier to scale across multiple stores or adjust to changing store layouts. And unlike traditional locks, which can clash with modern aesthetics, smart locks blend seamlessly into any environment, offering both security and style for years to come.

The OneKEY Solution: A Smarter Way to Secure Your Store

If you’re tired of the headaches that come with traditional keys, InVue’s OneKEY is the ultimate solution. OneKEY is a patented electronic access system that replaces traditional physical keys with a seamless digital experience. Thanks to its advanced IR technology, there’s no need to worry about replacing batteries or rekeying locks. With our intuitive key management system, you can assign pins to employees for easy access, and once they’re done, they can simply return the key to the key manager for recharging, ensuring it’s ready for the next user. It’s secure, efficient, and hassle-free — the perfect way to modernize your store’s security.

Here’s how it solves the challenges mentioned earlier:

• Stronger Security
  With OneKEY, you no longer need to worry about lost, stolen, or duplicated keys. Every access event is tracked, so you’ll always know who opened what and when. This kind of accountability drastically reduces the risk of theft and unauthorized access, giving you complete control over your store’s security.
• Increased Efficiency
  Searching for the right key or waiting for an employee to unlock a display is a thing of the past. OneKEY gives your team quick, easy access to locked areas with just a smart device or personal code. The time saved boosts productivity, allowing employees to focus on customer service and other important tasks, rather than being bogged down by key-related delays.
• Reduced Wait Times for Customers
  With OneKEY, employees can unlock displays and access products instantly, eliminating the frustrating delays caused by searching for keys. Faster service means customers don’t have to wait, keeping them happy and more likely to make a purchase — and return to your store in the future.
• Easily Scalable
  Whether you’re opening new stores or adapting to new layouts, OneKEY scales with your business. Unlike common cylinder locks, which require costly rekeying and time-consuming changes, OneKEY allows you to manage all access points from one simple platform. Just adjust access permissions as needed, and your store is ready to go.
• Future-Proof and Adaptable
  As technology advances, OneKEY evolves with it. Just like the smart locks homeowners trust for security, OneKEY is designed to stay relevant, adjusting to your business’s needs without the hassle of outdated traditional systems. Plus, it fits seamlessly into any store design, whether your aesthetic is modern or traditional.

Ready to stop managing keys and start improving your retail security and customer experience? Contact us today to learn how OneKEY can streamline your store’s operations and provide top-notch security. Our team is here to help you create a more secure, efficient, and customer-friendly environment.