A 2026 comparison for retail leaders: LP and security outcomes on existing cameras versus merchandising analytics on proprietary sensors.
Spot AI is strongest at protecting and running the store: loss prevention, real time deterrence, AI powered investigations, and case management on the ONVIF cameras a retailer already owns, live in under a week. RetailNext is strongest at understanding the shopper: traffic, path tracking, dwell time heatmaps, and cross retailer benchmarking, powered by its proprietary Aurora sensor. The deciding factor is the buyer: an LP or asset protection team funds Spot AI outcomes, while a merchandising or store design team funds RetailNext analytics, and the two rarely compete for the same budget line.
LP and AP teams that want shrink, deterrence, and investigation outcomes on existing cameras, with store analytics included.
Merchandising teams funding shopper behavior analytics and cross retailer benchmarking on dedicated Aurora sensors.
Compiled from RetailNext's public documentation and Spot AI product documentation; vendor materials checked May 2026.
RetailNext data is based on public RetailNext documentation as of May 2026. Gaps are marked as not publicly specified.
These platforms serve different buyers inside the same store. RetailNext instruments the shopper journey: its proprietary Aurora sensor powers traffic counting, path tracking, dwell time heatmaps, and cross retailer benchmarking for merchandising and store design teams. Spot AI protects and runs the store: context aware detection, real time deterrence, AI powered investigations, and case management on the ONVIF cameras already mounted, for loss prevention and operations teams.
Deployment follows the same split. RetailNext requires Aurora sensor procurement and installation per store; Spot AI is software on existing cameras, live in under a week. Notably, Spot AI's subscription includes people counting and heatmaps, so LP led deployments deliver a slice of shopper analytics as a side effect; All Star Elite grew sales 5 to 15% from heatmap driven product placement.
RetailNext measures the shopper; Spot AI protects the store and measures the shopper on the way. If one budget must do both jobs, that asymmetry is the decision.
Two different jobs in the same aisles: merchandising insight versus protection and response.
Choose RetailNext if shopper measurement is the mandate: a merchandising or store design team that needs conversion funnels, path analysis, and benchmarking against other retailers will get depth Spot AI does not attempt. Choose Spot AI if loss prevention, safety, and store operations lead the requirement, or if one budget has to cover protection and a working layer of traffic and heatmap analytics. Retailers running both mandates at enterprise scale sometimes deploy the two side by side, since neither replaces the other's core job.
The retail outcomes below show what happens when protection and shopper insight come off the same cameras.
See detection, deterrence, and heatmaps running on your own store cameras in a live demo.
Quantified retail outcomes from named Spot AI customers, drawn from published case studies.
All Star Elite cut cash shrink from 6% to 1% across 80 sports apparel stores, and grew sales 5 to 15% by repositioning products based on Spot AI heatmaps.
Tidewater Fleet Supply unified 3 distribution centers and 14 retail locations from Florida to Virginia on one dashboard after theft losses on a legacy camera system.
Don Franklin Auto recovered five of six stolen vehicles within an hour of the theft and passed one million dollars in total savings across 30 dealerships.
"The ability to formalize our incident reporting, have all our cases on one database, and attach videos to those cases has been a game changer… cameras, case management, and people counting, it's great having that all in one system."
It depends on which job leads. For loss prevention, safety, and store operations, Spot AI is the stronger fit: it detects, deters, and documents on your existing cameras. For dedicated shopper analytics such as conversion funnels, path analysis, and cross retailer benchmarking, RetailNext is the specialist.
Spot AI does: it connects any ONVIF or RTSP IP camera through its Intelligent Video Recorder, live in under a week. RetailNext's core analytics run on its proprietary Aurora sensor, which is dedicated hardware installed per store.
Spot AI uses a straightforward subscription that covers the software, the Intelligent Video Recorder, and support, with people counting and heatmaps included. RetailNext pricing is not publicly specified; retailers engage its sales team for a quote.
They can coexist, because they answer different questions. RetailNext instruments the shopper journey for merchandising teams, while Spot AI protects the store for loss prevention and operations. Retailers with lighter analytics needs often find Spot AI's included people counting and heatmaps sufficient on their own.
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