Source: Radio New Zealand
123rf.com
Bunnings Warehouse has switched on facial recognition technology in two of its Waikato stores with others set to follow in a phased introduction of the system.
The Hamilton South and Te Rapa stores are the first to trial the technology with further assessment of the system due to take place before it is rolled out in Bunnings stores nationwide.
Bunnings says the number of threatening incidents in its New Zealand stores increased from 303 to 697 in four years, with repeat offenders accounting about a third of all threatening incidents.
The new technology aims to protect staff and customers, as well as catching repeat offenders.
Bunnings New Zealand general manager Melissa Haines told Checkpoint that anyone who entered a Bunnings store would see some prominent signs letting them know that facial recognition technology was being used there.
“So it’s actually as you come into the store your face is quickly scanned and a check-in match is made against a database of previous offenders of serious situations in our stores, if no match is made then the image is pretty much immediately deleted.”
Haines said there were people who were previously involved in serious harm situations in Bunnings’ stores who were kept on a secure database within New Zealand and that was what the images were being matched up against.
If the image was matched to a previous serious offenders then a member of the Bunnings’ team would be notified and they would then “assess and determine the best course of action from there,” she said.
“We’re introducing this technology because our number one concern is keeping our team and our customers and our suppliers that are in and around our stores safe.”
There had been “a really alarming increase in retail crime in these violent and threatening situations,” she said.
For some Bunnings employees it was their first job, while others were in the latter part of their career, she said.
“We firmly believe that they should be able to work safely in our environment.
“So we are introducing this technology to do that and we’re going to assess that it makes a difference and we’re hoping that it does and we’ll roll it out across our stores.”
Bunnings stores have more than 1 million customers visit a week, she said.
Haines said Bunnings had undertaken the trial in a very careful and considered way.
Bunnings had learnt a lot from a trial and roll-out of the technology that Food Stuffs did in their stores, she said.
“We also conducted our own thorough research in terms of making sure we understand how we can protect people’s privacy, that our team will be really well trained and they’ll be able to you know assess the best course of action when they’re dealing with this.”
They had also worked with a Māori data and sovereignty expert and received advice about the potential implications for Māori people and to ensure they took “a culturally respectful approach to this”, she said.
There would be further assessment once the technology had been rolled out to the two Waikato stores, she said.
Other retailers and facial recognition technology
Facial recognition technology trials are also underway in 18 Briscoes and Rebel Sports stores across the North Island.
Briscoes Group’s year-long trial of the technology began in September 2025 and it said the trial was about the safety of its team and customers, but removing violent people from stores may also reduce thefts.
Bunnings and Briscoes were among 11 big box retailers and supermarkets that signed a statement in June 2025 supporting facial recognition to “protect workers and customers” following the Privacy Commissioner giving a cautious tick of approval to the Foodstuffs trial.
Foodstuffs North Island is using FRT in 15 Pak’nSave stores and 10 New Worlds.
Foodstuffs South Island has deployed it in three Christchurch stores, where a trial ended in January.
“Only people who have previously been violent, threatening or aggressive in our stores are entered into the FR watchlist,” the South Island chain said on its website.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand