Supreme Hero Awards '23: North America

Our global community does exceptional work every day and we love to recognize that through the Supreme Hero Awards. At the 2023 Auror Connect event, we celebrated the winners of our North American Supreme Hero Awards.

Here are the finalists and winners!

‍Retail Newcomer of the Year‍

Awarded to a retail partner of less than one year that has shown an extraordinary commitment to reducing crime, loss, and harm in their stores and their wider communities through the use of Auror’s platform.

Winner: H-E-B

Finalists: Price Chopper, Victoria’s Secret

H-E-B has achieved outstanding results since rolling out with Auror less than a year ago. In record time, they empowered thousands of their frontline partners across their stores with actionable intelligence.

The H-E-B LP team has a strong innovative spirit, is always looking for ways to improve safety and shrink, and do an amazing job of sharing success stories with others in the industry.

‍Auror Champion‍

Awarded to an AP/LP professional who consistently champions Auror in their work to help reduce crime, loss, and harm in their organization’s stores and wider communities.

Winner: Wade Schillo, Walmart US

Finalists: Alecia Perdue, H-E-B and Nathan Bandaries, Albertsons

Wade is a great example of what it means to go above and beyond to foster Auror Community spirit. He has focused on improving the in-store associate experience since Day One of piloting Auror at Walmart. Not only is he passionate about empowering his own team with the right tools, keeping them safe and driving results, but he is always eager to share his learnings with others in the industry too.‍

Impact in Loss Prevention‍

Awarded to a loss prevention professional who is building their career and has already made a notable impact in their role, from their exceptional use of the Auror platform and collaboration with partners, to helping to significantly reduce instances of loss and harm in their organization.

Winner: Sean Bonar, lululemon

Finalists: Persephane Lavecchia, Walmart US and Darren Scott, Walmart Canada

Sean has championed collaboration in loss prevention at his organization through his thoughtful approach. He focuses on team safety and transparency in investigations, pairing that with finding synergies between existing asset protection technologies. Through this approach, Sean has empowered store teams with the right information and data, to help close cases faster and partner successfully with law enforcement.

Loss Prevention Hero of the Year

Awarded to an AP/LP leader who has consistently exemplified over the course of FY23 a commitment to going above and beyond to help reduce crime, loss, and harm in their organization’s stores and wider communities.

Winner: Daryl Blackmore, Rexall

Winner: Gianna Davis, Albertsons

Finalists: Josh Ridgeway, Walmart US and Clint Hedgpeth, H-E-B

We decided to award this to both Daryl Blackmore and Gianna Davis for their outstanding work and leadership. Daryl was an early adopter of Auror in North America, with Rexall being the first retailer in the region to roll-out with Auror. His leadership and hard work in empowering his frontlines led to the past three years being the only time in Rexall’s history where there has been consecutive reduced shrink.

Gianna has wholeheartedly embraced the role of technology in AP/LP and she is an industry leader in Connected Ecosystems. On top of her dedication to leading progress in technology in the industry, she is also a mentor for several up-and-coming industry leaders. She is a respected practitioner who invests heavily in her people, as well as those in the industry outside of her organization. A true role model for the future of AP/LP!

Supreme Retailer of the Year

Awarded to a retail partner that has achieved outstanding results in FY22-23 in significantly reducing loss and harm across their stores and their wider communities through the use of the Auror platform.

Winner: Walmart US

Finalists: Ulta Beauty, Rexall

Walmart US is leading the industry conversation that AP needs to be seen as critical to customer experience, and it is a profit, not cost, center. Through the data they have built in Auror over the past year, they have identified that just 10% of people were responsible for 94% of their loss. They are committed to building a team focused on this small number of people causing the most harm and loss, and by doing so are helping to reduce friction with their regular customers.

During Auror Connect ‘23, we also recognized the Australian and New Zealand retailers from our regional awards. Additionally, we announced a special mention award for Impact in Innovation. This was dedicated to the late Iain Robertson from Profit Protection at The Warehouse Group. Iain led New Zealand’s largest retailer through pivotal innovation projects, particularly with ALPR. Iain was a valued partner and friend to Auror and he will always be remembered.