With high street stores under ever increasing pressure to convert store footfall into sales, a new and novel method of improving the sales generation capabilities of physical retail space is being made available to UK retailers. Most of the technology needed is not new and in fact is already in place. CCTV, primarily used by retailers for security and loss prevention purposes, is the mechanism and all that is needed is a simple software download.
The company offering this new service is Footfall Analytics and is already working with retailers across the UK to provide accurate and reliable insights into how their customers do their shopping.
In-store CCTV cameras are used to track and analyse customer movement and interaction through visual maps, charts and graphs. Analysis of the data then provides retailers with a better understanding of the behaviour of their customers so that any changes, for example to store signage, shop layouts or staff numbers, can influence footfall and conversion rates positively.
Footfall metrics have become an important tool for bricks and mortar retailers as they compete not only with each other but also with online retailers. Knowing how customers behave in store and what can be done to influence buying habits has become an especially powerful piece of knowledge.
“Footfall counting and analysis is not a new concept and there are many companies out there supplying retailers with their own technologies,” explains Gurshinder Liddar, Director of Footfall Analytics. “The difference with this approach is that most of the technology required is already in place – a major part of the investment has already been made.
“Unlike other footfall systems that require the installation of additional cameras and heat sensors, this approach is quick and easy and retailers can immediately set up their own experiments, trialing and testing any public area of their stores. This gives them an accurate, reliable and real time focus on their business where they can ‘be in’ and view any store, regardless of the time and location.”
The output is accurate monitoring of customers – higher or lower numbers than yesterday, at different times of the day or week – as well as the paths of shoppers, to understand patterns and trends, their likes and dislikes. Although cameras are being used to collect this data, shopper privacy is not compromised.
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