By Anna Arwidi, Axis
Data is increasingly at the heart of every
business. The ability to collect, analyze and derive actionable insights from
multiple sources of data in real time can be the difference between winning a
customer or seeing them captured by the competition. And retail is no
exception.
Brick-and-mortar retailers have, in the
past, failed to keep pace with their e-Commerce rivals in the capture and use
of data to optimize the customer experience. While digital visitors to an
online retailer’s web site can be tracked, analyzed and influenced throughout
their journey from site entry to sale, retailers in the real world have
struggled to source the same level of analytics from entry into the store to the
checkout. However, that could be changing.
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Analyzing
Customer Behavior In-Store
Retail analytics software integrated into
network cameras can give physical retailers the same, directly comparable data
that is available to their online counterparts, with the advantage that they
can enhance the physical retail environment and experience to increase rates of
sales conversion.
For example, one of the fundamental
measures of success for an e-Commerce web site is traffic. In the physical
world this would be visitor footfall. With the relatively simple solution of
using a camera equipped with people-counting analytics, store visitors can be
recorded as they come through the door. Your ‘traffic’ numbers have been
captured.
Next, the user journey. Again, analytics
combined with network cameras will allow retailers to see the customer’s
journey through the physical store, highlighting where they pause, which point
of sale displays capture their attention or, just as critically, don’t. Again,
a direct comparison with online analytics shows how the ‘user journey’ in the
physical environment can be optimized. Video displays and even audio
announcements in the physical retail environment can then be used to entice
customers to buy, in the same way that pop-up banners and tailored ads are used
online.
If someone is displaying behavior that
online retailers identify as a blocker to them checking out their basket, such
as when they can see that customers are stuck, confused, or need clarification
about a product, they offer live chat functionality to help solve the issue.
This is often delivered through an automated bot rather than a real customer
service professional as it would be in a physical store. The high street
retailer who can send a real person to guide a confused shopper has a clear
advantage here, by being able to be flexible with the customer’s needs and
potentially even upsell during the interaction.
Finally, an area of e-Commerce that we’re
all very familiar with: basket abandonments. Customers have been through the
journey, added items to their virtual basket but, for one reason or another,
decide not to check out and buy. In the real world, one of the principal drivers
of basket abandonment (often in a very real sense) are long queues at the
checkout. With queue monitoring software, retailers can react to growing queues
and wait times, bringing staff to checkouts and opening more tills to alleviate
the pressure and, as a result, close more sales.
The playing field between online and
offline retail analytics has truly been levelled. How are you planning to take
advantage?
Anna
Arwidi joined Axis in 2016 through the acquisition of Cognimatics AB. As Business
Development Manager, Retail Solutions, Arwidi works closely with Axis sales
regions and customers, with a focus on retail analytics. Like most people she
considers queuing a necessary evil, whereas good customer service makes her
heart sing. She admits to occasionally shopping online, but feels strongly that
brick-and-mortar store aesthetics and tailored marketing offer a more
satisfying shopping experience.
