How long do shoppers view your promotional displays? How much time do shoppers spend in different sections of the store? What percentages of store visitors make purchases? Is the correct number of store associates scheduled for the busiest times of day?
These and many other vital business questions can be answered using Traffic Intelligence solutions, and more retailers are finding traffic intelligence a good investment. Approximately 57% of retailers plan to have traffic counters implemented by 2011, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2010 Retail Horizons report.
Offered through ADT Security Services and other authorized business partners, Tyco Retail Solutions has implemented its Sensormatic Overhead People Counting solution with a number of global retailers. Baltimore, Maryland-based Under Armour recently added the solution throughout its company branded retail locations. The company currently operates more than 30 stores in the U.S., in addition to selling its products online and through other retail outlets. Norway’s NorgesGruppen grocery retailer, Hong Kong-based Sportshouse, and Italy’s ASPIAG supermarket group each have also implemented the Sensormatic system.
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“The Sensormatic Overhead People Counting platform has enabled us to identify important customer trends such as peak shopping hours, traffic counts, sales conversion ratios, tracking and trending, sales per staff member and department, as well as help measuring advertising effectiveness,” said Frank Albany, Director of Loss Prevention. “Its built-in analytics and advanced data capture technology helped us improve store layouts and reduce theft by measuring our labor efficiencies, ultimately to drive sales.”
The system’s sensors detect and count the number of shoppers entering or leaving a store, placing a time stamp on each count to provide detailed reports highlighting data the retailer decides is important to track. The data can be merged with time and attendance systems to ensure the store is properly staffed to meet customer demand during the busiest times.
In addition to helping with store performance, traffic intelligence technology can be a vital component of a store’s loss prevention efforts. Using the video component of the traffic counters, retailers can identify and combat internal theft as well as organized external retail crime.