While recent advancements in machine learning and deep learning have enhanced the power of video analytics, interest continues to increase across industries. Along with improved power and accuracy, cost and accessibility have become more favorable, and organizations are looking beyond security applications to use video analytics to improve business operations and optimize efficiencies.
People counting and crowd estimation tools gained traction among retailers for health and safety applications in the past year. Today, coupled with technological advancements, these analytics have been adopted on a wider scale as a key tool for a range of applications.
With people counting analytics, management can gain useful, actionable information and eliminate labor-intensive, manual collection of foot traffic and occupancy. Retail organizations use value-rich data for both real-time response and insights that drive business decisions.
Let’s look at three ways retailers are deploying people counting and crowd estimation tools to streamline operations and propel security from a cost center to a business enabler.
Measure Sales and Marketing Performance
Retailers know that tailoring the store experience to address customer needs and preferences helps increase their bottom line. With people counting tools, retailers can analyze customer behaviors and calculate conversion rates of visitors to the store versus those who make a purchase.
Sales and marketing departments also gain insights into the success of their initiatives by tracking patterns of traffic into the store before, during, and after a promotional campaign. Management can determine the average time customers spend at a particular endcap or area of the store. They can draw annual comparisons and identify highly trafficked areas down to the day of the week and time of day.
Because people counting analytics have seen a big improvement in accuracy over the past several years, some retailers are even using the analytics to dole out commissions to employees. The algorithms in highly accurate people counting solutions track and pair customer interactions with completed sales.
Enable Proactive Decision Making
In addition to providing sales and marketing insights, people counting tools allow management to take proactive steps for enhanced store security. For example, historical data can help management determine days of the week or times of the year when more or less staffing is needed.
People counting can also enable real-time alerts for security teams to take proactive responses. The system alerts security teams to areas where potential losses could occur, such as when an individual or group is spending a long time unsupervised in a high-value aisle. Management then determines whether the area needs extra monitoring or attention.
Additionally, by monitoring for crowding inside and outside, analytics can alert management to respond proactively to a potential incident and break up clusters or gatherings that pass a certain threshold.
Boost Sales and the Customer Experience
With real-time alerts and monitoring, store managers can focus on their core responsibilities while being empowered to make timely decisions that positively affect customer satisfaction.
Queue detection can prompt management to reduce bottlenecks by opening up a new cash register. The response creates a positive customer experience and may increase transactions. Management can use the technology beyond the checkout areas. By monitoring zones throughout the store, they can alert team members to customers who may need assistance or an employee to help close a prospective sale.
Proving the Value
People counting allows security to be an enabler rather than a cost center by leveraging technology to gain insight and data into customer behaviors. As technology continues to advance, video analytics like people counting and crowd estimation will become even more powerful. These tools provide security and loss prevention managers with the opportunity to use their security systems in new ways to enable the business, boost sales, and enhance operations.