Retail stores and the overall retail market in Dubai and all around the UAE is growing on a steady pace. The consumer’s confidence is firm and purchase trends are very positive all around the country. Large-scale retailers are witnessing good growth and small retail stores are also growing. Almost 84% of retailers are expecting 20% growth by the end of 2022. Last year 73% of the retailers witnessed 20% growth. Here important thing to understand is that the retail sector in UAE is very inclined towards technological solutions to support their customer experience management strategies. In retail industry the customer experience matters a lot. If the customers are not satisfied they will not return which means growth rate and profitability will be reduced. That is why retail businesses are embracing technology to improve their operations, work flow, business processes, performance and more importantly customer experience. Especially with the rise of online shopping and eCommerce the retail industry have more pressure to step-up their business practices. The customers’ expectations are high in UAE, which compelled most of the retailers to adopt to new technological solutions and systems.
What is People Counting Software?
People counting software is a technological solution based on AI (artificial intelligence) and analytical algorithms capable of counting people entering and leaving a retail store (or any premises) and track their movement across the premises. There are a few technologies available in UAE which provide people counting data, however, the people counting software is far superior than those, as it provide a full in-sight to customers movements and footfall. Businesses can get in-depth analysis of the customer movement within and across the retail store, which help them understand their behavior, preferences and let them identify the areas of improvement. There are some sensory devices which are installed at entry points and exits to count the number of people entering and leaving the premises, there are some cameras too which have in-built people counting feature, but all these solutions doesn’t provide in-depth analysis of customers and their flow. The people counting software doesn’t require any additional hardware, in fact it can be linked to the existing CCTV System feeds, and it can provide in-depth demographic and customer movement data for better analysis. Dedicated hardware are expensive, especially the people counting cameras are way too expensive. However, the people counting software is in-expensive and doesn’t require new hardware, which makes it more cost-efficient.
People Counting Software Provides Accurate Footfall Analysis and Customer Count
The people counting software is equipped with AI based image processing algorithms which can accurately count the number of people entering and leaving the retail store. Unlike other technologies such as people counting sensors/devices or cameras the people counting software doesn’t get overwhelmed with crowed or a large number of people. However, all other devices and technologies have certain limitations which make their results fairly less accurate. It is important to have an accurate measurement of people entering and leaving your retail store. Furthermore the people counting software also maintain historic data and with its in-built analytical tools it is easier to find busy hours, average footfall at a certain day or at a certain time of the day and so on. Such features are very helpful in predicting the busy hours, this help management to prepare for crowed and rush at the counters and let them plan to deal with such situations. Which also help improving user experience.
People Counting Software Collects Demographic Data of the Customers
It is not that the people counting software have an interface where the staff or the customers will have to input the demographic information. In fact the AI based image processing algorithms are very powerful and highly accurate tools which enable the people counting software to accurately identify the age group and gender of each individual visitor. The demographic data is very important. If a business knows how many kids or women or men are coming to their store they can improve their communication and marketing campaigns to attract more customers. Furthermore the demographic data also help store managers to arrange their displays, products and in-store offers accordingly to boost sales. Store can utilize the demographic data to understand their customer persona and preferences. Retail stores can understand trends and purchase patterns with more accuracy with the aid of a people counting software. In any retail store the products management and arrangement is very crucial to maximize the sales, the people counting software can provide the demographic data which is very helpful in making strategies and plans for such activities.
People Counting Software Provides Heat Map
The heat map is a very useful analytical data. No other people counting technology can offer such a detailed movement tracking of the customers. The people counting software is capable of tracking each movement of the individual customer/visitor which enables it to generate intuitive heat maps. The heat map track the movement of the customer and display it on a 2D/3D map of the retail store. It visually provide the information about the movements of the customers within the store. The areas with most traffic are usually highlighted with red color, and the areas with least traffic are highlighted as blue. This happens in real-time and the AI keeps analyzing and tracking each and every step of the customers and visitors to generate highly accurate heat maps. The heat maps provide store manager a detailed overview of where most of the visitors are going within the premises and which areas are not getting much attentions. By analyzing the products in those areas the store manager can improve their product management strategy to divert more traffic to the less attractive areas of the store to maximize the exposure of each product. This help generating more sales.
People Counting Software Capture Customer Dwell Time
Another great and extremely useful feature of people counting software is its ability to capture customer dwell time data. The AI based image processing engine is capable of identifying each individual customer track their movement throughout their visit, which enable it to accurately measure the customer dwell time. The customer dwell time is how much time a customer spends in a particular area, in case of retail store it will provide detailed information about customers time spent in front of any product, rack, display or signage, etc. This will provide store manager a detailed picture of what customers are taking interest in and what is not appealing them much. The store manager can accurately measure the time spend by the customers in various areas of the store. As the 2D/3D map of the store is already stored in the system it is very easy to understand the dwell time at each area and section of the store. For example, how many customers are spending how much time in the kids section and how much time in the men’s section, etc.? This information help store managers to understand their customers’ interests. Moreover if a new product display is added or if an area is offering sale, the store manager can accurately measure the increased interest in that particular area of the store.
People Counting Software Track Employee Movement as Well
The AI based intelligent image processing and smart algorithms are also capable of distinguishing between employees of the staff and the customers & visitors. The people counting software can monitor, track and maintain separate data for both employees and the customers/visitors. This capability allow businesses to effectively track employee performance and activity. The retail store manager can easily assign employees where they are needed the most. This not only help in better resource planning and management but also help improving customer experience. The store managers always face difficulties in effectively managing employees, especially during the rush hours. However, with the people counting software as the manager have complete historic data which can help them to predict the busy hours and let them plan beforehand. Furthermore the retail store manager can analyze the people counting software’s data to understand their performance in any such situation which help them make better plans and strategy for the future and increase their readiness for the unexpected scenarios. Better employee management ensures better employee performance which results in better customer experience.
Effectively Manage Customer Churn Rate with People Counting Software
For any retail store the customer churn rate is the most concerning thing. The customer churn rate is a measurement of the customer/visitors who have entered the retail store but leave without making a purchase. There could be several reasons for the customer churn rate, different retail sectors can have different factors in play but it is crucial for every retail store to closely monitor the customer churn rate and try to identify the causes. The customer churn rate can also damage the brand reputation and as per several studies the customer who left without making a purchase are less likely to revisit. That is very concerning thing for retail stores. The people counting software is a great tool to closely monitor the customer churn rate. It can precisely count how many people have entered in the retail store which figure can be compared with the sales to understand the customer churn rate. Furthermore the heat map and employee analysis also provide important information about the customer churn rate and help identifying the chock points in customer journey. The store manager can analyze various types of data to identify the possible issues and obstacles in customer journey. Once the problems are identified it is easier to fix them.
Integrate People Counting Software with Sales POS
The people counting software can be integrated with third-party software and tools such as POS. This can significantly improve the data quality. Retail stores can easily measure how many people have entered in their store at a given time internal and how many of them made a purchase. Furthermore the retail store managers can also easily monitor and measure the increase or decrease in the sales after launching a marketing campaign. For retail stores the marketing is crucial and for small stores it is expensive too. It is important that the store gets what they expect from their marketing efforts. The best way to gauge a marketing campaign’s performance is to closely monitor the footfall, sales, and people count at the store. Furthermore the store keep adding new products and offering occasional sales and promotions but it is harder to accurately relate the campaign with the sales. The customer dwell time monitoring and the heat map can provide a much accurate and better understanding of the performance of in-store sales and promotions. The people counting software with ability to integrate with POS can also help improving the marketing strategies which help increasing sales.
Conclusion
Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the retail market is continuously growing, the competition is getting tougher and the customers’ demands & expectations are rising. The retail store managers use various strategies to improve exposure and sales of the targeted products with better profit margin to boost overall profitability. The retail stores also want to improve customer experience and reduce customer churn rate in order to compete and sustain consistent growth. For that the retail stores needs a better monitoring system to collect and analyze business intelligence data. The people counting software provide in-depth and very comprehensive in-sight which help the retail store manager to analyze customer behavior, collect their demographic data, track their each and every step in the premises, count footfall & churn rate, get heat map based on customer movements, track and monitor employee movement and improve employee performance and much more. The retail market is rapidly growing, the online stores and eCommerce is impacting the customer’s behavior and market in general.
In such situation the people counting software can provide a great competitive edge which is crucial for long term success and growth. The people counting software help retail store managers to significantly improve their marketing, sales, operations, and customer experience strategies. RSI Concepts is a pioneer in introducing People Counting Software and solutions in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the people counting software or if you want enquire about it, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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