People counting

People counting: how to measure the flow of customers in the store?

2021

People counting in physical stores makes it possible to measure customer behavior inside the store. In the same way that website traffic is studied, foot traffic in retail stores is also measurable.

The digitalization and professionalization of retail has led to decisions being adapted not only on the basis of personal criteria, but also on the basis of the information we have from consumers, thanks to the existence of tools to find out which actions generate the best performance.

In this way, measuring data in physical stores is possible thanks to a people counting system that allows us to understand consumer behavior and obtain relevant indicators for retailers.

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People counting system


In the same way that Google Analytics is used to detect which are the best performing areas in an ecommerce and study the behavior of its consumers in the online store, people counting systems allow to detect the same data, but in physical store.

  • Using a people counting system provides more information than just the number of customers entering or leaving the point of sale. There are indicators to measure each area of the business, from the operation of the shop windows, the effectiveness of the salespeople or the customer's journey through the store, among others. People counting systems allow:

  • Quantify the number of potential customers passing through the street.

  • Knowing how many visitors enter the points of sale

  • Find out where they move

  • Manage customer waiting time

  • Find out the frequency of repeat customers

  • Find out how many people leave without making a purchase

  • Finding out how many people leave without buying


Thanks to this information provided by the measurement of data at all points of sale, it allows retailers to adapt their business strategy.

People counting for physical stores


How do people counting systems work, how are these data collected and how are they processed?


In order to know how many people enter or leave a point of sale and to measure all the above-mentioned indicators in retail stores, counters are used to collect customer visits in the same way as is done on a website. These devices are placed inside the store and are very discreet.

The installation of one or more counting sensors at the entrances of the point of sale is what makes it possible to obtain all the data, which are then compiled and processed to provide the retailer with the ratios and indicators directly. Ideally, all this information should be cross-referenced with any other data or platform used at the point of sale, in order to be able to detect points of improvement and indicators of commercial efficiency.

There are different technologies to measure the data that allow to obtain greater reliability and quality of the count. In other articles, we have already talked about what types of sensors exist as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

Depending on the type of technology used, the quality of the data obtained, as well as the margin of error when measuring can vary.

From TC Group Solutions, we provide retailers with both the technology and an integrated dashboard where the data processed by the counting systems in the physical stores are displayed, allowing to see in a single platform all the information through tables and graphs.

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