Door Counting Sensor- 5 WC Blog 499
Retail Traffic Counting-4
Senseless Arguments Against A Door Counting Sensor
When you hear the mention of a door counting sensor in retail what comes to your mind? Do you think only in terms of measuring your foot traffic and that’s it? Are you dismissing the importance of retail traffic counting because you are concerned that it will just be more data you have to file away? I was surprised to learn that two objections some business owners have to counters are the appearance and that they count children who those owners don’t consider important because they don’t spend the money. If these are concerns you have had and it has discouraged you from investing in a door counting sensor for your business this article is for you.
I know that some readers are familiar with the concept of retail traffic counting but may not know how it is done so I am going to digress briefly for the uninitiated. The basic idea is that a store uses a door counting sensor to identify the number of people entering the business. We will discuss how that information may be used a bit later. The sensor itself can be a stand-alone unit or in stores that utilize electronic article surveillance pedestals to prevent shoplifting a sensor can be attached directly to the pedestals. It’s that simple!
As I said earlier, there are two major objections I found that are used as excuses not to invest in a retail traffic counting system. The first objection was that some units have the appearance of a cctv camera and owners and managers are afraid it will make customers uncomfortable. Hogwash! There are very few retailers in this day and age which do not employ some type of video surveillance. It may be a Public View monitor at the entrance to a store or in an area known to be vulnerable to theft. As a Loss Prevention Manager I have seen them used in high end department stores at the entrance to fitting rooms. I would argue that the extensive use of cctv has actually de-sensitized shoppers to cameras and video monitors to the point they have negligible effects on deterring shoplifters. The other rebuttal to this objection is that when the unit is tied in to an EAS pedestal it is barely noticeable. Shoppers hardly notice pedestals when they enter or leave (unless it alarms) so adding a small accessory to it won’t cause any distractions.
The other argument against a door counting sensor is that they count small children who won’t be spending money. That is to say the results are skewed and therefore irrelevant. Well, Mr. or Ms. Grocery Store Owner, don’t you think that those children are influencing their parents while the parents are shopping? Do you display children’s cereals on endcaps? Do you have gum, candy and soft drink coolers at your checkout stands? Why do you think food manufacturers spend so much money on advertising and packaging? In many cases it is to appeal to the children who will influence parents spending habits. Clothing retailers, the same goes for you. There is a reason commercials are made to make clothing for kids to look “cool” and popular. Toy store retailers, I don’t think I should even have to say anything to you. How many children are buying your merchandise? That’s right, very few. It is the parents and usually a response to what their children have asked for on birthdays, holidays and just pointed out while watching a television ad. If you are striving to get people to visit your store you are going to reach out to as many folks as possible and that includes families with children.
I mentioned I would discuss how information from a Retail Traffic Counting system could benefit your store. Let’s suppose you advertise a new line of product you are carrying. You may use a number of media venues and door and window signage to get out the message. You create a new product display in a prominent location. The success of the new product can’t be measured just in sales dollars. A traffic counter will tell you how many people entered your store. When you have previous information to compare to you can see whether your new product drew in more people. That measure of success is something you can build on to keep new customers coming back time after time.
A door counting sensor isn’t just another source of useless data. If employed properly and the information understood correctly it can be a powerful tool for measuring success of merchandising. It can also be used to improve your payroll allocation, but that is for another article.
For more information about a door counting sensor contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
When you hear the mention of a door counting sensor in retail what comes to your mind? Do you think only in terms of measuring your foot traffic and that’s it? Are you dismissing the importance of retail traffic counting because you are concerned that it will just be more data you have to file away? I was surprised to learn that two objections some business owners have to counters are the appearance and that they count children who those owners don’t consider important because they don’t spend the money. If these are concerns you have had and it has discouraged you from investing in a door counting sensor for your business this article is for you.
I know that some readers are familiar with the concept of retail traffic counting but may not know how it is done so I am going to digress briefly for the uninitiated. The basic idea is that a store uses a door counting sensor to identify the number of people entering the business. We will discuss how that information may be used a bit later. The sensor itself can be a stand-alone unit or in stores that utilize electronic article surveillance pedestals to prevent shoplifting a sensor can be attached directly to the pedestals. It’s that simple!
As I said earlier, there are two major objections I found that are used as excuses not to invest in a retail traffic counting system. The first objection was that some units have the appearance of a cctv camera and owners and managers are afraid it will make customers uncomfortable. Hogwash! There are very few retailers in this day and age which do not employ some type of video surveillance. It may be a Public View monitor at the entrance to a store or in an area known to be vulnerable to theft. As a Loss Prevention Manager I have seen them used in high end department stores at the entrance to fitting rooms. I would argue that the extensive use of cctv has actually de-sensitized shoppers to cameras and video monitors to the point they have negligible effects on deterring shoplifters. The other rebuttal to this objection is that when the unit is tied in to an EAS pedestal it is barely noticeable. Shoppers hardly notice pedestals when they enter or leave (unless it alarms) so adding a small accessory to it won’t cause any distractions.
The other argument against a door counting sensor is that they count small children who won’t be spending money. That is to say the results are skewed and therefore irrelevant. Well, Mr. or Ms. Grocery Store Owner, don’t you think that those children are influencing their parents while the parents are shopping? Do you display children’s cereals on endcaps? Do you have gum, candy and soft drink coolers at your checkout stands? Why do you think food manufacturers spend so much money on advertising and packaging? In many cases it is to appeal to the children who will influence parents spending habits. Clothing retailers, the same goes for you. There is a reason commercials are made to make clothing for kids to look “cool” and popular. Toy store retailers, I don’t think I should even have to say anything to you. How many children are buying your merchandise? That’s right, very few. It is the parents and usually a response to what their children have asked for on birthdays, holidays and just pointed out while watching a television ad. If you are striving to get people to visit your store you are going to reach out to as many folks as possible and that includes families with children.
I mentioned I would discuss how information from a Retail Traffic Counting system could benefit your store. Let’s suppose you advertise a new line of product you are carrying. You may use a number of media venues and door and window signage to get out the message. You create a new product display in a prominent location. The success of the new product can’t be measured just in sales dollars. A traffic counter will tell you how many people entered your store. When you have previous information to compare to you can see whether your new product drew in more people. That measure of success is something you can build on to keep new customers coming back time after time.
A door counting sensor isn’t just another source of useless data. If employed properly and the information understood correctly it can be a powerful tool for measuring success of merchandising. It can also be used to improve your payroll allocation, but that is for another article.
For more information about a door counting sensor contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Retail Traffic Counting-3 WC Blog 488
People Counting Systems-5
People Counting Systems Aid In Business Planning
People counting systems should be playing a part in your plans for strategizing to improve sales. It may not seem like a big deal on the surface but knowing how many people are in your store and the times of the day they are there can go a long way in improving the sales of your business. Let me give you an example of a recent incident which my wife experienced at a major retailer and it made her extremely angry. Since I bore the brunt of her anger it made me angry as well. My wife had gone to this store for a special sale they were having. She picked out her merchandise and got some very good deals that would have saved us a LOT of money. She got into this store’s self-checkout line and was waiting patiently. After being in line for a few minutes the store shut the self-checkouts down and forced patrons to go to a single cashier. My wife told me there was a long line of customers queued up at this single register. When she finally got to the register to make her purchase she was told the sale prices were no longer in effect because it was now past midnight. She reminded them that it was not her fault that they closed down the self-check while she was in line. The front end manager told my wife there was nothing she could do, it was a corporate decision (don’t get me started on my rant about what I think of the “we can’t help it, it is a corporate decision” excuses). This incident could have been avoided if the store had knowledge of how many people were in the building (and used some common sense before closing registers down since they operate on a 24/7 basis). Retail traffic counting has more uses than simply providing managers information on how popular their store is…or isn’t. My wife put the items back. An email from me did result in a sincere apology from the front end manager and they honored the prices from the sale.
A people counting system is a tool that is usually attached somewhere near a store entrance to count the number of patrons entering the establishment. They can be stand-alone units or for stores with an electronic article surveillance system it may be attached to the pedestals. A good retail traffic counting system will provide information on how many people have entered the store at specific hours of the day. So let’s say a store is having a special sale that ends at midnight, management could look at the foot traffic for the past several hours. Prior to hitting midnight they can get an idea of how many people are in the building before they close registers down and anger their customers (hint, hint). A better system will also provide information about electronic article surveillance alarms and employee responses. This information can be used to look for potential patterns that may indicate theft is taking place at certain times of the day. As a former Retail Loss Prevention Manager I can also say that stores that utilize a digital video surveillance system can easily review this alarm activity from the people counting systems to the cameras. Digital camera systems make it easy to review activity by time of day.
While I am taking a poke at the store that inconvenienced my wife the fact is retail traffic counting can be helpful to retailers who use the information to improve sales. If a store runs a special ad it is important to know how many people visited. Did the number of transactions match the traffic counted? If not, why? Did the store run out of product? Did the sales floor not get replenished from the stockroom? Were there an inadequate number of registers open to serve everyone? As a positive statistic can you compare an increase in the amount of customers that visited on the special sale day over any other day? If there is an increase in customers and sales, what can you do to build on that momentum? People counting systems become a key component in your business planning.
Shoppers will come to your store but you may not always know how many or what brought them in. Using people counting systems will aid you in comparing your traffic by day and even seasons. Have a sale and see if customer traffic increases. Is one day regularly slower than the others? Try to drive sales that day or determine if you can save some payroll by adjusting your staffing to better serve customers during the times they are in the building. Make your business more prosperous by knowing your shopper’s habits.
For more information about people counting systems contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
People counting systems should be playing a part in your plans for strategizing to improve sales. It may not seem like a big deal on the surface but knowing how many people are in your store and the times of the day they are there can go a long way in improving the sales of your business. Let me give you an example of a recent incident which my wife experienced at a major retailer and it made her extremely angry. Since I bore the brunt of her anger it made me angry as well. My wife had gone to this store for a special sale they were having. She picked out her merchandise and got some very good deals that would have saved us a LOT of money. She got into this store’s self-checkout line and was waiting patiently. After being in line for a few minutes the store shut the self-checkouts down and forced patrons to go to a single cashier. My wife told me there was a long line of customers queued up at this single register. When she finally got to the register to make her purchase she was told the sale prices were no longer in effect because it was now past midnight. She reminded them that it was not her fault that they closed down the self-check while she was in line. The front end manager told my wife there was nothing she could do, it was a corporate decision (don’t get me started on my rant about what I think of the “we can’t help it, it is a corporate decision” excuses). This incident could have been avoided if the store had knowledge of how many people were in the building (and used some common sense before closing registers down since they operate on a 24/7 basis). Retail traffic counting has more uses than simply providing managers information on how popular their store is…or isn’t. My wife put the items back. An email from me did result in a sincere apology from the front end manager and they honored the prices from the sale.
A people counting system is a tool that is usually attached somewhere near a store entrance to count the number of patrons entering the establishment. They can be stand-alone units or for stores with an electronic article surveillance system it may be attached to the pedestals. A good retail traffic counting system will provide information on how many people have entered the store at specific hours of the day. So let’s say a store is having a special sale that ends at midnight, management could look at the foot traffic for the past several hours. Prior to hitting midnight they can get an idea of how many people are in the building before they close registers down and anger their customers (hint, hint). A better system will also provide information about electronic article surveillance alarms and employee responses. This information can be used to look for potential patterns that may indicate theft is taking place at certain times of the day. As a former Retail Loss Prevention Manager I can also say that stores that utilize a digital video surveillance system can easily review this alarm activity from the people counting systems to the cameras. Digital camera systems make it easy to review activity by time of day.
While I am taking a poke at the store that inconvenienced my wife the fact is retail traffic counting can be helpful to retailers who use the information to improve sales. If a store runs a special ad it is important to know how many people visited. Did the number of transactions match the traffic counted? If not, why? Did the store run out of product? Did the sales floor not get replenished from the stockroom? Were there an inadequate number of registers open to serve everyone? As a positive statistic can you compare an increase in the amount of customers that visited on the special sale day over any other day? If there is an increase in customers and sales, what can you do to build on that momentum? People counting systems become a key component in your business planning.
Shoppers will come to your store but you may not always know how many or what brought them in. Using people counting systems will aid you in comparing your traffic by day and even seasons. Have a sale and see if customer traffic increases. Is one day regularly slower than the others? Try to drive sales that day or determine if you can save some payroll by adjusting your staffing to better serve customers during the times they are in the building. Make your business more prosperous by knowing your shopper’s habits.
For more information about people counting systems contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Retail traffic counting may be more significant to your business than you might think. There was major remodel of a store I worked for and it affected sales for the business. The front of the store was being repainted which affected where customers could walk. Painter scaffolding was blocking portions of the entrances and we were forced to redirect traffic. A large area of our parking lot was fenced off and storage trailers occupied the space impacting vehicle parking. Inside the doorway plastic sheeting was hung down and our customers had to walk through cut out doorways. Further inside the store full departments were combined with other departments and space between fixtures was restrictive to say the least (downright claustrophobic is more appropriate). Floor tile and carpet were pulled up in areas and made walking around a cement floor uncomfortable. We did not have a door counting sensor to take an actual headcount of how many shoppers were entering the store but the information could have been useful to the company before jumping into other remodeling projects.
Retail traffic counting is exactly what it sounds like. It is the tracking of the number of people entering a store not just the tracking of daily sales data. The information obtained is important because it can aid store management in assessing the impact of events on the business. Sales data is useful for replenishment of products or comparisons of how many dollars are spent in one time frame versus another. Data can be driven down to the product level to see if a special sale item was successful or not. The downside to sales data alone is that it fails to provide the end user with the actual number of people who walked in and out of the store during the day. When people are factored in a business owner or manager can compare that figure to the total number of transactions and start to analyze if there were factors that may have contributed to missed sales opportunities. How difficult is it to obtain people counts? It is done with a door counting sensor that can be a stand-alone unit or better yet if a store has a Checkpoint System with electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers at the doors it can be connected to that system. The additional benefit is that EAS alarm activity and response can be tracked and evaluated.
Consider the usefulness of tracking the headcounts for your store. Going back to my remodel situation, we saw changes in our sales as the construction process took place. But if we knew how many patrons we were down compared to the prior year we could then make suggestions in our final store recap about what we could have done better. Would better signage or directional signs aided the parking situation? Perhaps the look of the work around the store entrance scared some customers away and we could have suggested an alternate entryway for customers. Looking back on it I believe the use of a door counting sensor would have been beneficial to us and the company.
Another useful application for retail traffic counting is that it can help measure the effectiveness of store advertising signage or new window displays to attract customers. If you have a baseline established for your patron counts and then do something creative with your signage and you can validate that the number of clients increased you can reasonably attribute the increase to the signage. If foot traffic goes up but sales data remains flat then you know you have another issue you need to evaluate and address. It may be your pricing strategy, your customer service level, too few cash registers open or something else. At least you can rule out that a lack of customers is your problem.
With the appropriate application a retail traffic counting system can be a useful assessment tool for your store. Evaluate your business and how certain activities may be driving or impeding sales so you can more effectively strategize in the future. Try adding a door counting sensor and see how you may be able to open the door to increased sales.
Need information on a retail counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now
Retail Traffic Counting System -3 WC Blog 470
Door counting sensor-4
Innovative Ideas Using A Door Counting System
Innovations to improve profits and service are always fascinating to me. I came across something that piqued my interest while in a grocery store with my wife. We were just starting to walk past the frozen food freezer units and I saw a light turn on. Initially I thought this was possibly a bad bulb but then I noticed that the rest of the lights in the other coolers were out. We then turned to walk down the aisle and as we progressed the lights in the units immediately in front of us came on. I thought it was cool that someone thought of this innovation to save money. But I also thought about what may be another added bonus to the system. The lights coming on as we passed by the front of the aisle attracted my attention. How many customers does this cause to turn into an aisle they may have passed by? Does this have an unintended impact on driving sales? As those questions came to my mind I thought about retail traffic counting systems as an innovation in retail. Sure, they can tell a store owner how many people are coming in a store that is the natural intent of the devices. Are there other benefits that may be considered afterthoughts to installing them as were the draw of the motion sensor lights in the freezers?
Before I explore this any further it would be a good idea to clarify what retail traffic counter systems are for the uninitiated reader. These are systems that utilize a door counting sensor to track how many people are entering a store. The information gleaned from the system is used to determine exactly what the traffic patterns in a store are by time of day and the day of the week. This information is then used by store managers and store owners to determine payroll allocations. Payroll is spent where trends indicate the busiest days and hours are from a historical perspective.
Back to my observation about side benefits how else might a store owner benefit if he/she were to place a door counting sensor at the entrance to the store? Is there more than knowing how to spend payroll more effectively? Consider what happens when a new window display is set up. Does management really know whether it was impactful to set up that mannequin or layout a new lawnmower or tool set? Using the data from retail traffic counting systems it is possible to compare days. Maybe last year 300 people entered the store on this day of the week. This year the totals were 350 people coming to visit. Barring any external factors that may have played a part such as snow or a special event in the community, something that might have drawn in people to the town, it would be fairly safe to assume the display was the draw. Note should be taken for next year on what was displayed you may have hit a jackpot.
Another positive effect of a retail traffic counting system is it can help measure your store social media presence. It is one thing to get tweets and re-tweets or hundreds of Facebook shares but that means nothing if you don’t know if your media presence translates to sales. On the other hand a tweet about a special event in your building or a Facebook post telling everyone there is a special one-time deal being offered may drive in people but you don’t have any clue how many unless you can track that number by foot traffic. I know what you are thinking, “I always have my receipt tape to tell me how my event impacted sales.” If you think this an accurate measure you might want to reconsider that line of thought. How many customers came in but did not buy anything? Perhaps they just wanted to browse merchandise but what if they didn’t buy because no one was available to offer assistance? A door counting sensor along with sales receipt data can paint a true picture of how many people were in your store and how many actually made purchases. This information can help in creating future action plans that will make sale promotions more profitable than in the past.
Innovation often requires looking at something more than on the surface. A motion sensor can save money on energy and draw in a customer. A door counting sensor can count people and give vital information that will help in assessing social media and advertising impact along with other statistical data. See how a retail traffic counting sensor can help drive up your sales.
Need information on a door counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Innovations to improve profits and service are always fascinating to me. I came across something that piqued my interest while in a grocery store with my wife. We were just starting to walk past the frozen food freezer units and I saw a light turn on. Initially I thought this was possibly a bad bulb but then I noticed that the rest of the lights in the other coolers were out. We then turned to walk down the aisle and as we progressed the lights in the units immediately in front of us came on. I thought it was cool that someone thought of this innovation to save money. But I also thought about what may be another added bonus to the system. The lights coming on as we passed by the front of the aisle attracted my attention. How many customers does this cause to turn into an aisle they may have passed by? Does this have an unintended impact on driving sales? As those questions came to my mind I thought about retail traffic counting systems as an innovation in retail. Sure, they can tell a store owner how many people are coming in a store that is the natural intent of the devices. Are there other benefits that may be considered afterthoughts to installing them as were the draw of the motion sensor lights in the freezers?
Before I explore this any further it would be a good idea to clarify what retail traffic counter systems are for the uninitiated reader. These are systems that utilize a door counting sensor to track how many people are entering a store. The information gleaned from the system is used to determine exactly what the traffic patterns in a store are by time of day and the day of the week. This information is then used by store managers and store owners to determine payroll allocations. Payroll is spent where trends indicate the busiest days and hours are from a historical perspective.
Back to my observation about side benefits how else might a store owner benefit if he/she were to place a door counting sensor at the entrance to the store? Is there more than knowing how to spend payroll more effectively? Consider what happens when a new window display is set up. Does management really know whether it was impactful to set up that mannequin or layout a new lawnmower or tool set? Using the data from retail traffic counting systems it is possible to compare days. Maybe last year 300 people entered the store on this day of the week. This year the totals were 350 people coming to visit. Barring any external factors that may have played a part such as snow or a special event in the community, something that might have drawn in people to the town, it would be fairly safe to assume the display was the draw. Note should be taken for next year on what was displayed you may have hit a jackpot.
Another positive effect of a retail traffic counting system is it can help measure your store social media presence. It is one thing to get tweets and re-tweets or hundreds of Facebook shares but that means nothing if you don’t know if your media presence translates to sales. On the other hand a tweet about a special event in your building or a Facebook post telling everyone there is a special one-time deal being offered may drive in people but you don’t have any clue how many unless you can track that number by foot traffic. I know what you are thinking, “I always have my receipt tape to tell me how my event impacted sales.” If you think this an accurate measure you might want to reconsider that line of thought. How many customers came in but did not buy anything? Perhaps they just wanted to browse merchandise but what if they didn’t buy because no one was available to offer assistance? A door counting sensor along with sales receipt data can paint a true picture of how many people were in your store and how many actually made purchases. This information can help in creating future action plans that will make sale promotions more profitable than in the past.
Innovation often requires looking at something more than on the surface. A motion sensor can save money on energy and draw in a customer. A door counting sensor can count people and give vital information that will help in assessing social media and advertising impact along with other statistical data. See how a retail traffic counting sensor can help drive up your sales.
Need information on a door counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Door counting sensor-4 WC blog 295
Retail Traffic Counting system-3
Customer Counting Systems-3
Special Events And Helping Charitable Causes Can Create Increases In Customers; Customer Counting Systems Aid In Future Planning
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
