Retailers can now use CCTV to gain valuable customer insights

UK: With high street stores under ever increasing pressure to convert store footfall into sales, a new and novel method of improving the sales generation capabilities of physical retail space is being made available to UK retailers.

Most of the technology needed is not new and in fact is already in place. CCTV, primarily used by retailers for security and loss prevention purposes, is the mechanism and all that is needed is a simple software download.

The company offering this new service is Footfall Analytics and is already working with retailers across the UK to provide accurate and reliable insights into how their customers do their shopping.

In-store CCTV cameras are used to track and analyse customer movement and interaction through visual maps, charts and graphs. Analysis of the data then provides retailers with a better understanding of the behaviour of their customers so that any changes, for example to store signage, shop layouts or staff numbers, can influence footfall and conversion rates positively.

Footfall metrics have become an important tool for bricks and mortar retailers as they compete not only with each other but also with online retailers. Knowing how customers behave in store and what can be done to influence buying habits has become an especially powerful piece of knowledge.