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For the past few decades, shopping centres, retail and leisure parks have been relying on footfall numbers as a measure for site effectiveness and setting rents/rates. However, advances in technology such as IoT, Computer Vision & AI are now providing an opportunity for retailers to upgrade their use of data. Let’s take a closer look at why this is so important and how it can benefit retailers.
The traditional methods used to measure footfall present some fundamental flaws: they provide just a snapshot without any context or further information about individual customers. It’s difficult to gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences without additional data and the data is often simply outdated by the time it is processed and analysed. This means that retailers are unable to truly understand what drives customers to their stores or which locations are most effective in terms of attracting customers.
Nor can they make quick decisions and take action in the moment.
Meanwhile digital investment has seen a significant increase in the last two years, leading to rapid technology deployment across all sectors including retail property. With O2 Motion and Real-Time Location Insights, aggregated, anonymised data on movement profiles and preferences are generated from billions of daily mobile network events. This allows retailers to gain better insights into customer behaviour through more accurate metrics such as engagement time with products or services, frequency of visits, peak demand times and more.
According to research conducted by CEBR and commissioned by Virgin Media O2 Business, Covid-19 has accelerated digital transformation three years ahead of schedule.
Geospatial technology is especially relevant for retail property businesses as data collected can be used for analysis, modelling, simulations and visualisation.
More accurate metrics mean that retailers can make more informed decisions about which locations work best for them. It also helps them better understand the needs of their customers by providing insight into where they go before visiting the store, what other stores they visit while there and how long they stay in each location after they leave the store. All this information can be used to create targeted advertising campaigns that appeal to specific demographic groups or target potential new customers who live close by or who have visited other stores in the area. Additionally, understanding customer behaviour helps retailers identify areas where they can improve their services in order to attract more visitors and keep existing customers coming back again and again.
•O2 Motion and Real-Time Location Insights provide aggregated, anonymised data on movement, profiles and preferences generated by 35% of the UK’s population from billions of daily mobile network events.
• This data can be used to understand trends in how crowds move and behave, as well as segmentation through demographic profiling.
• Data collection is constant with a lag time of just one week; it is also accurate, reliable and collected in real time.
• The UK government trusts this data enough that it was used to monitor people movements throughout the pandemic.
• O2 Motion never allows identification or mapping of individuals while operating within strict privacy guidelines.
Upgrading your use of data through advances such as IoT, Computer Vision & AI provides many benefits for retailers when it comes to gaining deeper insights into customer behaviour and preferences. By having access to more accurate metrics such as engagement time with products or services, frequency of visits and peak demand times you can make smarter decisions about which locations work best for you, create targeted advertising campaigns that will reach your desired audience and identify areas where you can improve your services in order to keep existing customers coming back again and again. Ultimately this will help boost sales figures while also providing valuable feedback that will allow you continue improving your business going forward.
Register your interest in up to data data collection methods and we will help you on your own digital acceleration journey.
