Simply put, people counting is the act of counting the number of people that pass a threshold, this number is often referred to as footfall. In retail, people are typically interested in counting the number of people that pass and enter their stores.
This is not a new concept. Since the dawn of retailing, merchants set up with their wares in the Greek Agora, or at crossroads rather than straights. Why? Because there would be more people there. Fast forward 3,000 years, retailing is far more complex, nuanced and data-driven, but understanding people count data is as imperative as ever.
People count (or footfall) data is an anchor point for almost all aspects of physical retailing: store performance, sales staff performance, marketing efficacy, opening times and staffing rotas.
Your business decisions; day-to-day and month-to-month are impacted by many data sources, and without a reliable database of people counts, it’s difficult to make the right decisions based on what’s happing in your store portfolio.
There are many ways to collect people count data. With just one store, it’s possible to keep track of visitor numbers by hand, or it may even be enough to rely on gut feel for the busiest hours and days. However, as a retail company grows it will add stores, staff, marketing spend, and window display changes. Growth adds complexity, making it hard to keep track of the data, the decisions and the impact.
To solve this problem, the automated people counter emerged in the 1990s. It was a revolution in retail technology - no need to count people manually, the data was collected for you, to be reviewed at the end of the month with the sales data to assess store performance.
Since then, people counter technology has made leaps and bounds. Now boasting high levels of accuracy (far better than humans), low costs and easy install processes. As well as real-time reporting and full integration with POS sales data, allowing for the easy calculation and tracking of other key metrics, such as conversion rate.
Furthermore, the last few years have seen a step change in the high street and buyer behaviour. Retailers leverage an online and offline presence to build brand awareness and loyalty. Post-covid, we are seeing dramatic increases in the cost of customer acquisition online, with low loyalty and aggressive discounting. To distinguish themselves, retailers are relying on fewer, higher quality stores to define their brand experience, showroom their products, and build loyalty.
These are all difficult to track with sales data alone. Every person passing the store is an opportunity to impress with your brand proposition. Each visitor into the store that tries your product- but doesn’t purchase - could have been a lifelong customer.
Every time you are understaffed, closed at the wrong time, or have mis-marketing your proposition, you are losing opportunities.
Retailers vary in how they embed data into their business, from simple monthly reporting to daily analysis of the performance of their estate, all the way through to real-time decisions on triggering screen ads or music.
That being said, in general, retailers will use people count data to:
Retailing has evolved considerably in the recent past; we are in a new era of data-driven feedback loops and optimisations. With this trend, for any physical store, one of the most powerful datapoints will be a reliable source of the basics. How many people pass your store, how many people walk in, and how many people buy.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Retail Footfall
Owen | Mar 2023
The soft side of cold, hard data We’ve released content on the ‘hard’ aspects of using data to ...
Read moreTop 6 Essential KPIs & Metrics in Retail
Owen | Mar 2023
As retail technology has evolved, we have found better ways to measure, track and compare ...
Read moreWhat is Conversion in Retail? And How to Measure it in a Physical Store?
Owen | Mar 2023
What is a conversion rate? A conversion rate is typically considered to be the percentage of people ...
Read moreHow to use Footfall Analytics to Improve Store Performance
Duncan Mann | Mar 2023
Before we get started, for a quick reminder of what 'people count' and 'footfall' mean, check out ...
Read moreWhat We've Found Analysing Footfall Data in Retail
Duncan Mann | Mar 2023
5 Trends We've Noticed... "At HoxtonAi, we work with customers to ensure their data is high ...
Read moreClosing the data gap between online and physical retailing
Owen | Mar 2023
As shoppers continue to return to the high street post-pandemic, physical stores need to catch up ...
Read moreAn Introduction to People Counting in Retail
Owen | Mar 2023
What is people counting? Simply put, people counting is the act of counting the number of people ...
Read moreCase Study: How Center Parcs Use Occupancy Data To Drive Better Guest Experiences.
Duncan Mann | Aug 2022
We initially trialled the HoxtonAi solution on a small scale to ‘kick the tyres’ and see if it’s a ...
Read moreCase Study: How Bruntwood Grew Occupant Trust And Operational Confidence By Scaling Up Smart Building Data.
Duncan Mann | Jul 2022
Our retail proposition in Afflecks trades very differently from our core retail proposition and we ...
Read moreCase Study: How Ribble Measure The Impact Of Their Retail Stores Within Their Omnichannel Strategy.
Duncan Mann | Jul 2022
HoxtonAi is an integral part of our omnichannel strategy, and I’m excited to keep building on the ...
Read moreCase Study: How Techniquest use occupancy data to maximise the visitor experience and create positive growth for the company.
Duncan Mann | Mar 2022
Once we saw the graph, we realised we were able to admit 50% more visitors in the first time slot ...
Read moreCase Study: How Tate Modern Improved Timed Ticketing To Admit More Visitors Into Sold Out Exhibitions.
Duncan Mann | Dec 2021
The Challenges Of Timed Entry Ticketing
Read moreCase Study: How the Aquarium of Niagara used an occupancy counting solution with timed entry ticketing to increase visitor numbers.
Duncan Mann | Nov 2021
The aquarium welcomes visitors year-round from a mix of members and non-members. The seasons, ...
Read moreThe Importance Of Data Accuracy In People Counters.
Duncan Mann | Jun 2021
Understanding how people use your spaces, whether that be employees, visitors or customers, ...
Read moreReopen your resorts and attractions, safely and profitably.
Duncan Mann | May 2021
Download this guide to understand how data can help you to understand how visitors use your space. ...
Read moreWhether you’re interested in pricing, a trial of the solution or a demo of the dashboard, we’d be delighted to open a dialogue.
© 2022 HoxtonAi. All rights reserved.
Privacy policy | Cookie Policy | Site Terms
Hoxton Analytics Limited, 51 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1DT, UK
Registered in England, 08925312