News

Survey says retailers place a premium on customer traffic data

June 4, 2014

In-store analytics firm Brickstream has published results from a survey of 124 executives from global retail corporations that explores their primary motivations for deploying in-store analytics technology.

Retail executives in operations, marketing, merchandising and loss prevention from the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia were interviewed for the survey, and queried about the potential role of in-store analytics in their businesses, about what technologies they are currently using or plan to use, and about their primary motivations for investing in emerging solutions. Eight major industries were represented in the Brickstream in-store analytics survey, including supermarkets, department stores, specialty electronics, warehouse, drug stores/pharmacies, cell phone stores and big box retailers. More than half the respondents (54 percent) were from large retailers with revenues of $1 billion and more; the balance came from midmarket retailers ($100 million to $1 billion in revenues).

“The results of this survey tell us that while the market for in-store analytics is still in its early days, it is primed for significant growth,” said Steve Jeffrey, CEO of Brickstream. “Retailers see the benefits of using in-store data across numerous areas of the business, from marketing and operations to merchandising, loss prevention and more.”

While retailers were interested in collecting a broad range of data in stores, they placed a premium on customer traffic data (otherwise known as people counting), citing metrics on how many customers enter a store and how many of those buy (sales conversions) as their No. 1 and No. 2 most important measurements. They also value knowing which promotions attract customers, where customers go in the store and which products they choose. Not surprisingly, 71 percent of the retailers surveyed said that they use or plan to use people counting technology in their stores, with in-store Wi-Fi and loyalty systems coming in at 68 percent, and mobile payment/wireless POS and queue management technologies of interest to at least 52 percent of respondents.

Survey respondents consistently cited marketing insight as an initial driver for in-store analytics deployments, with operations, merchandising and loss prevention cited as functions also identified as areas that will benefit from increased visibility into what’s happening in the store. Marketing was seen as the department most likely to instigate and lead in-store analytics initiatives, with other departments expected to follow suit as the value of technologies deployed is proven.

As more and more consumers shop and interact with retail brands across store, e-commerce and mobile and social channels, retailers are increasingly interested in getting a multi-channel perspective of customer behavior and sales. Survey respondents reported a timeline of one to four years for becoming fully multi-channel, with supermarkets and department stores ranking as early adopters and more invested in multi-channel activities than other retailers. Stores and e-commerce are viewed as the most dominant sales channels, with more than 80 percent of respondents naming these important, with mobile and social channels also ranked highly, at 73 percent and 66 percent, respectively.

“Consumers are increasingly engaging with multiple channels to research and purchase products, but the retail store still accounts for the largest percentage of sales,” said Jeffrey. “Clickstream analytics are a given in e-commerce, so there’s no question that in-store analytics are a must for retailers who need to gain a complete, multi-channel view of the customer experience and insight for improving overall performance.”