With so many public around, a people counting device can come in handy. Whether you believe it or not, but these devices have completely revolutionized the mode of conduct in certain areas.
At first, the technology was pretty simple and somewhat tiring. Counting devices were nothing but manual clickers that were handed out to the doormen. But now, things have changed; they have evolved to become complex machines that can store and operate large amounts of data.
Important data like customer behavior, visitor demographics, staff performance, and store layout can be evaluated easily. Now you must be thinking, what drew the boom for people counters? The definite answer is customer behavior through which multiple organizations experienced a boost in sales and revenue.
Analyzing the aspects above is quite an easy task for an e-commerce website. It’s fairly easy to see what’s been causing the trouble and act accordingly. However, the same cannot be said for offline stores; they have nothing to pinpoint the reasons behind their drop or spike in sales.
That’s the primary reason why many offline retailers are doing their best to invest in people counting devices and use them to the best of their ability.
The Dawn of People Counters
It’s been 20 years since the inception of the people counting/gun detection system. However, they weren’t that effective, or we should say successful back then. They were pretty inaccurate since they had technical limitations. But, it's 2021, we live in the latest models proven to be quite accurate and can offer stores or any other organization useful insights about customer preferences, gender, and basic analytics.
Here’s a list of people counters and the years they were introduced and used until the new model came in:
Manual clickers were introduced back in the 1970s and they managed to maintain their dominance till the 1990s.
In the late 90s, we came across pressure-sensitive mats, which were quite useful and effective until...
2002 gave us infrared beam counters that counted people each time when the beam gets broken.
In 2005, we were introduced to thermal counters that could detect heat sources.
Video and Wi-Fi counters also greatly impacted the industry as they were quite accurate and are being used for footfall analytics.
Those Wi-Fi counters are still being used; we are expecting next-gen counters that are equipped with unmatched AI. They are expected to offer in-depth customer insights.
The Benefits of People Counters
You can boost your sales and conversions
People counting device can help retailers take their sales to a whole another level. You can combine various aspects like customer preferences and store layout. And offer your services accordingly.
Expect optimized labor cost
People counter offer store conversion ratios and peak hour analytics which you later can use to optimize labor costs. Checking out store conversion ratio is a must for retailers as it affects the overall sales.
You can offer a personalized customer experience
We seem to connect better with brands that offer customer-centric services customized to meet our needs. People counters can offer you helpful insights that you can use to work and offer your customers services they like or need.
In the End
No matter how negligence they’ve witnessed, but there’s no denying the fact that having a people counting device can only promote welfare. Companies like Athena work to make these devices more reliable and accurate every passing day. So, if you are planning on investing in one, you know where to look.
We have moved people counting to just be a feature rather then a product in our systems. See people counts in our reports example shown below: