Retail Analytics: Future of Analytics and Retail

Retail analytics is an exploding sector that is devoted to revitalizing the retail industry. As shopping online becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, retailers require tools to improve the in-person shopping experience. Tools such as Computer Vision provide valuable insights on the various types of amenities, marketing products and services that help customers engage with their purchases.

The term “retail analytics” refers to the process that collects data about levels of inventory, consumer demand and sales information. They are gathered and used to guide business decisions, such as procurement or Marketing. For instance, retailers could make use of customer analytics to assist to design amazing in-store display displays that guide shoppers to their favorite areas at a particular store, and convince shoppers to buy.

Many sources of analytics data should be taken into consideration, including your POS and email marketing as well as hidden shoppers and survey. But none of them provide an exhaustive and reliable data set regarding customer experience in the store like the computer-vision analysis.

Computer-vision analytics on customer behavior tells the customer what they can’t or will not. Computer Vision is the only way to collect relevant and statistically valid data on unconscious trends such as spots for traffic, pick-ups/put-backs on the shelf and much more.

The most important data points to track using Computer Vision for Retail

Computer Vision can be described as the most accurate and comprehensive method for gathering information. It offers a possible 24-hour, live-streamed method of data collection that isn’t dependent on human error or bias as are surveys or secret shoppers. It also permits users to dig deeper to a greater range of details than an POS system. Here are some of the ways that retailers are using CV in their stores right now as we are speaking.

1. Shop Times

Through CV, your shop can collect essential customer behaviour data on when they prefer to shop:

• Average shop hours for a specific period of time or more particular the time of the day.

• The shop hours for each customer

The tracking of shop time using CV can help to increase the number of people buying something, the quantity of products they purchase and how much they spend in your shop. It could also help to identify some patterns that aren’t favorable to you. For example, if you observe that you have an average time of shop that is lower at a certain time of day, because your customers appear to be in a hurry and rushing around, it may not be the ideal moment to announce the best deals during the time frame you’re in.

2. Foot Traffic Analytics

Take a look at the potential of these retail indicators:

• Which sections are visited the most often or least frequently?

• Many areas of dead zone and hot spots

While your store’s managers will be able to inform you which sections of the area are more popular than others, CV permits users to take this an extra step and look into what time, on average, people stay in the most popular areas. This information can help you make your decisions on how best to organize the store, adding more promotional materials, checkout stand or seating areas within the sections of the store that are popular.

3. Dwell Time

Dwell time is the amount of time that an interested buyer spends watching your display. It’s an important metric because the longer someone spends watching your display, more likely they’ll purchase something.

Do you have any data regarding this behavior?

People pass by your shop but don’t go into. What percentage of them come into the store? Do they stop to check out the display in-store or simply walk by? Could some customers go away and then return?

It is impossible to accurately answer without the aid of computer vision.

4. Queue Times

By using CV, you will track the time that your customers are waiting in line, in real-time. You will be notified when the wait time increases and in this case, you could send more employees to the point of checkout to address the issue.

5. Pick Up and Put Backs

The customer takes something, but instead of putting it into their carts they place it in the shelves. It’s not that significant However, through CV, it is possible to discern that this isn’t an isolated instance. This information factor allows decision makers to concentrate on products that aren’t performing to their potential. It is evident that the product is attractive to the consumer for a reason, but it isn’t enough that it will lead to the purchase.

The Market for Retail Analytics

It is predicted to expand at an average of 18% per year and reach $9.5B by 2025. retailers are able to use analytics in their retailers to be more efficient and offer a better customer experience for all.

While E-commerce continues to cut into the profits of retailers around the world and retailers must be more data-driven than ever to ensure that the next step is the correct one.

Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and Computer Vision

It’s not a secret that restaurants are operating with the lowest margins. Add to that the grim fact of a severe shortage of labor and you’ll see why a lot of QSR chains are looking to the latest technology to add additional layers of efficiency and effectiveness to their operations.

Brands are turning to AI in conjunction with Computer Vision for real-time analytics to analyze, collect and make informed choices from the data sources. The information gathered provides an extensive view of the experience of customers as well as manufacturing and food preparation processes. Computer Vision is the modern method of digitizing the operations of the storefront.

Through CV through CV Edge devices, similar to your current surveillance system, automated models that include people detection and object tracking gather data you consider useful in real time without human supervision. Automated real-time data aggregates analyze difficult business issues quickly and are often utilized to analyze different tests and experiments, as well as to stimulate quick thought.

The most common uses of CV in QSR includes ensuring that employees are:

• Masks to wear if needed

• Do not waste time waiting in the line

• Do not wait too long for an order

• Very satisfied with their order

The applications also require monitoring staff to make sure:

• The correct promotional messages are distributed

• Procedures are being implemented correctly

• The proper breaks are being used

• The levels of staffing are appropriate to the time of day and weekday

Edge CV is crucial in navigating the ever-changing challenges that are affecting in the QSR industry. It’s inexpensive and simple to install on existing infrastructure. Additionally, the intuitive dashboards that alwaysAI allow decision makers to link business-related initiatives (queue maintenance, for instance) using CV model output data (object counting models that identify cars in the drive-through line). Furthermore, since the data is recorded in real-time and in real-time, managers can make faster, more well-informed, effective decision-making.

Grocery Analytics

We are in the midst of a new era in the industry of grocery where automation and AI will provide higher profit and a better experience for customers. But what many retailers don’t realize is that CV can help them not only to achieve their Amazon Go-like future but also to reduce costs and boost the efficiency of their current business model.

Self-Checkout

Self-checkout has transformed the retail industry and has allowed stores to increase their margins and enhance customer service by reducing the lines and amount of cashiers required at registers simultaneously. The statistics show that global self-checkout terminals were shipped 52% over the course of the year, and that’s just in 2019. This is why this trend is booming what can retailers do to improve the efficiency of their self-checkout service to increase customer satisfaction and minimize the amount of human oversight?

The solution is at the level of Computer Vision. CV is able to eliminate retailers from an approach based on barcode scanning, and instead use Computer Vision models that can precisely identify the items that are placed in front of your current machines by through “object detection” models. Computer vision models that have been trained by grocery stores are able to recognize subtle differences between various foods such as Fiji and an Gala apple. This improvement to self-checkout eliminates difficult barcode scanning for customers, labels that are missing or products that are not labeled correctly.

The Future of Grocery

Self-checkout is currently the standard for the industry however CV is working, creating the next major evolution of grocery shopping. Cashless shopping will take a step higher in the future of grocery shopping, and will be more efficient than self-checkout.

Cashierless Stores

Customers can go into a shop then scan a barcode and start shopping. Customers will be able to grab the bouquet or bags of chips and put them into their bag and then walk out of the store without having to interact with anyone or machines, should they decide not to. This revolutionary technology is driven through Computer Vision models installed in Edge gadgets throughout the store. They will be able to monitor customers’ items that they add to their bags or carts. Paying profiles that are associated with an account are debited automatically and the profit margin increases because of the lack of expenses.

Theft Prevention

A major benefit of having cameras with smart sensors monitoring every inch of your storeis that retailers will see a decrease in shrinkage by including computer vision. When cameras are capable finding a bottle that has been stuffed into a pocket on a jacket for instance this makes it extremely difficult to steal it and then get away by doing it.

Loyal Customers

While technology and apps such as Instacart have improved the online shopping experience for a lot of people grocery stores, they recognize that in order to keep customers shopping at their stores, they need to push the boundaries of what a fantastic shopping experience really means. The addition of Computer Vision will be a crucial step towards creating a seamless shopping experience, and will be sure to increase customer satisfaction and ultimately the bottom line.

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate companies employ customer analytics to enhance the value of their lease and generate more income to their retailers.

Using Customer Analytics to Improve the Actual Lifetime Value of a Lease

Real estate companies that have who have invested in and are developing strip malls and shopping centers need better insight into consumer habits and preferences in these areas. Developers no longer have to wait for each store to use advanced analytics to increase the number of customers and sales. With the introduction of Computer Vision capabilities into the existing Edge infrastructure of the malls or shopping centers’ stores, managers can evaluate the performance of the stores within the complex.

Analytics on customer behavior can give commercial real estate companies with the following data to help them determine the best ways to earn more money from leasing mall stores:

• How many people stroll through a specific store each day?

• Percentage of people who gaze at the display of a store but don’t go in

• Percentage of customers who enter the store, but leave without making a purchase

• The time spent in the stores

• The tracking of a person’s shopping path to find out which stores customers visit on the same day

Armed with this data Real estate managers have a wealth of data which allows them to make crucial lease decisions about:

• What kind of stores are required?

• Leases of pricing are based on the position of the storefront

• Recommending display collateral or marketing collateral Based on the previous performance.

Not only does the experience in stores affect real estate executives as well, but so do the amenities within and surrounding the mall. A lot of money is invested in designing beautiful spaces, children’s zones, events and other amenities at the mall and its surrounding shopping centers. Wouldn’t it be nice to understand how much these amenities add to your bottom account? Through Computer Vision, you can gain a greater understanding of how these services are used and also where the flow of shoppers is moving within them.

The Malls of the Future

The habits of consumers and their preferences have been evolving for a long time. The COVID-19 epidemic has increased the pace of change. Commercial real estate managers are more aware of these changes than other sectors. There are a wealth of data that reveal what consumers prefer today:

• 45% of the respondents to the Deloitte survey said they had were planning to shop at one stop prior to the outbreak. In the present, that figure is 59 percent.

• The proportion of people who expect to go to enclosed malls at least once per week following the pandemic has decreased by half.

• More shoppers (35 percent) are saying that a wide selection of dining and food options is the most important factor of amenities that will make them want to visit malls in the near future.

What if technology could give you the information needed to respond to changes in customer preferences in real time? Computer Vision is capable of giving you detailed information about each user every single each day. With that data it is possible to stay in front of your next move, even before the research has even been published.

Preparing Your Business for Computer Vision on the Edge

If you now have a good understanding of what customer analytics actually is and what it could do for different companies Let’s take a examine our tutorial for creating and measuring customer data using Computer Vision.

Establishing the culture

The first step is to must establish a environment that encourages the use of analytics and fact-based decisions. As a decision-maker in the business it’s your job to create a working environment that encourages your team members to embrace the power of Computer Vision to analyze customer data enthusiastically.

The culture of your business should not be solely focused on IT and analytics, but instead on looking at customer analytics in a holistic way. Making investments into IT as well as analytics are vital however, those who are able to make facts-based decisions and an organisation capable of quickly translating such decisions into actions are more likely to be successful.

Why is this happening? Research suggests that operational and execution elements of analytics for customers (such as analytics being regarded as valuable by the frontline as well as attitudes, expectations and expectations from management and an environment that encourages fact-based decision-making) can boost the effectiveness of the effectiveness of customer analytics. In order to establish a positive environment, it is essential to ensure that senior management is involved in the area of customer analytics. The goal should be to recruit executives who comprehend and are actively involved in the field of customer analytics. This is demonstrated by the reality the fact that just 28% of the executives who do not have executives engaged in customer analytics claim a significant the impact to customer analysis. For comparison 70 percent of organizations with executives heavily involved in analytics say that analytics driven by customers create the value.

You must also explain your staff members what Computer Vision and data analytics can aid in improving their job. The majority of staff members are interested in increasing their performance at work and earning more money. So, it is important to show that adopting decision-making based on facts and valuing analytics can aid them in doing their work more effectively or better.

IT

From an IT standpoint from an IT standpoint, all that must be done is leverage the camera infrastructure that is already in place.

The IT department will be the most worried with the tech stack and the technology that is required for the implementation of computer vision-powered customer analytics. Discuss with IT department IT department regarding their primary concerns and the things that need to be taken care of. Ask them these questions:

• What sort of issues can you anticipate if we decide to go with this type of camera?

• What kind of hardware do we require to purchase?

• Does our current hardware function or do we require an upgrade?

• What cameras currently do we have?

• What will happen What happens Edge device fails?

Skills and Human Resources

Modern CV platforms such as alwaysAI are designed to reduce the amount of development and data science knowledge required by customers to make use of the technology.

For instance, AlwaysAI’s platform lets administrators use already-trained models to plug into and gather information on different business ventures. The most important thing is to understand your business’s needs and your objectives. Then, it’s crucial to know the capabilities of the various CV models that are available and the best way to connect the capabilities of technology to your goals.

Once you’ve come up with your game plan, the final important aspect to consider is the ability of your analytics team to comprehend and read graphs and dashboards.

A computer vision-enabled retail analytics.

Computer Vision is a revolutionary method of analyzing and utilizing analytics on customers. It will not only help you to gain an knowledge of what your customers require and want and want, but it can also aid you in understanding what you need to be doing to meet your goals in business. With the help of customer analytics will allow you to identify and predict patterns of customer engagement unlike ever before.

However, implementing and developing Computer Vision applications is often much more complicated than doing. In many cases, it’s difficult that IT teams tackle as these applications require specialized skills that not all developers is equipped with.

Happily, Brisklogic will be able to eliminate these barriers and develop Computer Vision apps effectively, quick, and efficiently. It is a Computer Vision development platform for creating and deploying machine learning applications for Edge devices. Start today with Brisklogic!