I saw a commercial on television the other day that made me start to think about integrity and retail traffic counting companies. The commercial was geared towards consumers who are thinking about purchasing a new phone. The business offers free phones but fails to mention the contracts involved or the various fees associated with the purchase of the phone. The commercial has a saleswoman holding a phone contract and a person you assume to be a lawyer standing behind her. Every time she uses the word “free” the lawyer puts up air quotes. The gist of the commercial is that a customer may not be given all of the information for a smart decision. What is perceived to be free really has hidden costs and fees associated with the contracts. Business owners are no different than any other customer when they are making purchases for their stores. Whether it is a point of sale system, an inventory management software suite or people counting systems offered by Loss Prevention Systems Inc., an owner has to be confident he/she is going to get what is promised.
Retail traffic counting companies are businesses that provide sensors that track customer foot traffic in and out of stores. The idea behind people counting systems is that they assist managers in identifying how many customers have been in a store. They should be able to provide day of week and hourly breakdowns of foot traffic. Knowing when patrons are visiting the store can improve scheduling efficiency and optimize sales. By having more associates on the selling floor at peak times customers are more likely to get the help they need in finding products they want. It even increases the likelihood that purchases can be accessorized or a sales clerk upsells a purchase. The dilemma for store owners is determining which are the retail traffic companies that are going to deliver what they promise? Purchasing a system based on pie-in-the-sky promises that sound too good to be true is a bad idea. Unfortunately many sales people do that and there is never a lawyer standing behind them using “air quotes”.
Loss Prevention Systems Inc. is a business that has been around since 1983 and with good reason. It is a company that delivers what it promises. When they sell people counting systems they are able to provide more than a door counting sensor. They can equip stores that have electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers with the LPSI-Evolve store app for real time EAS alarm activity. The aps allows managers to see how many customers are entering and leaving the store at any given moment and they can also be alerted to an EAS alarm activation. Think about the potential this has for impacting sales and shortage in your store.
Suppose you have a mobile device and as you are working you receive an alert indicating a customer has entered your store. You can greet that customer and assist them in finding what they need. If the customer is actually a shoplifter and the EAS tower didn’t make them change their mind about trying to steal when they walked in the building the immediate customer service will. It is a fact that customer service and EAS technology are strong deterrents to theft. Retail traffic counting companies that only tell you how many people visited your stores are giving you old data with limited value. Bill Bregar, founder of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. (LPSI) is aware of the impact live, actionable information can have for stores. Since it is the business of LPSI to assist stores in increasing profits and driving down shortage you can be sure they aren’t over-selling or under-delivering people counting systems and the LPSI-Evolve store app.
Retail traffic counting companies are ready to sell you their systems and their sales staff will promise you what they think you want to hear. Are they reliable or do they have the integrity to stand behind their promises? Remember there won’t be any lawyer there to “air quote” each over-inflated guarantee they try to hook you with. Give LPSI a try and see just how people counting systems really can add to your bottom line.
For more information on people counting systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
