Make Sense Of Your Store Promotions By Using A Door Counting Sensor

 

People Counting Systems-4                                                                                                    WC Blog 386
door counting sensor-3
Make Sense Of Your Store Promotions By Using A Door Counting Sensor
     Working in an academic library I am constantly learning new things that can be applied to other jobs or businesses. One example of this is a departmental assessment that we are currently conducting as a part of a larger assessment the college is going through. The college formed a committee that identified areas the college wants to focus on in order to achieve specific goals outlined in a strategic plan. That focus is on student retention, academic excellence, etc. In the process of completing the library assessment plan, we are learning how to put it together this year but in preparation for the next year assessment what I have learned is that we have to be more thoughtful in what we do. What I mean is this, rather than doing a project or making a change for the sake of doing it, we are going to have a reason for doing it and that reason should have some type of measurement to it. For example, last year we moved some of our video collection to another floor to make space for group study and provide access to more power supplies. We knew it needed to be done we had studied the behaviors of students the year before. What we failed to do was have numbers to substantiate the need for the change. On the other hand, what we could do was show the increase in patron counts as a result of the changes because that is something we were already tracking. We were able to at least demonstrate an increase in the number of people using that floor during the school year. The same process can be applied to retail stores by using people counting systems.
     People counting systems assist store owners in keeping track of the number of people entering the store. By installing a door counting system at the entrance/exit of a building, managers can determine the busiest days of the week, the busiest hours and balance work schedules around that information. Additionally, a door counting sensor can be a stand-alone device or you can have it attached to your electronic article surveillance pedestal if you have a Checkpoint System protecting your merchandise from theft. If your store does have the pedestals, the door counting sensor also tracks the door alarm activity and gives store owners a report of what times alarms are going off. This information can be helpful in comparing to alarm activity logs to see if alarm activity is being addressed and if alarm activations are theft related. If there are a lot of alarms at specific times of the day a store manager may determine a person may need to be assigned as a door greeter to respond to alarms.
     If a manager were to be put an assessment type program in place, the people counting systems will allow stores to measure the impact of sales initiatives. What do I mean by this? Let’s say a store owner decided he/she wanted to try to drive sales and reach out to the community. The manager has a 3-day weekend sale that provides military veterans with a 20% discount on all purchases with proof of their service, either a retired military I.D. or a Department of Defense form 214. The sale is promoted in social media, in newspapers and on store windows, doors, and signage throughout the store. Since the door counting sensor is in place, a baseline for this weekend can be compared to other weekends and to the same weekend the prior year(s). The sale is run and at the completion of the sale not only are register receipts compared but foot traffic is as well. I know you may be thinking that if sales are up isn’t that good enough? No, that won’t tell the whole story because you were giving discounts, so it isn’t apples to apples. You want to compare retail traffic because that will show if your promotion garnered additional people to visit your location. You could have a new batch of shoppers who never visited before. Receipts may only be up slightly but you could well have drawn in future clients who will be willing to shop in your store in the future. That is the kind of assessment information you want to measure.
     People counting systems are not just another statistic gathering tool. They can be a powerful means of evaluating sales promotions, social media impact and customer service impact. It is up to owners and managers to decide if they want to keep flying by the seat of their pants or be strategic in how they conduct business and drive up sales.
Need information on people counting systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.  

Working in an academic library I am constantly learning new things that can be applied to other jobs or businesses. One example of this is a departmental assessment that we are currently conducting as a part of a larger assessment the college is going through. The college formed a committee that identified areas the college wants to focus on in order to achieve specific goals outlined in a strategic plan. That focus is on student retention, academic excellence, etc. In the process of completing the library assessment plan, we are learning how to put it together this year but in preparation for the next year assessment what I have learned is that we have to be more thoughtful in what we do. What I mean is this, rather than doing a project or making a change for the sake of doing it, we are going to have a reason for doing it and that reason should have some type of measurement to it. For example, last year we moved some of our video collection to another floor to make space for group study and provide access to more power supplies. We knew it needed to be done we had studied the behaviors of students the year before. What we failed to do was have numbers to substantiate the need for the change. On the other hand, what we could do was show the increase in patron counts as a result of the changes because that is something we were already tracking. We were able to at least demonstrate an increase in the number of people using that floor during the school year. The same process can be applied to retail stores by using people counting systems.

People counting systems assist store owners in keeping track of the number of people entering the store. By installing a door counting system at the entrance/exit of a building, managers can determine the busiest days of the week, the busiest hours and balance work schedules around that information. Additionally, a door counting sensor can be a stand-alone device or you can have it attached to your electronic article surveillance pedestal if you have a Checkpoint System protecting your merchandise from theft. If your store does have the pedestals, the door counting sensor also tracks the door alarm activity and gives store owners a report of what times alarms are going off. This information can be helpful in comparing to alarm activity logs to see if alarm activity is being addressed and if alarm activations are theft related. If there are a lot of alarms at specific times of the day a store manager may determine a person may need to be assigned as a door greeter to respond to alarms.

If a manager were to be put an assessment type program in place, the people counting systems will allow stores to measure the impact of sales initiatives. What do I mean by this? Let’s say a store owner decided he/she wanted to try to drive sales and reach out to the community. The manager has a 3-day weekend sale that provides military veterans with a 20% discount on all purchases with proof of their service, either a retired military I.D. or a Department of Defense form 214. The sale is promoted in social media, in newspapers and on store windows, doors, and signage throughout the store. Since the door counting sensor is in place, a baseline for this weekend can be compared to other weekends and to the same weekend the prior year(s). The sale is run and at the completion of the sale not only are register receipts compared but foot traffic is as well. I know you may be thinking that if sales are up isn’t that good enough? No, that won’t tell the whole story because you were giving discounts, so it isn’t apples to apples. You want to compare retail traffic because that will show if your promotion garnered additional people to visit your location. You could have a new batch of shoppers who never visited before. Receipts may only be up slightly but you could well have drawn in future clients who will be willing to shop in your store in the future. That is the kind of assessment information you want to measure.

People counting systems are not just another statistic gathering tool. They can be a powerful means of evaluating sales promotions, social media impact and customer service impact. It is up to owners and managers to decide if they want to keep flying by the seat of their pants or be strategic in how they conduct business and drive up sales.

 

Need information on people counting systems? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.