Customer Counting Systems-5 WC Blog 286
People Counting Systems-4
Door Counting Sensor-3
Set New And Profitable Goals For Your Store By Using People Counting Systems
I think back to 1990 when I first started working in retail as a Loss Prevention Associate. It was here that I learned not only about the ins and outs of merchandise theft, I started learning about store operations as well. I learned that the corporate office gave sales goals for the day and that the store managers based a successful day on meeting or exceeding those goals. As I progressed in my career with other companies I became a Loss Prevention Manager, then a Loss Prevention Manager with Manager On Duty Responsibilities followed by a stint as a Logistics Manager. I still work in retail after 26 years. One thing I have learned is that every company I work for bases successful days on meeting and exceeding sales goals. Fair enough. You have to have goals in order to know where you want to go otherwise a company stagnates or worse yet wanders aimlessly since they have nothing to shoot for except a non-specific goal of “To Be Successful”. But then what does that look like? I have been rethinking sales goals recently especially as the company I work for has focused some store measurements on patron “conversion” rates and also as I have investigated People Counting Systems.
People counting systems or customer counting systems as they are sometimes referred to, use a door counting sensor to track how many people enter and exit a business or building during the day. Reporting data from these customer counting systems can provide managers with data showing how many people entered and exited by the hour of the day. Stores that have measures in place to stop shoplifting and reduce merchandise shrinkage with a Checkpoint Security System can have a Visiplus customer counting device attached to the Checkpoint electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas. Using the Smart Alarm Management tool, those stores can monitor EAS alarm activity and compare the information to door counting sensor numbers to better manage EAS activity levels.
Here is where my recent thinking has been taking me. We get excited over meeting a sales goal, usually a number based on historical sales information like the prior year sales for that same day. Adjustments may be made based on an overall picture of how the economy is performing or whether an event the prior year may have impacted sales. An example of this would be a store that had to close due to a hurricane evacuation the prior year is not going to have a sales goal based off of last year’s sales data. If a store has a daily sales goal of $10,000 and makes $11,000 the management team is going to be pleased and that would properly be something to be happy about. But let me toss out a new idea. What if the stores used people counting systems and found that they had 400 customers enter the store during the day and only had 300 transactions. What in the world happened to those other 100 customers? What could have been done to get those 100 people to purchase something before leaving the store? Without using customer counting systems you would never know you missed selling opportunities to another 100 customers.
All your information is from sales transactions and yes, you beat your sales goal by $1,000 but could you have beaten it by $1,100 or more? By using a door counting sensor you could set new goals, you had 400 customers in your store last Wednesday, how will you attract 410 THIS Wednesday. You missed 100 potential sales last Wednesday, what will you do differently to try to help more customers find what they need or can use while in the store? Can you entice your customers to make an impulse purchase with a cool display of food or drinks at the font of the store? Maybe the new goals you set for your store are dollar related AND customer driven.
It is one thing to aim for increased sales dollars it’s another thing to find ways to draw in more customers. If you can attract those customers then your goal is to get them to buy and that is a challenge but one that is necessary if you want your business to grow. The only way to know how many customers are visiting your store is by using customer counting systems. Invest in people counting systems today and see a whole new set of goals to achieve and with it, more growth and profit.
Get more information on People Counting Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I think back to 1990 when I first started working in retail as a Loss Prevention Associate. It was here that I learned not only about the ins and outs of merchandise theft, I started learning about store operations as well. I learned that the corporate office gave sales goals for the day and that the store managers based a successful day on meeting or exceeding those goals. As I progressed in my career with other companies I became a Loss Prevention Manager, then a Loss Prevention Manager with Manager On Duty Responsibilities followed by a stint as a Logistics Manager. I still work in retail after 26 years. One thing I have learned is that every company I work for bases successful days on meeting and exceeding sales goals. Fair enough. You have to have goals in order to know where you want to go otherwise a company stagnates or worse yet wanders aimlessly since they have nothing to shoot for except a non-specific goal of “To Be Successful”. But then what does that look like? I have been rethinking sales goals recently especially as the company I work for has focused some store measurements on patron “conversion” rates and also as I have investigated People Counting Systems.
People counting systems or customer counting systems as they are sometimes referred to, use a door counting sensor to track how many people enter and exit a business or building during the day. Reporting data from these customer counting systems can provide managers with data showing how many people entered and exited by the hour of the day. Stores that have measures in place to stop shoplifting and reduce merchandise shrinkage with a Checkpoint Security System can have a Visiplus customer counting device attached to the Checkpoint electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas. Using the Smart Alarm Management tool, those stores can monitor EAS alarm activity and compare the information to door counting sensor numbers to better manage EAS activity levels.
Here is where my recent thinking has been taking me. We get excited over meeting a sales goal, usually a number based on historical sales information like the prior year sales for that same day. Adjustments may be made based on an overall picture of how the economy is performing or whether an event the prior year may have impacted sales. An example of this would be a store that had to close due to a hurricane evacuation the prior year is not going to have a sales goal based off of last year’s sales data. If a store has a daily sales goal of $10,000 and makes $11,000 the management team is going to be pleased and that would properly be something to be happy about. But let me toss out a new idea. What if the stores used people counting systems and found that they had 400 customers enter the store during the day and only had 300 transactions. What in the world happened to those other 100 customers? What could have been done to get those 100 people to purchase something before leaving the store? Without using customer counting systems you would never know you missed selling opportunities to another 100 customers.
All your information is from sales transactions and yes, you beat your sales goal by $1,000 but could you have beaten it by $1,100 or more? By using a door counting sensor you could set new goals, you had 400 customers in your store last Wednesday, how will you attract 410 THIS Wednesday. You missed 100 potential sales last Wednesday, what will you do differently to try to help more customers find what they need or can use while in the store? Can you entice your customers to make an impulse purchase with a cool display of food or drinks at the font of the store? Maybe the new goals you set for your store are dollar related AND customer driven.
It is one thing to aim for increased sales dollars it’s another thing to find ways to draw in more customers. If you can attract those customers then your goal is to get them to buy and that is a challenge but one that is necessary if you want your business to grow. The only way to know how many customers are visiting your store is by using customer counting systems. Invest in people counting systems today and see a whole new set of goals to achieve and with it, more growth and profit.
Get more information on People Counting Systems, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
