Retailers nowadays want to test, measure, and reiterate every aspect of the business – from store design to in-store marketing, through methods never used before. V-Count is a global manufacturer and provider of visitor-tracking, queue management, heat-map, and analytics technology. Focusing heavily on retail analytics, V-Count works with some of the largest retailers in the world including Gap, Marks & Spencer, Sephora, and Samsung. The company is currently operating across 80 countries and has been managing 25,000 devices for more than 400 clients.
Developing V-Count
A key factor that makes V-Count better than its competitors is that all of their people counting and cloud technology products are developed in-house. These V-Count embedded people counters and in-store analysis software are the end-products of 20 years of thorough scientific research. During its initial years, V-Count was quick to see the opportunities represented by the cloud and the emergence of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business models. V-Count identified Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the cloud provider that could support the firm’s growth. The company released its first cloud-based data analytics solution in 2012. At the end of 2014, the company migrated to the AWS Cloud. Currently, V-count uses Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and it processes 100 gigabytes of data daily to the Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS).
V-Count 3D
In 2015, V-Count launched its 3D people counting device. The device is equipped with stereo vision technology that gives the ability to differentiate between children and adults as they pass the counter. V-Count 3D provides an industry-leading 98% counting accuracy rate through state-of-the-art tracking algorithms. The device is also equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sensors providing a wide array of analytics including push-messages for phones. Moreover, V-Count Wi-Fi tracking technology rightfully changed the retail analytics industry for good. This ground-breaking device can work outdoors too, counting people in direct sunlight conditions and also on public transportation. V-Count 3D also presents the option to calculate those who pass by your stores but don’t enter. Lastly, V-Count 3D has the option of sending its people-counting data over its own 3G connection. No Internet connection is needed on-site, which makes it the only “plug and play” 3D people counting device available in the Global market.
Developing Innovative Solutions
V-count is leading the market by developing breakthrough features to satisfy the increasing demand for retailers. Besides its counting accuracy, V-Count 3D Alpha+ is the most accurate and reliable way to measure footfall activity in any physical space. Through its iOS and Android app, V-Count customers are able to follow up on their Cloud reports from their smartphones with ease. V-Count’s smart device application has a first of its kind new feature that shows real-time data of the number of people in a location. All data from V-Count’s databases are analyzed with machine learning methods to deliver you actionable data about your stores, campaigns, investments, products, and operation. Sometimes the customer data supplied to retailers can be misleading because the total number of people does not mean customers only as it also includes staff. Staff elimination solutions provided by V-Count platform has managed to eliminate this long-lasting problem of misleading data. Lastly, V-count’s versatility and unparalleled flexibility add to the competitive edge of the company.
The Success Story of Retailers Using V-Count
ATU duty-free stores are dedicated to constantly incorporating technological improvements into their operations. The branch at Ataturk International Airport doesn’t have modern design doors. Instead, it has 3 big entrances. The store was in need of the right approach to count the traffic without hampering its visual appearance. That is where V-count took charge. They went out of their way to solve the issue. The ATU duty-free project was a huge success. ATU now knows their exact footfall per hour, day, month and year. They are now able to make decisions based on facts and not intuition.
The world’s leading luxury goods group, Sephora was using beam sensors in order to measure footfall traffic in its stores across Turkey. However, the stores were not getting the insights they needed and were performing poorly in terms of accuracy. During the renovation phase of Sephora, V-Count finished installations of 3D Alpha+ devices in Sephora stores. After the installation, the company started employing data collected through V-Count devices to gain more visibility into their operations and business cycles. Taking quick actions based on this data, Sephora has significantly increased conversion rates.
Future of Retail
The ever-changing and fast-paced retail market is going through a perspective change driven by digitization which has altered how the consumers react with brands. Innovations like people counting technology reshaped how retailers may leverage this data and engage with their clients. Flexibility and full immersion in the consumer shopping experience have no alternative in the retail business. Digital extensions must be an Omni-channel with full visibility and transparency imagined from the customer’s point of view. Digital presence is possibly the best consumer touch-point in today’s world. People counting technology today prompts an immediate promotion which occurs when the beacon enables notifications which appear on consumer’s smartphones while they are browsing in-store. Designing a well-rounded consumer experience is crucial. Hence retailers may optimize in-store sales with pre-orders, click and collect and try out innovations with digital integration as well as focus on post-sale communication. With people counting technology, brands may comprehend, segment and identify purchase behavior at a more granular level. Since store experience depicts overall brand experience, retailers need to re-imagine and evolve their in-store channels and engagement innovations. Lastly, customer relationship management should always be prioritized to deliver a fulfilling experience.
Written by
Musarrat Sarwar Chowdhury
