Video analytics are now seeing stronger demand in the retail space. Specifically, they provide actionable intelligence that can ultimately help retailers generate more sales and retain customers.
Video analytics are now seeing stronger demand in the retail space. Specifically, they provide actionable intelligence that can ultimately help retailers generate more sales and retain customers.
That was the point raised by
Motionloft, which provides an end-to-end hardware and analytics solution to capture movement and behavior of people and vehicles and turn it into actionable data.
According to Joyce Reitman, CEO of Motionloft, while traditional stores are thriving, they do realize the need to improve the overall customer experience to beat the competition. “The majority of retail purchases made in America still happen in brick-and-mortar stores, and US retailers are actually opening more new stores in 2017 than they are closing, with more on the way in 2018. Of course, retailers do recognize the need to reinvent the in-store experience to drive customer loyalty and market share,” Reitman said. “Optimizing their inventory management, leveraging customer data to improve planning and introducing personalized services to engage customers are all part of the next-generation experience.
That’s where retailers can rely on smart retail solutions, which employ IoT devices and the data they generate. In Motionloft’s case, they use a camera-based sensor that captures video for business intelligence purposes. “Our camera-based sensors collect and analyze data on the edge, then send that data to the cloud where our customers can access it in real time through a browser-based dashboard on desktop or mobile, automated reports sent directly to email, and an API to implement with their own internal data,” she said. “Our sensors are also equipped with WiFi, BLE and LTE connectivity enabling wireless communication for location and movement applications and the customer's content management system.”
Actionable insights
Motionloft's Vimo sensor is shown
in this photo provided by the company
What Motionloft’s solution offers is insights on customers and their behavior that can help storeowners plan and strategize accordingly. “Regarding analytical capabilities for retailers, we can calculate the total time to service delivery, wait times, and display dwell times. We can count individuals and do crowd analytics. We can track directionality – the paths of people and vehicles. Combining this intelligence with a retailer’s internal POS data reveals actionable insights that help retailers elevate the customer experience and stimulate growth,” Reitman said. “Many competitors don't offer a user-friendly portal to view their data, whereas we offer several methods for our customers to analyze their data including a browser-based dashboard and customized reporting.”
The solution’s accuracy is another feature that Reitman says makes their sol stand out. “As for the precision and accuracy of our sensors, we match the 98 percent accuracy rate common in our field, which is for simple and ideal conditions, meaning standard vehicle pass by, low volume pedestrian pass by traffic, and single door counts. But we also claim a 90 percent accuracy rate in all real world conditions, which no one else can do,” she said.
Finally, the solution employs deep learning algorithms run on the edge to further train the system to recognize objects that are valuable to retailers. “Our sensors and analytics implement deep neural networks and deep learning for advanced object recognition, movement tracking, and ultimately predictive modeling. Essentially, we’re using our sensors as brains and applying experience and intelligence for learning all about what they are seeing,” Reitman said. “There is also no competitor using an edge processing device that runs deep learning and delivers real time actionable data.”
According to Reitman, the solution can benefit other vertical markets that are related to retail. “Continuing on how all consumer-facing business models are evolving in a similar direction, we consider many industries fall under the broad retail umbrella,” she said. “Motionloft’s insights help retailers, marketers, market researchers, property owners, brokers, cities, and government agencies identify opportunities, optimize investments and deliver desired customer experiences.”