With the advancements in technology, designing new products and creating impressive customer experiences has become easier than ever. As a result, the competition among retailers has intensified. Various technologies are being leveraged to enhance products and services, and the market is increasingly open to smaller players. Consequently, customers now have more choices, making it more challenging for businesses to win their loyalty.
The advent of the e-commerce era has also impacted traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. E-commerce businesses enjoy several advantages over their traditional counterparts. For instance, customers benefit from the convenience of having products delivered directly to their doors. Additionally, e-commerce platforms can gather comprehensive customer insights through data collection, including customer searches on the website, customer acquisition channels, clicks, and time spent on the website. This data empowers e-commerce businesses to create personalized and remarkable customer experiences.
The question is, how can traditional brick-and-mortar retailers enhance their competitive edge? The answer lies in leveraging video analytics, a form of computer vision technology, to gain a deeper understanding of customers and create unparalleled customer experiences.
Video analytics and retail businesses
Retailers can leverage video analytics solutions in a variety of ways. For example, they can integrate AI with CCTV systems to analyze in-store customer behaviors in real-time, similar to how online stores gather customer insights. This solution enables AI to count customers, classify them based on gender and age, track their behaviors and journey throughout the store from entry to checkout, and identify peak hours. These valuable insights allow retailers to adjust product placements according to customer behaviors, ultimately increasing sales and enhancing their competitive edge. By utilizing these solutions, retailers can better sustain themselves in this fast-paced era.
Examples of video analytics solutions for retail businesses
Track customer behaviors to customize strategies.
Video analytics solutions enable the examination and tracking of customer behaviors, helping to identify their movements within the store, the products that attract them, and the amount of time they spend before making a purchase. We can combine these insights with data on products, sales, environment, promotions, and store layouts. By integrating these insights, retailers can adjust and customize sales strategies, such as optimizing product placements and promotions to boost target products or redesigning strategies to better meet customer needs.
Measure product and promotion effectiveness.
Video analytics enables us to measure and monitor the effectiveness of products and promotions. By tracking sales and analyzing data, we can determine the impact of each promotion on sales and assess its alignment with customer needs. Moreover, we can evaluate whether seasonal products are attracting customers and if they are positioned correctly within the store. Additionally, video analytics helps us assess the visibility of in-store advertisements to customers. These insights allow us to make adjustments based on emerging trends and optimize our strategies accordingly.
Manage inventory and daily operations.
Video analytics also enables us to track the number of customers entering the store and specific departments at different times of the day, which helps in allocating staff accordingly. Additionally, we can monitor the sales of each product to identify the best sellers, making it easier to manage inventory and ensure sufficient stock levels to avoid stockouts. By monitoring product shelves, we can promptly detect any vacancies and replenish the products immediately. These solutions enable retailers to manage costs effectively.
Use case: Amazon Go - the next level of automated supermarket leveraging video analytics
Amazon Go represents the next level of automated, cashier-less supermarkets, allowing customers to conveniently shop and check out using only the Amazon Go application. Upon entering the store with their smartphones equipped with the Amazon Go app, customers can browse and select items, and simply walk out. The system utilizes video analytics and sensors to track the customer's journey and the products they purchase to automatically and accurately calculate the total price. This innovative approach enables Amazon Go to provide customers with ultramodern and unparalleled experiences, ultimately enhancing its competitive edge in the industry.
The benefits of using video analytics to enhance retail businesses:
Increase customer satisfaction: By leveraging insights gained from video analytics, retailers can make adjustments to store layouts and advertisements, making it easier for customers to find desired products and promotions. Appropriate staff allocation also enables faster service, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Reduce crime: Video analytics allows for continuous monitoring and analysis of people's behavior in the store, enhancing security and increasing the chances of preventing unwanted situations. AI can detect suspected behaviors such as shoplifting or actions that may harm others, and promptly alert authorities.
Boost staff productivity: Video analytics can track the number of customers, enabling stores to allocate staff effectively based on specific times of the day to reduce workload. Real-time monitoring of customers using AI also facilitates faster and better service, helping staff locate customers in need and approach them promptly.
The challenges of applying video analytics in retail businesses:
The complexity of real-life video data: Real-life video data is more complex than the data on which AI models are trained. Factors such as crowded scenes with many people, new postures, and movements that AI may not have encountered before, highlight the need for regular model and dataset updates.
Requirement for sophisticated tools and infrastructure: Building effective and practical video analytics solutions necessitates the integration of various tools and complex hardware and software infrastructure. It also involves setting up a complex pipeline, which requires expertise to build and monitor.
Insufficient data storage: Video data requires significant storage capacity, leading to the need for efficient and sufficient storage solutions, which can be costly.
At Sertis, our expert teams specializing in computer vision and video analytics are ready to create customized solutions for your business. We collaborate closely with clients to develop high-performing models, and our team of experts is involved in every step, from designing infrastructure, and pipelines, to storage systems, in order to ensure optimal performance. We provide comprehensive solutions and after-sales services to ensure consistently high performance, delivering value that is worth your investment.
Learn more about video analytics solutions for retail business from Sertis at: https://www.sertiscorp.com/video-analytics