Intelligent, Cost Effective, Accurate, footfall measurement system

Frequently Asked Questions
Traffic Central™ - People Counter

19th October, 2009
New intelligence-gathering tool for retail environments.

AVD sensor measures store performance that allows retailers to identify opportunities and drive sales.

Dublin, Ireland, October 19, 2009 - Alpha Vision Design a manufacturer of footfall technologies has introduced a cost effective visitor measurement sensor for the retail and service environments. This single video based sensor can automatically count the number of visitors entering or exiting a mall or a store.

The AVD sensor can operate stand alone or be networked together to produce a map of visitor numbers across a mall, or via the internet, a whole retail chain. This visitor count is invaluable to the retail operations manager whereby key performance indicators such as footfall, customer to sales ratios, marketing Cost per Thousand (CPM) and Shoppers per Square Foot (SSF) can be measured in real-time. Analysis of these metrics can yield significant savings to the retailer, however it is estimated that only 20% of retailers actively exploit people counting information.

Traditionally, this visitor traffic is measured with imprecise infrared beams or obtained manually which can lead to erroneous counts. As the area of retail business analytics matures and an increased return on investment is achieved. A greater emphasis will be placed on obtaining accurate visitor traffic from a high number of locations that represents the true movement of customer traffic.

The AVD people counter sensor fulfills this requirement as it allows for distributed, cost efficient and highly scalable systems to be installed. The AVD people counter does not require a personal computer or a dedicated server to be installed in a store to manage the visitor traffic count. This novel sensor is simple to install, easy to maintain, space efficient and robust.

Traffic Central, an additional investigative tool allows retailers to generate graphs and reports from the AVD sensor. Traffic Central can identify customer patterns and trends, gauge the value of a companies advertising and promotional campaigns, the effects of weather and public holidays and the ability to optimize a retailers labor force and better plan for peak days and times.

Ruth Cody, director, Mason, Owen & Lyons, property consultants, said: “Traffic Central outperformed competing solutions but most importantly offered accurate footfall figures. We now have an easy-to-use, plug and play solution that provides the shopping mall with invaluable data which will ultimately help our retailers increase their sales and ensure they offer the best shopping experience they can for their customers.”

Niall Dorr, commercial director, AVD commented: “Traffic Central is simple to use and includes reporting software to view and evaluate the recorded data. People counting zones can be automatically set from one custom interface allowing users to control all zones from one location. Users can choose to receive automated daily, weekly or monthly summary reports. The scalable solution is quick and easy to install and can be deployed remotely on a LAN or Wi-Fi network.”

A video illustrating the sensor can be downloaded from http://www.videopeoplecounter.com

12th September, 2009
Alpha Vision Design presents at a seminar on how IP surveillance can benefit the retail sector

Axis Communications UK, the global leader in the network video market1 is hosting a seminar on 29th September in Northampton to demonstrate how retailers can use IP based surveillance solutions to do so much more than just security.

The seminar ‘Making a difference for retail’ will see Axis Communications and partners Alpha Vision Design (AVD) showcase a range of surveillance solutions which help retailers to better understand customer shopping patterns, manage their in-store video and audio applications and integrate their in-store security systems.

Former head of loss prevention for HMV Europe, Andrew Martin will also be at the event to Offer advice on how IP-surveillance solutions can be integrated with retailers existing security Solutions to help effectively combat shoplifting.

Phil Doyle, managing director, Axis Communications UK said: “IP-surveillance systems offer a real return on customer investment when retailers make the most of their solutions. The use of IP-surveillance can help retailers better understand how and why customers make certain decisions when shopping and this in turn can lead to an increase in sales. “IP-surveillance can also greatly enhance security when it is integrated with retail tagging, EPOS and access control systems. The store’s security team becomes better connected and can help significantly reduce shrinkage.”

Niall Dorr, commercial director at AVD will be presenting at the seminar on video analytics such as people counting and footfall analysis. These key metrics in the retail industry have been difficult to measure accurately until now.

The seminar will take place on 29th September at Highgate House, Creaton, Northampshire. It is free to attend and anyone interested in attending can register at www.axis.com/promotion/partner/uk/seminar or contact Alexandra Turner on tel: 01462 427910 or by email to Alexandra.turner@axis.com Hitchin based, Axis Communications offers a wide range of network video solutions and counts Lidl and Hughes and Hughes among its client base in the retail sector.

12th August, 2009
Axis IP-based network cameras enable Mullingar Shopping Centre to take advantage of footfall data

Axis Communications, the global leader in the network video market1 enables leading Irish commercial property consultants, Mason, Owen & Lyons to provide its retail clients with accurate, real-time data about the number of people entering or exiting its premises to help gauge buying behavior.

Mason, Owen & Lyons has successfully piloted the Traffic Central™ People Counter at The Mullingar Shopping Centre, a new fully enclosed shopping mall located in Mullingar, Co. West Meath, Ireland. Traffic Central is a simple, network-enabled, real-time footfall counting system based on the Axis Communications range of network IP cameras and encoders.

The Mullingar Shopping Centre trialed a number of people counting solutions and Traffic Central outperformed the competition in terms of ease-of-use, accuracy and cost. The shopping centre subsequently installed the AXIS 209 Fixed Dome camera featuring the Traffic Central People Counter and will use the data to help identify shopping patterns and trends.

People counting or footfall analysis is a key metric used by the retail industry. By combining this data with other statistics such as sales figures and staffing levels, retailers can gauge how many visitors actually make a purchase and if their stores are adequately staffed. Marketing campaigns can also be evaluated for their effectiveness.

Traffic Central counts the movement of people entering and exiting the shopping centre. All processing takes place within the camera, combining the advantages of IP camera-based surveillance with the simplicity of traditional sensor technology. Traffic Central People Counter works with the AXIS 207, 209 and 212 network cameras, all of which are ideal for discreet indoor surveillance and offer excellent image quality in any lighting conditions.

Ruth Cody, director, Mason, Owen & Lyons, said: “Traffic Central outperformed competing solutions but most importantly offered accurate footfall figures. We now have an easy-to-use, plug and play solution that provides the shopping centre with invaluable data which will ultimately help our retailers increase their sales and ensure they offer the best shopping experience they can for their customers.”

Phil Doyle, managing director, Axis Communications added: “This solution takes intelligent video surveillance to a whole new level for the retail industry. It is a simple solution that offers accurate monitoring and provides information that will be extremely beneficial to the retailers. The image quality and flexibility offered by Axis’ network cameras means that data can be analyzed quickly and easily over the network.   

The people counting solution used in Traffic Central was designed by Alpha Vision Design (AVD), providers of total solutions in video analytics. Niall Dorr, commercial director, AVD commented: “Traffic Central is simple to use and includes reporting software to view and evaluate the recorded data. People counting zones can be automatically set from one custom interface allowing users to control all zones from one location. Users can choose to receive automated daily, weekly or monthly summary reports. The scalable solution is quick and easy to install and can be deployed remotely on a LAN or WiFi network.”

 

Benefits of Traffic Central

 

Evaluate Marketing and Advertising campaigns

Measure a store’s performance

Perform reliable branch comparisons

Calculate customer to sale conversion rates

Eliminate understaffing/overstaffing costs

Identify peak selling hours, days, weeks, months, seasons and years

Understand the effects of weather, national holidays and major events on your stores performance

Decrease revenue leakage and maximise the revenue capacity of a store