People-counting technology provides a different value proposition to shopping centres and retail parks than it does to individual retailers. The property sector doesn’t use people counting to measure conversion, but rather to understand footfall and where visitors are going within a centre. While traditional footfall counters can – and already do – do this, Re-Identification (Re-ID) technology both optimises people counting and goes one step further with the insights it can provide.

On a basic level, shopping centres and retail parks want to understand their visitor numbers. While traditional people-counting technology already does this, challenges remain. Visitors to shopping centres and retail parks enter and leave all the time – perhaps to go back to their car to drop off their shopping, or to visit another area of the property. This means that when they reappear on a footfall camera, they will be counted again, which artificially inflates visitor numbers.

Fortunately, Re-ID is here to address these issues.

Re-ID’s innovative technology uses artificial intelligence to assign a unique user ID to each individual visitor. This ID is based on numerous individual characteristics – a person’s clothing, clothing patterns, colours, accessories, or logos.

This ensures that if a visitor moves away from a device’s sightline, they will be recognized upon their return to view, meaning individuals are not counted multiple times as they enter and exit the property. This technology is especially beneficial for retail parks. Retail parks typically measure their visitor numbers by counting cars, which doesn’t provide an accurate footfall number. Re-ID can count the zones of a retail park to capture footfall outside of the retail units and within the units themselves. Without shoppers being duplicated as they walk past multiple cameras, Re-ID can give retail parks a traffic figure based on people, not vehicles.

A unique application of Re-ID technology is its ability to provide census-level dwell time data. Its ability to track individual users across their whole journey provides valuable insights into how long visitors spend within the centre. This differentiates Re-ID from Wi-Fi technology that measures dwell time by pinging customers’ mobile devices, which only represents a sample of the overall footfall.

Additionally, Re-ID can also differentiate between shoppers and those just passing through. This is particularly useful for retail parks and shopping centres with many stores, since people often cut through a store or part of the facility on their way to going somewhere else. By recognising individual shoppers, Re-ID can measure their visit duration based on entry and exit times. Visit duration parameters can then be set, so if an individual’s visit doesn’t meet certain thresholds, they can be discounted as a passer-through. This gives shopping centres a more accurate sense of who came to the centre with the intention to spend and who did not.

One of the most powerful benefits for shopping centres, however, is Re-ID’s ability to track shopper journeys. If Re-ID enabled devices are installed in each unit of the centre they can provide visibility into visitor numbers to every area and also reveal which other retailers an individual visited. For example, Re-ID can count the percentage of shoppers who visited Apparel Retailer 1, the percentage of those who then went onto visit Apparel Retailer 2, and so on. Centres can also learn whether their anchor stores are bringing in customers for the whole centre, or if visitors are only shopping at specific stores before heading home.

Re-ID can also be used to discover how many of their visitors are there to shop, versus those who visit for leisure activities, like restaurants or the movie theatres. Furthermore, it offers insights into the popularity of various retail categories—whether most visitors frequent fashion retailers or if health and beauty stores are more popular. It can even detect cross-visits between different retail categories, providing comprehensive insights into shopper behaviours.

Heatmapping is another benefit of Re-ID, allowing shopping centres and retail parks to understand which zones and floors are busiest and where visitors are spending most of their time. This data is beneficial for lease negotiations. By understanding which units are the busiest, Re-ID enabled devices installed in strategic points throughout a centre to provide insights into zone performance. This allows centres to better plan lease charges based on location and footfall.

Re-ID is game changing for shopping centres and retail parks. By excluding passers-through, and multiple entry counts, the property sector can gain a more accurate understanding of visitor numbers. The ability to track individuals throughout a visitor’s journey in a center, identify hot spots, and measure time spent in different areas is crucial for negotiating leases. Re-ID not only optimises the way retail properties count foot traffic it also goes the extra mile in providing additional, actionable, revenue-driving insights.

Excited to hear more? Contact Sensormatic to learn more about how Re-ID can deliver value for your shopping centre or retail park today.