In stores with clothes, shoes, and others dealing with fashion, and sometimes also in stores from other commercial sectors, such as perfumeries, the use of customer counters is the most common. These devices are mainly installed at the entrances. Their task is to count customers entering the store and leaving the store. The main objective of counting customers is to determine the conversion factor, that is the ratio of the number of transactions (i.e. customers who purchased) to the total number of customers who entered the store. The knowledge of the conversion factor allows for the assessment of sellers’ effectiveness.
There are also solutions in which the devices are installed in the storefront. They allow counting how many people pass the store, so that it is also possible to analyze how many of the passers-by decide to enter the store. This information may be useful in the analysis of the attractiveness of the storefront or the effectiveness of information visible from the outside, e.g. information concerning discounts.
Customer counters frequently operate as photoelectric cells (e.g. using infrared), where the mechanical obstruction to the beam is counted as a client passing by the store. The use of two beams allows you to determine whether the customer entered the store or left it. There are also solutions based on ultrasounds and the analysis of images from one camera, or the devices based on 2 cameras (which allow you not only to detect the object, but also to determine its position relative to the device, and track moving objects within the range of the device). The most advanced solutions can e.g. count people passing each other in the aisles, calculate two (or more) persons entering the store simultaneously, as well as count the ones who were already in the entrance area, but turned back.
Customer counters’ integration with the constantly developed Market software, consists of loading the program with the information on the number of entrances and exits of customers, as well as generating the required reports incorporating collected data.
