Video footage doesn’t lie. Why do you think NFL football teams gather every Monday morning and break down game film from the previous day? They do it to learn what they did right and what they did wrong in order to ensure success for the next game.
So why can’t retail stores do the same?
The evolution of high-definition surveillance cameras has not only changed the landscape of the security industry, it has opened up a vast amount of business opportunities for retailers throughout the globe.
For years, retailers have used video surveillance to protect assets, safeguard patrons and employees, as well as act as a deterrent versus theft and crime. Now, retail stores of all sizes are using HD video (often coupled with specialty analytical software) to acquire data to better understand their consumers and their buying and shopping habits.
“It’s an interesting development,” said Richard Smith, Professor and Director of Master of Digital Media at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. “Grocery stores actually used to have big windows with one way mirrors around the roof of the store. It was partly because of loss prevention but also to get a better sense of their customers.”
He added: “Turning analytics on this so that you actually see things like the heat map where people are piling up, is a very interesting and useful application for businesses.”
The video surveillance industry refers to this practice as business intelligence and it has been a flourishing trend in the past half-decade as HD technology has progressed. Business intelligence is the proactive approach of gathering information so that businesses can make educated decisions that benefit the entire organization and contribute to the overall strength of operation.
For example, high-end department stores are learning where to place merchandise based on foot traffic and crowd patterns. Grocery stores can use demographic data like gender and age derived from analytic software in footage from HD cameras to strategically place product displays.