In recent years, there has been much talk about the impact that technology has had (and continues to have) on retail, especially in terms of the impact of e-commerce and the not-so-good omens that were held for traditional retail. However, the reality is that this segment is still in very good health in Chile; in fact, according to statistics from the Chamber of Shopping Centers, there are almost 8,300 stores in 155 malls, making our country the leader in Latin America.
This is why, in a reality where digital surrounds all spheres of our lives, this same technology, and specifically the latest advances in Big Data, machine learning and artificial intelligence, can become the great allies of commerce.
An example of this is video surveillance solutions that provide valuable data to store owners about their operating conditions in real time, allowing them to improve customer service and increase the competitive advantage of their businesses.
In this regard, the applications that intelligent video technologies have in commerce are:
– People counting: This analytics solution generates continuous metrics on people flow and customer profiles to run more effective and personalized marketing campaigns, improving the service provided to consumers. It can also analyze the conversion rate, which measures the proportion of visitors who make a purchase.
– Facial recognition of people: the cameras can capture more than 200 thousand images in real time, comparing them with the profiles of people wanted by the police. This also helps prevent theft.
– Heat maps: these provide information on how users move around the store and help the retail sector in configuring the layout of the premises. They also indicate which areas are of greatest interest, which allows you to know if a promotion is working in a certain area of the establishment.
– Queue detection: to mitigate long queues in real time. This allows the number of service points to be increased or reduced, the layout of surfaces to be modified and the work of employees to be planned.
– Point of Sale (POS) Integration: Video and data synchronization to provide visual verification of each transaction, reducing losses and fraud.
It is clear that technology is integrated into our daily lives and has transformed the way we consume products and services, which is why retailers must be prepared to respond to the needs of customers who are increasingly demanding. In this scenario, new technologies will help to understand them, therefore, the challenge for retailers will not be to decide whether or not to join the digital transformation, but which technological partner will help them make better business decisions.
