August 18, 2021 | Gerald Becker
“People tracking” has become a vital service – measuring not only capacity, but flow and habits of individuals, groups of people and consumers as a whole. Digital Mortar’s goal is to assist companies with these analytics – and they’ve partnered with Quanergy, using advanced LiDAR technology to help drive company goals.
“What we do is measure the shopper’s journey in the store. We want to understand their full journey,” Digital Mortar CEO Gary Angel explained. If people shop in a certain area, how long did they stay in that area, what drove them there, and do they convert? There are very few retailers tracking these types of metrics. It’s a huge, missed opportunity for merchandising optimization, store layout and product placement – with a direct impact on expected revenue. Retailers that aren’t tracking these vital metrics due to technology cost and complexity are missing huge pieces of the story.
LiDAR Makes Retail Tracking Accessible & Possible
LiDAR fills in these critical gaps. Using LiDAR tech enables retailers of all types to collect invaluable shopper journey data. Stores are using this data to enhance customer experience and remove the measurement obstacles presented by using traditional video solutions.
To get any insight into customer count, flow and choices – retailers typically use cameras. With a much smaller field of view than LiDAR sensors, it takes 5-10x more sensors (all precisely placed) for adequate journey measurement in a store. This creates expensive and unwieldy implementations where a single camera malfunction cripples system-wide full-journey data capture.
Gaps in Data Inhibit New Product Launches
Simply put, “It’s amazing how little retailers know.” Angel offered a leading fashion shoe retailer as a case study. The retailer used a front-of-store feature area to promote current fashions but had no idea how many people walked through area, whether people stopped and engaged with product and which products and displays were “catching the customer’s eye.” Using only its POS as a guide, every new release or shopping season was a guessing game. They lacked the data and resources to do in-store testing and turned to Digital Mortar for help. The resulting measurement drove an experimentation program that let them rapidly improve key aspects of area engagement and performance.
As the provider of measurement data and insight, Digital Mortar leverages software and analytics to deliver results. Angel explained, “I have a bunch of customers who can’t use cameras for privacy, coverage or environmental reasons, but LiDAR makes measurement practical.”
“Outside malls, airports, stadiums, casinos, car dealerships, any place with lighting challenges; we literally couldn’t measure before LiDAR,” Bottom-line, LiDAR solved environmental problems, while providing the most important piece of the puzzle – the possibility of measurement – even in the most difficult environments.
Partnerships to Support Data-Based Shopping
Quanergy and Digital Mortar have partnered to deliver a one-of-a-kind value proposition. The combination of software expertise from Digital Mortar, along with the integration of next generation LiDAR from Quanergy, offers rich analytics and actionable data. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is cut dramatically, LiDAR is easily installed and deployed, coverage is enhanced and privacy is guaranteed.
LiDAR is introducing the art of the possible to the market. For Angel, once customers are educated on the potential benefits, they latch onto the privacy advantages, and by the time TCO enters the conversation it’s a difficult proposition to resist. The big response from customers: “Finally!”
From major casino brands and stadiums, to hospitality and beyond, LiDAR is the leading alternative to video for consumer analytics. Reach out to learn more about why!
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3D Perception Software