How AI-Powered Insights Can Boost Your Retail Profits

This is an uneasy time for brick-and-mortar retail, with recent reports of rising job cuts and shrinking margins Shelley E. Kohan, senior retail executive and host of the Robin Report podcast Retail Unwrapped, keenly observes that “the [current] environment has pushed retailers to look for more efficient ways to operate their stores.”

Shelley’s insight is spot-on and the dilemma for retailers has been identifying which operational processes need better efficiency and how to benchmark them for optimization. Piggy-backing this task-focused strategy is the need to maintain shopper satisfaction and avoid the dreaded retail “downward spiral,” where staffing layoffs lead to underserved customers who in turn take their business elsewhere, further eroding sales. There are two paths to consider: operational efficiency and shopper satisfaction. Both require a new approach that involves unique monitoring solutions that cost a fraction of a typical store’s labor allocation and can even help generate additional profit dollars.

StrataVision’s RE-ID: A Game-Changer for In-Store Analytics

StrataVision’s proprietary RE-ID solution offers a revolutionary approach to understanding in-store behavior and optimizing operations. This post will explore what RE-ID does, how it can enhance store operations, and how it can inform labor decisions to improve both efficiency and customer experience.

The primary method for understanding in-store shopper behavior is deploying a traffic counting or footfall program. Most retailers who have done so are only getting a read at the perimeter of the store: where customers enter and exit. This will only provide general guidance on shopper activity and is not enough to help determine task optimization or specific labor needs.

A superior approach is to integrate perimeter traffic counts with interior analytics, allowing retailers to track shoppers’ movements within different store departments. This doesn’t have to be used only in a big-box store, a smaller footprint can still be divided into different stations from which the retailer can learn more about shopper behavior. Importantly, this doesn’t have to become a significant investment in cameras and installations that cover most of a store’s ceiling. It can be done more strategically by leveraging existing security cameras without disrupting the loss prevention program.

Eliminating Noise with Unique Visitor Identification

For Interior analytics to be effective, the process must ensure that each shopper is counted only once and that store associates are excluded when crossing camera paths from traffic data. This will ensure that metrics such as traffic counts, conversion rates, and shopper-to-associate ratio are accurate right down to the department or zone level.

StrataVision’s proprietary Re-ID technology has eliminated the noise in traffic counts by anonymously identifying each shopper’s movements throughout the store, regardless of store size or number of levels. We will review more on this impact when we discuss metrics later in this article. We call this differentiation “Unique ID.”

Here is a visual that shows the difference between a traditional counter and StrataVision’s RE-ID:

Traditional counters cannot distinguish between store associates and repeat visitors, leading to inaccurate data. StrataVision’s RE-ID eliminates this issue by accurately differentiating individuals while maintaining shopper anonymity. It can even report on gender and age range and is tailor made for precise group counting.

Key Features and Unique Visitor Identification:

• Filters out store associates and pass-through shoppers to provide accurate customer data.
• Tracks time spent dwelling in the store and within individual departments
• Analyzes group shopping behavior to better understand purchase decisions.

Benefits:

• Provides a clearer picture of true in-store visit activity.
• Eliminates the “noise” from employee counts when calculating conversion.
• Provides greater accuracy when identifying staffing and scheduling needs.

Refining Data Accuracy with Pass Through Visitor Identification

Many AI-based camera solutions struggle to differentiate legitimate shoppers from visitors who simply pass through the store (or department) on their way to an exit. StrataVision’s StataVision’s Re-ID solves this by identifying and excluding pass-through visitors from traffic counts. The result is more accurate data and greater confidence in making decisions on labor and tasks.

Key Features of Pass-Through Visitor Identification:

• Detects visitors who enter the store through one entrance and exit through a configurable time frame (e.g., three minutes or less)

Benefits:

• Eliminates the “noise” from stores located near high traffic areas, such as parking lots and mall entrances.
• Keeps the focus on Unique Visitors rather than transient foot traffic.

Enhanced Retail Insights with StrataVision’s Re-ID

After deploying StrataVision’s Re-ID solution, retailers can gain more detailed insights into the customer journey, far beyond the capabilities of standard perimeter counters.

Driving Operational Efficiency and Shopper Satisfaction

StrataVision’s Re-ID insights enable retailers to make more informed decisions about the best times to task based on individual department shopper activity on a site-by-site basis.

• Dwell Times, Traffic Counts & Shopper/Associate Presence: Pinpoints how service levels influence shopper behavior—positively or negatively—to guide strategic labor adjustments.
• Department-Level Conversion Tracking: Assesses recovery program effectiveness. Integrating department-specific traffic visit times helps prioritize optimal restocking periods.
• Shopper Journey Mapping & Group Behavior Analytics: Reveals shopper movement patterns, time spent in specific areas, and potential obstacles. These insights enhance merchandising strategies and help optimize associate distribution for better customer engagement.

These are only a few examples of how StrataVision’s Re-ID technology can help retailers optimize their operations. Whether the focus is cost containment, revenue generation, or both, our solutions offer a clear return on investment.

Reach out to learn how StrataVision can help you achieve your retail objectives.

Brian is VP of Analytics at StrataVision, focusing on helping clients maximize their ROI by transforming desired outcomes into actionable use cases, leveraging data to provide insights into shopper and associate behavior.