A leading Nordic property owner adopted CountMatters’ customer counter system and scalable retail footfall analytics across multiple shopping centers. The goal: a real-time occupancy monitoring solution from entrances to checkout zones, so staffing, merchandising, and campaigns run on facts — not gut feel.
THE CHALLENGE: SHIFTING TRAFFIC & HIGH COMPLEXITY
Seasonal peaks, local events, and weather swings make center operations unpredictable. Without reliable retail footfall analytics, actions become reactive: queues grow, staff are misallocated, and it’s hard to evaluate marketing or tenant mix across locations.
The owner needed one shared, data-driven truth across centers and teams — accurate doorway counts, unified dashboards, and seamless BI integration — to support both day-to-day operations and strategic decisions.
THE SOLUTION: SENSORS, DASHBOARDS & THRESHOLDS
Ceiling-mounted people counting sensors capture bi-directional in/out at entrances, corridors, and checkout areas. Anonymous counts stream to secure cloud services and refresh every few seconds. Store and HQ dashboards visualize live occupancy, arrival rates, and pressure on queues, giving on-floor teams clarity when it matters most.
Each zone has configurable thresholds. When live occupancy nears a limit, alerts prompt teams to open tills, redeploy colleagues, or guide visitors to alternative routes. Historical patterns by weekday and hour create early warnings for predictable peaks.
DATA FLOW & INTEGRATION
Data flows from sensors to the cloud and into the owner’s BI via secure APIs. Local managers see live “cards” for occupancy, arrivals per minute, and queue pressure. Central teams compare like-for-like centers, assess campaign effects by region, and correlate footfall, labor hours, and sales.
Dashboards present live and historical views: hour profiles, week-over-week and year-over-year comparisons, plus heatmaps for movement patterns. To drive action, interfaces surface a “next best action” — for example “Open register 3 now” or “Move one colleague to Zone A for 20 minutes.”
EVIDENCED IMPACT
Stable data quality: High accuracy with correct mounting and zone setup supports confident real-time decisions.
Better staffing match: Shifts align with true demand, cutting bottlenecks at entrances and checkout lines.
Clear campaign evaluation: Before/after analysis on footfall and conversion in matched time windows reveals what actually drives visits and sales.
Scalability: Template-based setup accelerates rollout to new centers with consistent KPIs and governance.
USE CASES ACROSS THE PORTFOLIO
STAFFING & PEAK MANAGEMENT
Live occupancy and arrivals per minute guide opening/closing of tills, redeployment of staff, and proactive queue messaging during pressure windows.
LAYOUT & TENANT MIX
Traffic and dwell by zone inform placement of pop-ups, seasonal tables, and signage. Balanced flow increases the share of visitors who become buyers.
MARKETING & EVENTS
Before/after analyses isolate uplift from campaigns and activations, segmented by day and hour. Insights strengthen cooperation with tenants and local partners.
OPERATIONS QUALITY
Teams spend less time on manual counts and more time serving visitors. A shared performance language reduces reporting noise and speeds decisions.
IMPLEMENTATION: FROM PILOT TO ROLLOUT
A short pilot in representative centers validates placement, calibration, and reporting templates. The winning setup becomes a rollout blueprint with small adaptations per layout. Train-the-trainer onboarding builds local capability, while central QA monitors data quality and alerts.
“Secure by default” and “frictionless integration” principles apply: encrypted transport, minimal site-network load, role-based access, and aggregated data throughout.
PRIVACY BY DESIGN
No personal data is stored. Sensors deliver anonymous counts — no images, faces, or identifiers. Processing is purpose-limited (operations, safety, experience) with minimal retention periods and strict access control.
ROI & OPERATIONAL IMPACT
Matching demand and resources reduces queues and “silent losses.” With one shared truth, center managers and regional leaders act on the same facts and move faster from insight to action. Over time, the portfolio gains a repeatable playbook for peak readiness, staffing precision, and tenant support.
MINI-FAQ
How accurate is the system? With correct mounting and calibration, accuracy remains very high in dense flows and varied lighting.
Does it track individuals? No — only aggregated counts are processed. There are no images or identifiers.
How do you scale to many centers? Template-based setup and remote configuration enable efficient activation. Central monitoring safeguards data quality.
Can it connect to our systems? Yes — secure APIs feed BI, reporting, and optional on-site info screens.
Bring occupancy monitoring and a customer counter system across your portfolio. Create calmer peaks, sharper staffing, and better journeys — center by center.
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