in Small Business
Issue No. 2 - September/October 2001
Beonic keeps track of traffic
Businesses are getting back to basics after being sidetracked by e-commerce, says Adelaide businessman Peter Cohen.
Mr Cohen, founder and managing director of customer traffic management systems developer Beonic, says that while businesses have committed substantial resources to monitor website traffic patterns and consumer behaviour online, the facts are that bricks and mortar retail sales in Australia will exceed $147 billion in 2001 compared to less than $2 billion from online retail transactions.
“The potential returns on investment of gathering information about customer traffic, in-store behaviour and product exposure in the real world are massive,” Mr Cohen says.
“Just a small change in buying habits can have a large impact on revenue.”
The demand for information about customer traffic in retail stores, shopping centres, casinos and clubs has never been stronger, Mr Cohen says. Information about customers is needed to support loyalty programs and customer relationship management systems, as well as operational decisions about staffing, leasing, marketing and customer service.
However, Mr Cohen says, the most important reason managers have for knowing how many people walk through their premises is the bottom line – known as “sales conversion” in the trade, it means what percentage of these people are buying.
“When you can say exactly how many people are coming into your store, you can make customer service accountable,” Mr Cohen says. “The response to our people counting products has been fantastic. Many retailers have congratulated us for focusing on the fundamentals of retailing.
“Our people counting systems tell managers about lost sales, and indicate ways to enhance the customer’s in-store experience and maximise their exposure to merchandise.”
Beonic embarked on the development of intelligent people counting technologies and cust...
