It may be a new year but when it comes to retailers, ensuring the best possible customer experience remains a priority. As in-store traffic trends are consistently on the rise, capturing, measuring and mastering a shopper’s experience starts with understanding them. We sat down with our traffic guru Scott Endres to learn more about how the latest feature in our Shopper Experience portfolio is here to help retailers do just that.

Q: Scott, last time we spoke on this topic, we had just released the latest in Shopper Demographics and Shopper Views and at the time we were still bouncing back from a digitally driven environment due to the pandemic. You can attest to this with our traffic data, people are going back to the stores. With that, I think so many retailers are still looking for solutions that help them in their Shopper Engagement strategy. Does Shopper Demographics and Shopper Views have the ability to do that?

A: In store shopping is back! We have seen a high 90% in store traffic pattern alignment to the NRF calendar from 2016 and 2011. In our current environment, who is in store has become top of mind to most retailers. There are also some critical questions that have been top of mind for our customers. Are our marketing campaigns driving the correct traffic inside the store? Can we customize that Shopper Experience? Are there segments that are in store that we are missing? Shopper Views build on our solution to become a shopper insights and experience focus. The ability to understand who is engaging with products and the ability to customize media content, to who is engaging is the start of a truly customized shopper experience.

Q: Every retailer is laser focused on Shopper Experience but how that is measured seems to vary. Can you talk about how Shopper Views can help retailers define and measure that with the data it delivers?

A: Shopper Views can provide relevant insights about the performance of the point of sales activity displayed in digital screens at the store, in particular how many shoppers have been exposed to the digital content and their relationship with this content. For instance, if the content attracts shoppers into the different proximity zones of the display we can measure how long the audience is watching it. Shopper Views can also provide the profile of the audience of a particular display by gender and age group and even the reaction of the audience to the content displayed because Shopper Views can detect the dominant emotion shown by the audience while watching a particular advertising. Did they laugh or feel surprised while watching the content? It is a real value to get this feedback about the content to understand if it is engaging and driving sales.

Q: The interactive digital content platform within Shopper Views seems to be a game changer and the value behind it is multifaceted. Could you tell us a little about that?

A: Through our partnership with VSBLTY, we can assess who is coming up to a digital display a media wall, a kiosk or even a cooler door. We can understand some basic demographic information about that person. These signals serve as a basic input to select from the media content library that is stored on local hardware. This content is delivered to the individual either as an ad, message, or an opportunity to learn more using a QR code. Many of our retail customers have experienced higher conversion on these products based on tailoring the media content around some basic assumptions related to age, gender, and current sentiment. We are pushing that customized Shopper Experience that many of our partners are looking for.

Q: Sensormatic IQ operating platform and VSBLTY partnership is unparalleled in this space. Can you talk about what has set the partnership apart?

A: VSBLTY is a market leader in digital media space, we are combining this with our Sensormatic data such as traffic counts to provide the total potential in the space – “Total number of Shoppers”. When you add our site level KPI’s related to draw rate, dwell time, and path analysis you start to understand the true opportunities for reaching and influencing shopper’s experiences. When you layer in path analysis throughout the space, there is a key opportunity to play an ad or influence Shoppers to venture to other areas of the space that they may not normally transverse. This partnership allows us to drive traffic into areas that have lower saturation. We suggest aligning ad content based on demographics and then look at the upticks in sales based on the media content that is play to your target demographic. Our traffic program allows us to capture events and marketing campaigns to understand the year over year trends and the impact of these programs.

Q: Shopper Views can capture a wealth of data and insights as to what brand message drives which consumer behavior and then on the flip side – helps provide a more immersive shopper experience. The value is evident! As you get to engage with retailers regularly, what do you see as the biggest hurdle for them as they think of implementing this type of solution and what is your advice to them?

A: Understanding where to start. Should you focus on end caps or shelf level content, or cooler doors…. Should this be funded by the company for selling ad space or should this be funded by your Consumer-Packaged Goods partners and allow them to control the content? These are all key considerations that our Retail Consulting Practice can help with. We do have various business models in place where we can explore zero down investment models or programmatic content delivery. This space is hot and a high growth area for all parties!

Q: Could you give us some insight into how you and your team approach and decide on ‘what’s next’ for Shopper Insights?

A: We have a vision for our next generation of solutions. For ShopperTrak’s retail products we will continue to bring solutions that help our customers understand, shape and influence the shopper journey. We have been focusing on the voice of our customers and our next generation products will focus on our core traffic and interior offerings combining partner data via Sensormatic IQ to create data solutions that they use to guide their actions around the shopper journey. Watch more about the latest benefits of Shopper Views with Sensormatic’s own Sr. Solutions Manager, Daniel Bajo and VSBLTY CCO, Linda Rosanio.