Retail: The Digital Bounce Back?

On the surface, the retail crisis seems relatively simple. The rise in eCommerce has eliminated the costly real estate, staffing, inventory and franchising issues that plagues brick-and-mortar stores. Analysts cite overstocking, a lack of brand loyalty, and declining foot traffic as the leading causes of declining in-store sales.  It isn’t a pretty picture.

But it doesn’t tell the entire picture either. According to Pro4ma CEO Liz Dun, retailers have yet to take a critical look at their strategies using data-based decision making. Dunn states that, “Until the retail industry embraces data-based decision-making and applies it to building physical store networks, overstoring will persist as one of the greatest threats to the long-term viability of the retail sector.”

So it begs the question, what data will be transformative for an industry that is struggling to gain margins and minimize operating costs?

The Need for Data

One of the major challenges with transforming a brick-and-mortar store with data, is that the vast majority of interactions between the retailer and its customers are happening in real-time and in the real world. It’s not digital. Retailers are blind until the customer makes a purchase. And only then, if they’re lucky will they also be able to attribute that purchase to previous purchases or promotion.

To be truly data-driven, retailers need to understand:

• Discovery: How a customer finds the store. What led them to the store.

• Performance: What displays perform best and for what customer segments. Is the layout of the store optimized to showcase goods?

• Related Purchases: Where else has the customer shopped?

The InnerSpace Solution

Our platform is the first real-time indoor location intelligence solution that instantly digitizes indoor spaces. Using InnerSpace sensors and proprietary algorithms, InnerSpace is able to create accurate 3D maps and track shoppers within the space.

Our engineers have created a unique ability to maintain maps and positioning data in real-time which is critically important to retailers that want to test and modify store layouts to achieve optimal conversion.

This data is then presented into our dashboard which makes it easy to understand patterns in shopping behaviors like:

• Number of store visitors

• Return shoppers

• Top performing displays and dead zones

• Time to purchase

But where InnerSpace truly sets itself apart, is that its real-time data is used to drive digital experiences. Our customizable wayfinding solution harnesses the maps, positioning, and location to drive a mobile experience for customers. Now, retailers can easily and affordably deliver a modern consumer experience to help them create shopping lists, navigate stores, and take advantage of promotions.

The Future

For the retailer, the power of data that can be gleaned from the platform and the insights from consumer behavior are vast. Understanding both individual shopping behaviors, as well as aggregate behaviors, means retailers can now create highly engaging programs to drive loyalty through personalization, and optimize the experience every step of the way.