New technologies in the service of retailers offer many advantages for a successful business strategy. Having data on visitor behaviour at hand at all times helps to define actions to increase sales and profit. That's why using a visitor counter is one of the main ways to constantly monitor the entrance, the time of presence and the behaviour of visitors to a shop, so that you can determine the right operational choices at the right time and place.

People counters are not only practical and useful tools to control the flow of people through an entrance gate, their application can be exploited in various fields and for different purposes. Here are some of them:

• Conversion between visitors and buyers. The till data shows, among other things, the total number of receipts issued and thus how many people actually bought in a given period. This figure tells us how many people have bought but not how many are in proportion to the admissions in the same period. Comparing the number of purchases with the number of admissions allows us to find out the conversion rate from visitor to customer and to analyse the performance of the business during the different opening hours. The variables can be many: from weather conditions, to time of day, to staff availability, to shelf supply, all of which can be made more efficient by reading the data.
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• Evaluation of marketing campaigns. The purpose of a marketing strategy for a physical business, whether it is designed to be shared online or through traditional advertising channels, is to sell. Checking the conversion rate between visitors and buyers with a visitor counting system provides a more reliable way of assessing whether a marketing campaign has worked and to what extent, giving the possibility of intervening in real time to improve its effectiveness.
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• Cleaning and sanitisation. At this particular time, following the health emergency caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, clean and sanitised premises are a must. By monitoring the flow of people through a room or premises open to the public with a people counter, it is possible to highlight the periods when access is most intense and, consequently, when there is a need for greater cleanliness, such as in the fitting rooms of clothes shops or the toilets of shopping centres.
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• Supply planning. An increased influx of visitors can lead to peaks in consumable consumption, e.g. for catering or personal well-being activities, or a decrease in shelf stock for direct sales activities. By measuring attendance through a people counting system, it is possible to plan the reordering of certain consumables and to better define stock purchases according to the use of the shop.
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• Controlling multiple activities and geographical data. Installing a people counting system for franchising companies or businesses with multiple outlets can be another opportunity to better target investments or intensify promotional activities.

Although a people counting system has the main function of monitoring the transit of visitors in a given place, its applications can be integrated into various areas of business activity.

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There are several types of people counting systems on the market and they are broadly divided into two categories, mechanical and electronic.

Manual people counter

Manual people counters are not widely used in the commercial sector and are only used to manually determine the number of people entering and leaving. They are portable and usually placed in places where visitors are received, the use and control is done by staff appointed for this purpose. Manual people counters are simply devices which can be of two types:

• Mechanical hand counter: This is a metal device with a four- to multi-digit counter mechanism operated by a button, with the possibility of resetting the entire figure. Each click triggers a number and this small object is generally used for trade fairs, events and conferences.
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• Digital or electronic hand-held people counter: a small hand-held instrument with a multi-digit display, plus and minus buttons to add or remove a number and a reset button to quickly reset the count.

Electronic people counters

Electronic people counters are the most advanced systems for monitoring the number of people passing through a gate. Extremely accurate data can be obtained, and with integrated software it is possible to access statistics on visits according to different time zones and days of the week, as well as comparing different periods such as whole weeks, months, years, etc.

They can have certain characteristics depending on the need for use:

• unidirectional, i.e. counting in one direction only, or bidirectional providing both input and output passage data;
• battery-powered, or rechargeable via a convenient USB cable, or directly plugged into an electrical outlet;
• wireless or connected by cable to a PC;
• supported by remotely controllable software or a small integrated software;
• with infrared beams or supplied with 2D and 3D telescopic cameras.

Electronic people counters, unlike manual ones, not only count the number of people who have entered the building, but also monitor access with precise data and allow in-depth analysis. With high-resolution cameras, it is possible to achieve a higher quality that reconstructs the image and reduces the margin of error in counting to a minimum.

Promo Security, provides state-of-the-art people counting systems, always proposing the optimal solution for each activity.

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Following the health emergency that has subjected the whole country to a prolonged lockdown, anyone owning a business open to the public, whether for sale or just passing through, has had to comply with the regulations that came into force with the Dpcm of 17 May 2020. The measures to contain the Covid-19 epidemic include, among others, the obligation to maintain social distancing and to set a limit on the number of people on the premises in order to avoid gatherings. Relying on a people counting system that automatically assesses whether this limit has been exceeded is a simple and effective way of continuing to do business safely and without committing additional staff.

Electronic people counting systems can be integrated with an access control system to monitor the flow of people entering/exiting and staying in shops, while ensuring that people are spaced out. The most innovative systems allow, in addition to counting the number of people passing through, to identify some important characteristics in order to comply with current anti-Covid regulations, such as the presence or absence of a mask on the face or whether the body temperature is below the alarm level, within a few tenths of a degree.

Promo Security, the security specialists

Buying a people counting system is a choice that deserves a lot of attention and must take into account many variables, such as the size of the accesses, the analyses you want to receive, the space, the environment, etc. That's why it is necessary to rely on professionals. This is why it is necessary to rely on professionals, Promo SecurityThey provide experience and knowledge of the sector to evaluate the best solution together with their clients.

The people counting systems will give you full control over the inputs and Promo Security will support you throughout the design, installation and, later, any software updates and maintenance of the devices.

For more information or a quote, call us or fill in the form below and you will be contacted by one of our professionals who will advise you on the best solution for your security.

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