From analyzing shoppers’ habits to deterring theft, there is a lot that surveillance systems can add to your bottom line. Here are three major reasons you should consider surveillance cameras to boost your retail sales.
Video monitoring lets you analyze your shoppers’ habits
Surveillance systems can offer you greater insight into how your shoppers are shopping. Video surveillance technologies can be utilized to create “heat maps” for managers and store owners to analyze the behavior of their customers. Heat maps can reveal where most of the foot traffic in your store is and what areas customers seem to be avoiding.
It doesn’t take much to see how heat maps can be a major boon for attracting more sales, since they help identify the strengths and weaknesses of your store. If you see that your sales rack is rarely visited, for example, you may want to feature it more prominently.
Similarly, if you see that a particular outfit on a mannequin seems to be attracting a lot of foot traffic, you can consider showcasing its pieces on your website’s home page, as you know they are popular with your customers. There are plenty of benefits to using video monitoring and heat maps to reconfigure, reassess, and re-energize how you approach retail in your store.
Surveillance systems deter thefts
Surveillance systems have been used to deter shoplifters for decades, but have you ever considered the impact that video surveillance has on your overall profits? Obviously, not having someone walk off with stolen goods is a huge benefit of monitored camera systems, but tech companies are doing more than just helping install cameras and calling it a day.
When it comes to surveillance, revolutionary advances in artificial intelligence are being made, including innovations that allow cameras to predict whether or not a customer’s behavior is indicative of intent to shoplift. This type of technology is game-changing when it comes to loss prevention, helping you mitigate theft altogether.
Video surveillance impacts how you work with your employees
Surveillance cameras are also great for managers and store owners looking to boost their sales through better management of employees. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shares that most workers have no related experience in the sales field prior to attaining their jobs, making on-the-job training even more important.
Video surveillance provides you with your own custom library of training videos for on-boarding, offering insight into positive customer interaction with real examples from within your own store. Additionally, you can use video to monitor how new employees are acclimating to their new job and identify areas for improvement.
Video surveillance can also play a pivotal role in juggling different locations. A centralized surveillance system that includes individual cameras from different stores can be integral in helping manage multiple store locations at the same time. It’s worth considering a switch to a camera system that can be remotely accessed by a variety of users with different devices and permissions. Keep in mind, however, that most wireless systems pose a threat in terms of hackability, and you should focus your efforts on implementing a hybrid-cloud system that offers remote access, cloud and hardware storage, and premium-grade security instead.
As technology impacts how and why shoppers behave the way they do, it’s important to analyze how you can use current retail technologies to boost sales. Surveillance systems can play an important role in this work by offering analytics and data about your customers as well as your team members.