Reducing the risk of infection both in stores and in queues outside stores by using social distancing is a major priority for brick-and-mortar retailers. Queues have allowed retailers to control the number of people within the store and reduce the number of people waiting in line.
Whilst nearly all shoppers rationally expect their shopping experience to be altered by new health and safety measures, it doesn’t mean that they will enjoy it. Regardless of the queue method, queuing time is the main factor which shapes and influences the customer’s opinion of service.
So given the inevitability of more stringent queue management measures, what can you do to help influence waiting times and improve customer satisfaction?
One issue that retailers face when considering queue management is “real” and “perceived” time: the time that people have actually had to wait vs the time they think they’ve had to wait. Research has found that people’s perception of elapsed time when waiting is fairly accurate up to a minute and a half; after this point, they tend to over-estimate how long the wait was.
Bridging the gap between real and perceived waiting times for your customers can be achieved by providing real-time live queue waiting times.
Aura Vision's video-based AI leverages existing infrastructure and integrates with existing security cameras, providing retailers with full-store analytics in real-time. This gives Aura Vision the unique ability to scale rapidly, and generate fully anonymized retail analytics across thousands of stores.
Aura Vision outputs live data about queue lengths, store occupancy, and wait times; by integrating with your existing cameras. This data not only allows operations teams to manage queues in a safe manner but also can inspire marketers to create campaigns that capitalize on captive audiences waiting in line.
To limit the spread of COVID-19 it is advised that people leave their homes as seldom and for as little time as possible. This is not always feasible, as few retailers provide a means to see how busy the location they are visiting will be.
If the shopper is unlucky, the queues might be too long, forcing them to spend more time outside their home than necessary.That’s why we are helping retailers implement microsites and apps that can help provide your customers with crucial information on store occupancy and queue wait times.
To learn more about how you can leverage occupancy data, get in touch with us at hello@auravision.ai.
