Retail Footfall Counting
Bensons and Harveys are one of the UK’s biggest and best known furniture and bed retailers with hundreds of showrooms nationwide.
They were already aware of the benefits and importance of knowing their customer footfall and needed accurate data to measure conversion rates, the success of television marketing campaigns, sales events and trends over time.
They had previously tried out simple beam counters in a number of stores but they found that these didn’t offer the accuracy and reliability needed, so a new solution was sought.
It needed to be accurate, unobtrusive, automated and within budget.
They got in touch with Axiomatic to discuss the possibilities and after consideration of the specifications of the sites and the client requirements, Axiomatic recommended the Irisys Gazelle thermal people counter.
The Irisys Gazelle was the latest generation of thermal counter from UK-based Irisys and offered robust performance with excellent accuracy.
The intended architecture of the system would be that every site would have a counter at the main entrance, with the data collated centrally at Head Office so that management teams could easily generate reports for the whole estate.
To ensure that the client was happy with the solution, Axiomatic carried out free trials at a number of sites. This gave the client confidence in the counter, the data and our installation methods (it was important that the counter didn’t mar the aesthetics of the showrooms).
The trial also gave Axiomatic the opportunity to identify and resolve any potential issues that might affect any subsequent rollout.
After a number of weeks, Harveys and Bensons were satisfied that the solution was right for them and gave the go ahead for a whole estate rollout out across more than 400 stores.
Axiomatic project managed the installation with due consideration for the client’ constraints and dedicated an installation team solely to deliver this project over an agreed number of weeks.
The installation needed to be carried out swiftly and smoothly and was delivered within the budget and timescale that had been agreed.
To ensure smooth installations, Axiomatic worked with Harveys and Bensons to gather site information for every store so that we were aware of the layout of the entrances so that we would arrive on site prepared with the correct equipment.
This contributed to the quick delivery where a number of sites were installed each day.
Axiomatic continually monitor the entire Bensons system, enabling us to spot disruptions to service caused by connection or network problems, check accuracy and performance.
We keep in contact with store staff to ensure the counters are working optimally and are on hand to answer any questions that management have in relation to their data or counter performance.
Now that Bensons have a nationwide footfall counting system, they have data which enables them to generate reports highlighting sites that are performing well and those less so, conversion rates, regional variation in performance, the effects of marketing activities (such as regional TV advertising), sales promotions, annual trends and more.
Axiomatic continue to work with Bensons, installing counters at new stores, relocating existing devices and supporting the system.
