Corona’s misfortune has changed people’s behavior greatly. The change in people’s behavior is also having a major impact on store management strategies in the retail and restaurant industries.
From 2022 onwards, an increasing number of businesses are launching new formats such as opening new stores in niche locations and suburbs and specializing in takeout.
When considering store strategy, it is most important to understand the movement of people related to your store, not just intuition and experience. In this blog, we will introduce the effects of using “data on people movement” = “data on people flow” for improving store opening plans and management policies.
What is People Flow Data?
People flow data is “data that allows you to know when and how many people are”. There are two ways to measure stay status.
With the spread of devices such as sensors, cameras, and mobile phones, and the processing of data to anonymize it, it has become easier to obtain accurate information on the flow of people than with conventional statistical surveys and traffic surveys based on human wave tactics. I was.
In addition to new store opening plans, retailers and restaurants can use data analysis services that combine mobile phone user information to obtain information on potential customers based on the movement of people around the store ( It is also possible to obtain the number of people, attributes, and interests).
Understanding the latest people flow is essential for store strategy
Conventional human flow trends do not apply in the corona crisis
Have you ever stopped going to the convenience store or cafe you used to stop by every morning on your way to work because of the increased number of people working from home since the corona crisis?
Comparing January and June 2020, the population living in office districts and urban areas has decreased, while it has increased in residential districts, and commuting has decreased due to working from home.
Due to the dramatic change in the flow of people due to the corona crisis, conventional trends such as “in areas where many singles live, demand for eating out is higher at night than during the day” are no longer valid.
Risk of wrong business strategy
The need for stores has changed due to the corona crisis, such as many restaurants not being open for lunch, it being difficult to have lunch, and there only drugstores that sell only medicine when you want to buy groceries.
If you do not manage your store in a way that meets the needs of the area, you may unknowingly increase the loss of opportunities due to the outflow of customers to competitors and the decline in average spending per customer.
Grasp the latest trends with people flow data
Data that can accurately grasp the movement of people indoors and outdoors
Fixed-point cameras installed in stations, etc., can detect trends in that area, but cannot grasp other areas or indoors.
By connecting location information obtained from LTE base stations, GPS, and Wi-Fi, it is possible to grasp the flow of people as data regardless of whether it is indoors or outdoors. It is possible to combine three types of people flow data, POI (Point Of Interest) data, which is map information of stores and facilities, and demographic data, which is distribution information such as population and attributes, and use it as location information big data. I can do it.
You can estimate the most realistic persona
Location information big data can be used to understand people’s attributes, interests, and interests, such as living area, work area, average annual income, average household size, whether they often eat out for lunch, or often make a detour on their way home from work.
If you know attributes such as “People who come to this area tend to have this tendency”, it is possible to accurately set personas when drafting business plans and marketing measures.
Data utilization directly leads to profit maximization
Improving profits by analyzing customer behavior
Have you ever had a product that sells well at a competitor next door but not at your store?
By using people flow data, it is possible to analyze the actual market area of the company, competitor stores from which customers are leaving the store, and the behavior of customers visiting the store.
Once you know the actual market area, you can identify vacant areas and stores with overlapping customer bases, which will be an important basis for making decisions about relocation or consolidation. Also, if you know the competitor stores that are losing customers to your store, you can work on store improvements such as remodeling direction and product lineup enhancement.
Accurate metrics enable better decisions to improve profits.
Streamline store opening plans
People flow data can be used to consider store formats and select areas where demand can be expected.
For example, “The line between the office area and the station is straight and the number of people increases only in the morning and evening, but in the downtown area, the line spreads out in a circle around large commercial facilities where people gather. It is important to understand in detail the characteristics of the commercial area for each area, such as “there are many”.
By understanding what kind of attributes and personas many people have in each trade area and route, you can determine whether the area has a high probability of success for your company, and formulate strategies such as creating stores and considering product lineups that match the characteristics of visitors.
