For more than 25 years I’ve been saying, “Retail has changed in the last year more than ever before.” That’s one of the reasons we love retail, right? The quest for innovative ways to enhance customer satisfaction and boost profitability continues. More than ever, the ability to understand customer and store associate behavior is critical for achieving financial objectives. At the same time, it is even more critical that retailers leverage investments already made, including for in-store technology. To help retailers “sweat” those store IT assets, Ariadne, has made some major enhancements to their groundbreaking customer monitoring and analytics solution. These enhancements enable the store Wi-Fi infrastructure to also be used as a sensor network, to deliver detailed customer and associate behavior analytics. This gives retailers the opportunity to significant additional ROI on that network investment, driving digital transformation based on data never before available. This treasure trove of customer and associate behavior analytics is now easier to discover than ever before and can drive action in real-time.
Leveraging gold already spent on Wi-Fi
Most retailers have already made significant investments in store Wi-Fi infrastructure for mobile enterprise applications as well as internet access for their customers. Ariadne is now leveraging that existing infrastructure, transforming it into a powerful tool for gathering customer and store associate data, reducing the need for costly additional hardware installations or modifications. Leveraging that investment for additional applications, especially those with immediate and significant ROI creates a quick win for store operations, IT, merchandising, and marketing teams. Insights can now be had without the need of large capital and operational investments in video, computer vision, or other stand-alone customer tracking technology. And with Ariadne, all of these insights are available through either an easy to access and navigate browser-based dashboard or a full REST-API to move this newfound treasure into existing business intelligence, data, or visualization platforms.
Treasure finding toolset
Ariadne generates customer and associate journey data and insights, comparable in scope to data and analytics generated from e-commerce, providing the required understanding of customer and store associate activities and results. With this GDPR compliant platform that is fully anonymous and passive for retail customers, retailers can gain valuable insights into product engagement and conversion by department/display/fixture, response to retail media networks (RMNs), workforce scheduling reality and performance, impact of digital signage and on-site promotions, along with traffic flows, dwell times, and cross-visitation. And all of this is accurate down to the less than 10 square feet (one square meter), and in some cases less than one square foot! This enables retailers to make data-informed decisions for stores, even in real-time, just like with e-commerce, to drive immediate action and immediate results.
Unearthing Hidden Gems of Customer Behavior
The Ariadne solution immediately reveals the details of customer behavior within stores. Retailers can visualize customer journeys, identifying popular and underutilized areas, see product engagement hotspots, and potential bottlenecks. This newfound treasure of understanding empowers retailers to take action and see the results in the same solution, including changing store layouts, tweaking product placements, and optimizing inventory allocation, based on the real facts of customer behavior and changes.
Optimizing Store Operations and Staff Productivity
Insight revealed by Ariadne extend beyond customer behavior, to associate behavior and its impact. Retailers now have data-driven insights into associate impact to customer experience, including identifying areas of congestion or understaffing, fact-based comparison of actual staff presence to staffing schedule and more. This gives retailers the knowledge to optimize labor schedules and staffing based on the most important factor – customer journeys and behavior rather than the poor proxy of sales. This ensures the planned customer experience and right level of service throughout the store, putting precious resources where they can have the greatest impact to results.
Data-Driven Insights for Targeted Marketing Campaigns
Armed with the comprehensive data and analytics from Ariadne, retailers can develop targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with specific customer segments, personas, and even by individual, finally delivering the jackpot of personalized marketing at scale. By understanding individual store customer behavior, preferences, and purchase patterns, retailers can deliver personalized promotions and product recommendations, even in the moment, fostering customer loyalty and driving sales.
Transforming Stores into Data-Driven Hubs
Ariadne empowers retailers to transform their stores into data-driven hubs, in equal partnership with e-commerce, where every movement and interaction generates valuable insights. Retailers can now gain a deeper understanding of their customers, optimize store operations, and deliver personalized experiences that enhance customer satisfaction and drive business growth.
Protecting Customer Treasure - Privacy
Customer privacy is paramount when implementing location-based tracking solutions. Ariadne adheres to the highest privacy standards, ensuring that customer data is collected and processed in a manner that safeguards individual privacy. At its foundation, Ariadne is passive and anonymous. With the addition of customer “opt-in” methods, including Ariadne’s real-time navigation and wayfinding option, the data and analytics can be linked to an individual customer, all with full GDPR compliance. Retailers can rest assured that their customers' information is handled with the utmost care and respect.
Discover Treasure Beneath Your Feet Today
Ariadne represents a transformative step forward in retail technology, enabling businesses to leverage their existing Wi-Fi infrastructure for understanding in-store customer and associate journeys and analytics. By unlocking the hidden gems of customer behavior and optimizing store operations, retailers can elevate the customer experience, boost sales, and achieve their business goals.
Additional Considerations
- Integration with existing systems: Ariadne Maps seamlessly integrates with existing POS, CRM, and analytics systems, providing a holistic view of customer and associate data.
- Real-time insights and alerts: Ariadne Maps delivers real-time insights and alerts, enabling retailers to respond promptly to customer behavior and operational needs.
- Scalability and customization: Ariadne Maps is a scalable SaaS and cloud-based solution that is delivering value to retailers of all sizes and types, as well as shopping centers, airports, and smart cities around the world.
By adopting Ariadne Maps, retailers embark on a journey of data-driven discovery, transforming their stores into customer-centric havens that foster loyalty, drive sales, and pave the way for long-term success. You can learn more about Ariadne and see how we’re helping customers discover their own buried treasure at www.ariadne.inc. Happy hunting!
I’d love to hear what you think. Let me know at verlin@ariadne.inc or message me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vyoud/. - Verlin
