Retailer statistics are of particular interest to shopping centre owners, but historically the problem has always been information-sharing.

McArthurGlen, together with PFM Counting Solutions, has taken an innovative approach to accessing this information. For the first time ever a shopping centre owner/developer is installing people-counting systems across all of its designer outlet centres in Europe. By installing the people-counters at the entrance to every unit, the data is freely available for the centre manager to use, whatever individual retailers' views on information-sharing may be.

David Sturdy of PFM Counting Solutions says that the process of installing people-counters on every unit can be extremely expensive, but they have come up with a cost-effective solution. "The solution we've delivered is affordable, but we're also offering reliable and accurate results as well," he says.

"McArthurGlen is taking the information, comparing it to the retail information from the tills and getting conversion rates, which means retailers can schedule staff easier. We can tell how many people come into the centre and how many went into each retail unit."

PFM is installing the system into the top 20 stores in every centre, and that will continue with 20 more stores per annum for the next four years. For new centres coming on stream, however, the system is being rolled out across the scheme. One new centre, which McArthurGlen recently opened in Italy, has 116 stores with a people-counter on every unit and all mall entrances.

"It's a difficult market," explains Sturdy, "and this project is designed to increase productivity, to ensure the retailers are doing their job.

"For the retailers themselves the benefits almost outweigh those to the shopping centre. They can work out how many customers are converted and compare this to their staff numbers, and potentially in the future will be able to predict when shopping visits will happen to ensure conversion rates then go up. They could also link manager bonuses to conversion rates.

"I think the healthy approach is that of a partnership. Retailers won't be successful if the shopping centre isn't, and vice versa. I think that 10 years from now the majority of shopping centres will have this format."

Nick Gowens of RCT Analytics agrees. He says centres in the Middle East are also putting cameras into all the stores. RCT is now in serious discussion with UK centres about doing the same thing.

"I think there's a window of opportunity where retailers are becoming interested in this information," he says. "The greatest use of customer counting has really been in pumping up the big numbers, which is good for the leasing process, but not many centres are using it to help the mall and the retailers trade better."

The system being installed in the Middle East is a larger version of RCT's existing system, but it also includes the retail sales and transaction data to help with conversion.

"If you get senior level buy-in from the mall owner and the retailer it's surprising what can be done," says Gowens. "If you leave it to the day-to-day management there's a bridge that will never be crossed. There has to be an onus on sharing information and then an honest broker - which is us - in between."

RCT has also developed new software in the shape of the Easy Staffing Player, a staff scheduling product that was launched in the USA earlier this year and has just been introduced in the UK.

"It's predominantly a retail product but it's also a powerful forecasting tool which can predict over the next two weeks, by the hour, the volume of traffic in your mall," adds Gowen. "This is how you should schedule your staff."

On the hardware side, RCT has launched Orbit Five - a stereo-based counting product, which is a video with two lenses. The advantage of this is that as well as counting, it can measure queues and follow people around a mall.

"By having two lenses you can measure things," explains Gowens. "So you can exclude people under four feet high, whereas traditional technology hasn't been able to do that.

"I think, in terms of its application, if you're looking at standard entrance counting, there's no great leap forward. It's what you can do with it in the long to medium term, to include queue length management or tracking movement around the centre that's important. So we see it as a long-term enhancement."

Natasha Burton, marketing manager at FootFall, points out that it's now standard practice for all new-build shopping centres to have customer-counting technology installed, as it provides essential management information upon which key planning decisions are made. This includes building a picture of customer traffic flows around the centre. By identifying 'hot spots' within their centres, she says, managers can make informed decisions on tenant mix, space utilisation and rental charges.

Monitoring footfall also gives the centres and their retailers a much clearer picture of which marketing initiatives are working and which are failing to increase visitor numbers, dwell time and spend. FootFall is currently investing in technologies designed to measure the effectiveness of in-store design and marketing campaigns.

FootFall was bought by Experian earlier this year, and this has further enriched the level of analysis provided to both shopping centre and retailer clients around the world through the use of Experian's range of unique data assets such as Goad, MOSAIC and the Where Britain Shops gravity model, according to Burton.

Jonathan De Mello, Experian's director of property consultancy says: "Experian and FootFall have benefited hugely from the synergies created by the integration of the two businesses, and clients have already started to realise these benefits, particularly in asset management, where Experian's strategic consultancy has measurably improved quantity and qualiy for our clients."

Contacts

PFM Counting Solutions: 01536 511010

RCT Analytics: http://www.shoppertrak.com

FootFall: 0121 711 4652

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