The Growing Need for Indoor Positioning Technologies in Retail Stores

An indoor positioning system is a network of devices used to identify people or items in places where GPS and other satellite technologies are ineffective or fail, such as multistory buildings, airports, stairwells, alleys, parking garages, and underground areas

FREMONT, CA: Indoor location technologies have existed for a long period. It is not a novel notion, nor has it been unfamiliar to consumers or businesses. However, the market has only lately begun to grow at a healthy clip, and it appears as though people are yet to witness the victory of indoor wayfinding and positioning systems.

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Businesses, too, profit significantly from retail GIS. When developed, deployed, and configured appropriately, an in-store navigation system can provide massive amounts of incredibly important marketing data and increase sales. The following are some of the most immediate benefits of GIS in retail:

Statistics on advanced visitors: Unlike standard beam break sensors, an indoor positioning system captures a massive quantity of data: the number of visitors, individual and group visitors, the average time spent in the store, the departments visited, and the time spent in each department.

Analyses of indoor location: Knowing where customers travel and how long they remain provides mall management and business owners with important information into shopper behavior, allowing them to optimize store layouts and merchandising and take initiatives to attract shoppers to underutilized areas.

Optimizations of the store: When combined with point-of-sale and inventory data, indoor positioning information enables the evaluation of the impact of layout changes, in-store reorganizations, marketing campaigns, and other activities targeted at enhancing conversions and stimulating sales.

Because the original objective of in-store navigation was to entice customers into stores and offer a far more personalized shopping experience, it's only natural that the primary benefactors of all improvements in this field are customers. The following are only a few of the significant benefits that mall navigation and positioning systems provide shoppers:

Ease of access to the required store: Modern shopping malls are massive, consisting of numerous stories and including hundreds of stores. Traditional maps are not always intuitive and might be perplexing at times. Having a simple app that directs shoppers through the maze of aisles, passageways, and food courts to their shopping destination is a convenience that today's customers adore.

The ease with which specified goods can be located: Through the use of smart in-store navigation systems, loyalty applications put on shoppers' phones may direct them to the appropriate shelf and assist them in crossing off additional items from their shopping list. If a specific item is unavailable, shoppers can immediately go online and order it from the retailer's website.

Advertisements specifically targeted: Indoor positioning systems can deliver advertising messages to passing shoppers, informing them of special discounts or new products. This way, shoppers may take advantage of deals they might have missed otherwise.