But what is exactly Store Analytics and how can you build the same type of capability? At Amoobi, we’ve been active with Store Analytics for more than 10 years so we know a thing or two about the topic. That’s why our expert summarized some of the key questions (and answers) about Store Analytics and how retailers and CPG can build their own version to improve space performance in-store.

download our whitepaper to learn more about the do’s and don’t of Store Analytics including answers to questions like ‘how much additional revenues can be generated’ or ‘who is doing it already’

We still get regularly the question about having in-store analytics deployed in a few stores to then derive conclusions at scale. How can it be when every store is different?

After 10 years of measuring shopper behavior in-store, we’ve discovered that many of the metrics we measure (for a certain category) are actually quite similar from one store to another : dwell time, stopping rate, conversion. They’re all pretty stable for a given category between different stores and that’s why in-store analytics is so powerful. You can learn a lot from just a few stores and then derive general merchandising rules to be deployed across your store estate.

In this whitepaper, we’re sharing multiple examples of similarties between stores.

Let me know what you think!

Click here to download the whitepaper.

Our CEO Olivier Delangre and Benoit Nachtergaele (ex-Walmart, ex-Kearney) co-authored this new report documenting their view on how to approach a performing promo strategy, a subtle balance between the right offer to attract shoppers but also the optimal amount of space to keep store operations light.

Full report

Click here to download the whitepaper.

I was joined by experts Stephan Lange from MediaMarktSaturn, Matthias Koch from xplace GmbH, Jan-Nicolas Helf from MediaMarktSaturn, and Michael J. from Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt.

The discussion was invigorating, and we began by discussing the potential of in-store analytics to learn about customer trajectories in stores. I shared some insights about shoppers in consumer electronics stores, such as the fact that they spend less than 20 minutes in a store and typically browse only two departments.

I summarized my top three insights from the exchange as follows:

1) The importance of active retailing: Michael Jungbluth stressed the importance of active retailing, which means actively adjusting stores (and the shopping experience within them) to the needs of shoppers using tools such as Amoobi. Shoppers are influenced by five key parameters: convenience, relevance, experience, empowerments and savings, and so on. In-store analytics like Amoobi can help retailers track which tactics are influencing these dimensions. No e-commerce retailer would exist today without A/B testing, so why not do the same in-store?

2) The future of stores: Jan-Nicholas Helf emphasized the importance of providing an enhanced customer experience, specifically a great « product » experience. How can we ensure that visitors to the store have a great product experience and get the best advice from MediaMarkt experts? I also stressed the importance of efficiency. Year after year, we see in Amoobi data that shoppers are spending less and less time in stores. Before spending money, shoppers spend time, so providing an efficient customer experience is essential.

3) The opportunity of retail media: Stephan Lange highlighted the importance of in-store digital screens. These digital touchpoints have a promising future, as they can help shoppers find deals and browse the store more easily. This can then be measured and analyzed using in-store analytics. There is a huge opportunity to monetize the tens of thousands of screens already deployed in MediaMarkt stores across Europe.

I believe that the insights shared during the panel discussion provide valuable food for thought for retailers who are looking to future-proof their businesses. By actively adjusting stores to the needs of shoppers and providing an efficient and enhanced customer experience, retailers can ensure that they remain relevant in the years to come.

So here it is, we’ve compiled 10 of the most typical behaviors observed across our projects and we’re happy to share it today. Which ones make sense, which ones are surprising?

Click here to download the whitepaper.

So, instead of trying to summarize it all, I’ve decided to share my key learnings from the conference with a focus on space planning. A charter focused on space planning was started about a year ago inside the CMA. It’s growing in speed and ambition under the leadership of Flora Delaney. There are so many exciting things going on in this field that it’s definitely worth watching (if interested, check out https://spaceplanning.global/ ).

Space planning is a critical aspect of retail merchandising that requires careful consideration and attention to detail. Being floor planning, planogramming, or space analytics, space planners must ensure that products are displayed effectively and customers can easily find what they are looking for. However, there are several challenges associated with space planning that retailers must contend with, making it an exciting but complex field.

Many exciting challenges and opportunities in space planning

As covered in the “Space planning for non-professionals” session, one of the most significant challenges retailers face when it comes to space planning is managing conflicting requests from various stakeholders. Operations, category, and merchandising leadership often have different priorities (stock holding, assortment reduction, customer experience, etc.), which can make it challenging to come up with a cohesive plan. 

The first step is defining categories. It is essential to start with an alignment on each category definition and which products belong in each category. It’s also essential to align on the core goals that we’re trying to achieve and to work as a team. 

While theory and tools are helpful for space planning, walking the store is also crucial — both your own stores and competitor stores! It allows us to see firsthand how customers interact with products and what colleagues experience as potential difficulties. That way, we can visualize how the assortment is presented in a real environment. 

Omnichannel retailing also brings new challenges. Online promotions delivered from the store can be a challenge, altering how space productivity is usually measured (with ‘real’ shoppers).

Another challenge retailers face is the disconnect between shopper insight teams and space planning teams. While shopper insights provide valuable information about customer behavior, it can be challenging to translate that information into actionable plans for space planning (or simply make it available to space planners).

Finally, there are several aspects of space planning that cannot be solved by planograms alone, such as how/where to integrate new segments or innovations into existing plans, where to integrate new signage/education material, how to improve adjacencies within a category but also across categories in the store or where to locate the customer service in store. This is particularly relevant to Amoobi as it is an area where we bring a lot of value.

Innovative technologies for category managers and space planners

Despite these challenges, several exciting technologies are emerging that can help space planners and category managers optimize their processes. For example, artificial intelligence can make decision-making on assortment more rapid by analyzing and making recommendations based on customer data. Examples were presented by Hivery in a session co-presented with Tyson as their AI platform provided Tyson with store-specific assortment recommendations. This allowed Tyson to focus on the top 150 stores where the change was going to deliver the biggest return. 

Tools, like ShelfIQ (by Nuqleous), can speed up the process of building planograms for each store, though creating a personalized planogram for each store remains an (unrealistic) dream for now. We also observed multiple 3D/VR solutions (like Incontext or 345). A full virtual environment (digital twin) can enhance collaboration between teams and offers more flexibility. Can a fully virtual environment be realistic and compliant enough to be a useful tool in the future?

Many new solutions struggle to cope with the reality of the store: how to integrate the realogram (instead of theoretical planogram), how to deal with dual locations, and potential issues with the new products launched with an AI model built on past data. 

Amoobi, with our in-store customer tracking solution, has an opportunity to transform space planning by using customer data to inform plans. While many solutions are still focused on legacy 1P data like sales, product, and space, incorporating customer data (like we do) provides critical insights into customer behavior and preferences — e.g., where shoppers stop, the sections jointly visited by shoppers, and the conversion of each section) — enabling you to make more informed decisions about space allocation in the store. 

A brilliant future!

What’s next in Space Planning was discussed in the « State of Space Planning » Panel (Jenny Tornow, Chris DeFinizio, Kent Rodina and Flora Delaney). Looking to the future, space planners must develop skills to adapt to the changing retail landscape. Understanding operations, precision, an analytical mind, and even courage are among the skills space planners need to be successful as the field progresses. The role of space planners will evolve and partnerships between space planning and other teams will be key. How can we create bridges between space planners and CPG companies but also integrate the space planners in the category strategy? Space planners must be at the decision table. 

Solution providers must continue to innovate and try to better understand each retailer and their own process. They must become even stronger partners to space planners to tackle the growing number of challenges ahead. 

Despite several challenges associated with space planning, emerging technologies like AI and image recognition offer significant potential to help retailers optimize their processes. Looking to the future, space planners must continue to develop their skills and adapt to the changing retail landscape. Great challenges ahead but also exhilarating innovations on the horizon. We’re excited to be part of it!

Every industry has buzzwords. While some buzzwords are industry-specific, there are some words and phrases any person working in a twenty-first century corporate environment will recognize:

“Let’s circle back on this.”

“We should take this offline.”

“This is great for visibility.”

However, there is one buzzword that everyone in retail has heard at least one time or another; one that has been said at every board meeting, VC funding round, and company retreat since the rise of ecommerce:

“Omnichannel.”

Omnichannel strategy, by definition, is the strategy related to integrating the shopper experience so it’s optimized between all touch points (website, app, store, etc.). This could be something as simple as an in-store loyalty program that can be accessed from a cellphone, or as complex as a phone application giving a shopper custom advice as they wander through a brick-and-mortar location.

One significant way omnichannel has become more present in retail is through the integration of the online shopping experience and the brick-and-mortar one. But why should they be integrated? As ecommerce becomes more important to everyday shopping behavior (something the COVID-19 pandemic solidified), the question comes naturally: is brick and mortar still relevant?

No one can predict the future, but the numbers indicate that while the rise of ecommerce may negatively impact some brick-and-mortar retailers, it will not stop the act of shopping in real life. Walmart still remains at the top of the Fortune Global 500, as does Amazon. And while Amazon is primarily an ecommerce player, both organizations are continuing to further their ventures into the omnichannel space.

Amazon is continuing its rollout of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations, allowing for a contactless walk-in walk-out experience, in both large and small formats. Walmart has put almost $1.2 billion into its ecommerce program and continues to utilize its vast store and supply chain network to make the connection between stores and online seamless. Ventures such as Online Grocery Pickup (OGP), Pickup Today, and geo-fencing (a technology that notifies the store when a specific customer is in the parking lot) show the strides Walmart is making in its competition with Amazon. Both retail giants are showing a solid commitment to pushing the omnichannel boundary. But while these technological advancements provide huge benefits to the customer, can they also provide benefits to the retailers themselves?

Yes: through data. Amazon, Walmart, and every other major retail player are constantly collecting customer data. In doing so, they are solidifying their ability to map out the experience customers have online and in-store. Ecommerce retailers already have an almost exact view of how their customers are shopping, from start to finish. I’ve seen it firsthand: I started my retail career as a buyer in Walmart’s ecommerce division and was constantly floored by the sheer amount of information I had access to. There is an endless breadth of data available to ecommerce merchants: exactly how long customers spend on the product display pages of top sellers; how long customers spend on a page before they exit; what products are getting viewed but are not converting. It’s an almost limitless analytical experience, and one that is very difficult to replicate in a brick-and-mortar environment.

Or is it?

While major players in the space are focused on making sure the distinction between online and stores becomes a blurred line, there are other players who continue to focus on data-driven solutions. Though it won’t help in the traditional “omnichannel mission,” as it were, it will help put the two platforms on even footing. Brick and mortar retailers need to begin thinking more deeply about the technology available to them, and stop believing that generic industry reports will help them make the right decisions. Companies like Focal Systems seek to eliminate the lack of real-time insight into out of stocks; companies like Amoobi seek to eliminate the uncertainty around what customers are actually doing on the store floor. The resources are there; companies just need to seek them. The omnichannel solution is easier to implement when you have a clear understanding of behavior on all sides of the equation, and that knowledge exists for the taking.

The buzzword “omnichannel” is here to stay, with every competitive retailer adopting some strategy related to it; however, a solid omnichannel strategy does not guarantee structured decision making. Until retailers approach their shopper behavior from a specific, analytical point of view, the information they base their decisions on will always be limited. The world is changing fast, and every retailer needs to ensure they are equipped with the correct tools to change right along with it.

Check it out and let me know what you think