Heat maps are produced using video analytics software tools which track shoppers through the store. They are a type of data visualisation which uses colours to represent information such as high and low trafficked areas, time spent, and interaction with products in a simple image with high accuracy.
There are two types of heatmaps: heatmaps based on footfall and heatmaps based on time spent. Both will expose the hot spots, dead areas and bottlenecks in your store at your chosen date and time.
Such data should dictate your store layout since you’ll know which products your customers engage with most.
For examples, by identifying high trafficked areas you can optimise the exposure of certain products such as new collections, holiday specials, and sale items.
Similarly, if you discover that one of your shelves not getting traction, you might decide to do A/B testing with differently priced products or make it stand out more. You can track the success of the changes implemented by checking the heatmaps over the next few days or weeks and even compare it with other shelves in the store.
Knowing how consumers navigate the store, you can plan in-store promotional activities and accurately predict the impressions. You can also place staff in the right areas which will allow shoppers to get help quick and efficiently, leading to improved brand experience and eventually, loyalty.
The quick visual overview of store performance and consumer behaviour saves huge amounts of time and resources. Sharing this data between management, merchandising, buying, R&D, and other teams will save time and help them with their decisions.
Ultimately, with heat maps, you can quickly assess store performance and compare it with other stores. Looking at customer traffic pattern, you can see which areas are most and least profitable giving you the opportunity optimise the store layout quickly while saving resources.