Could a shopper analytics platform shape new leasing models?
CACI, the consumer and location intelligence specialist, and O2 Motion, provider of insights on aggregated and anonymised population movement, have joined forces to create a new, comprehensive ‘intelligent footfall’ solution. Retail Destination spoke to O2 Motion spokesperson Geoff Wappett and CACI vice president Dan Parr to find out what sets the new solution apart.
First and foremost, the system tackles the data protection issue: “It works by using anonymised and aggregated data created by the mobile phone network,” explains Wappett. “As mobile devices connect to different masts, they create data footprints which we then anonymise, aggregate, and extrapolate to gain a picture of how people are travelling, when they make journeys and which areas they visit.”
The data insights they system shares never allow identification or mapping of individuals and operate within strict privacy guidelines, Wappett says.
Like most footfall analytics systems, O2 Motion exists to provide businesses with a better understanding of their customers, breaking down how actual footfall – and core demographics – change at different times of day or on different days of the week. This, he says, is the unique insight which ultimately helps users streamline marketing spend and better plan their retail estate investments and operation.
Wappett suggests that many existing solutions are falling short in their inability to account for nuances like unique visits or double counting, and are limited in the volumes of data they can provide, which can introduce sample size bias and other inconsistencies. The O2 Motion system, he says, aims to offer scale, accuracy, and consistency, with no profile bias, at any given time.
“To date, footfall counting technology hasn’t considered unique visits or double counting, this service can tackle both,” explains Parr, pointing out that new data sets such as app data profiling are very useful but fall short of the large volumes of O2 Motion is built to provide.
Beyond providing insights, the partnership hopes that the new technology will help revolutionise the current leasing models.
Parr calls the store ‘more than a transaction space’, and believes that rent rates should be based on the unit’s holistic value. He thinks the O2 motion solution could be a driving force behind CACI’s new retail lease model, which he says will be a data driven, objective means of helping landlords and retailers agree new commercial terms.
The lease model plans to utilise the anonymised, aggregated data from O2 Motion and CACI’s insight to make determining rental levels easier and fairer, creating a value based on the store’s ability to engage with its consumers and unlock spend.
“The level of accuracy provided by O2 Motion’s insight can give landlords and retailers a better picture than ever of visitor footfall,” says Wappett. “Coupled with CACI’s expertise in demographic and behavioural insights, with the new ‘intelligent footfall’ system they benefit from a fully representative sample.”
Parr adds: “From our perspective, it’s vital to provide landlords and occupiers with a deeper, more robust view of those people visiting their places and this is exactly what O2 Motion enables.”
This was first published in Retail Destination Fortnightly. Click here to subscribe.
