WCIT launches Bluetooth frequency monitor

4 Jul 2008

The latest system to be launched in the mobile space is an advance on conventional foot-counting systems at a fraction of the cost. So says Petros Kondos, director of WCIT, developers of BlueTrace. The frequency monitor system was launched last month in four South African malls, with a number more to go live in July and August.

The system operates on the basis of detecting cellphones that have Bluetooth functionality. This data is then analysed and reports are produced that provide the retailer with a deeper insight into their customer movements with an accuracy level previously unachievable.

"Customer analytics"

“In difficult trading times those malls with the most advanced customer analytics tools are at a definite advantage. If you know what your customer is doing, you can adapt your services to better leverage the spend,” explains Kondos.

So how does it work? Each Bluetooth cellphone has a unique Bluetooth ID, which does not contain any personal information or a cellphone number. The customer is therefore entirely anonymous at all times. What is important is the system's ability to identify and count a cellphone only once within a given period of time.

In addition BlueTrace can detect and recognise that same device at another point in time. Therefore a person with a Bluetooth phone can pass a specific point in a mall or store any number of times yet they will only be counted once.

The data analytics have also been extended to include the following information:

Number of times the same cellphone returns to a specific mall/store within a day, week or month
Timing of visit ie was it in the morning, afternoon or evening?
The amount of time that the device remained in that area
Entry and departure times
Patterns of customer visits

Biggest differentiator

The biggest differentiator with this system, according to Kondos, is that it counts relevant customers and not just everyone who enters the retail space on a blanket basis. It also allows the users to exclude and differentiate between mall staff and customers on the basis that a staff member's cellphone will be detected continually and daily in a mall (so that device would be excluded from the data).

Extensive comparative research around this technology and customer volumes has produced some startlingly accurate extrapolations to include total customer volumes within the retail space. On the basis of detected Bluetooth devices, BlueTrace can indicate total customer footfall within a mall or specific retail area with a given period.

Gauteng malls which are currently live with the system are Fourways Crossing, Menlyn Park, The Zone at Rosebank and Riverside Mall. Coming in the next weeks are Bedford Mall, 24 Central and Cambridge Crossing and roughly eight more.

For more information, go to www.wcit.co.za.