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What is store analytics? Five ways to measure a physical store
An online shop knows every click; a physical store often knows only what went through the till. Store analytics fills that gap: how many people came in, where they stopped, which product they reached for and why they did not buy it. Five data sources, the question each answers, and which to start with.
Definition
Store analytics is the set of methods and tools that turn what happens in a physical store into measurable data: sales, visitor numbers, how shoppers move through the store and how they interact with products. It is the store-facing part of retail analytics; stock, assortment and e-commerce data are the other parts. The aim is to put an answer to "what happened before the sale" next to "what sold".
Five data sources, side by side
| Data source | Question it answers | Where it comes from | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales (POS) | What sold, when, how many? | The till system | Who reached for what did not sell |
| People counting | How many came in, what is the conversion rate? | A counter at the entrance | What they did inside |
| Heatmaps and paths | Where did shoppers walk and stop? | Wide-angle ceiling cameras | Whether stopping near a product was interest |
| Shelf and stock monitoring | Are there gaps, is the planogram followed? | Shelf-facing cameras, handhelds or counts | What shoppers did with the product |
| Product interaction | Which product was picked up, how long was it held, was it put back? | Cameras close to the products | The sale itself: that comes from the till |
Which question, which data
- "Are enough people coming in?" People counting plus sales gives the conversion rate. The people counter guide starts here.
- "Which part of the store stays empty?" Heatmap and path data.
- "Why is this product not selling: nobody sees it, or they see it and do not like it?" Product interaction. A product nobody picks up and one that is picked up and put back have different problems.
- "Did the new layout work?" Before and after with the same measure: in-store A/B testing.
- "Does the screen content change anything?" Product interaction read together with what was on screen: screen content testing.
Where to start
Pick the question you most want answered first, then the tool that collects its data. Most retailers start from till data, and the first addition is usually visitor numbers, because "how many of those who came in bought" says a lot on its own. Product-level questions (which model, which colour, why it keeps being put back) can only be answered by a measure that sees the products.
When choosing a tool, ask three things: is the data per product and colour, or only per zone? Where are images processed, and is there face recognition? How long does adding a product take? The detailed questions are in the buyer's checklist, the privacy questions in the privacy checklist.
Where GoTrack fits
GoTrack is computer vision retail analytics software that runs on standard cameras, and of these five sources it measures product interaction: which product and colour is picked up, how long it is held and whether it goes back to the shelf. On request it also counts visitors with the same cameras. It does not see the sale; a sales figure comes from joining GoTrack's exports with the retailer's own till data. It uses no face recognition and processes images on a device in the store.
Questions
How is GoTrack different from people counters and heatmaps?
People counters count who comes in, heatmaps show where people walk, and shelf recognition checks what is on the shelf. GoTrack measures what shoppers do with the products themselves: which product and colour is picked up, how long it is held, and which are put back or compared. Visitor counting can be added on request.
Does GoTrack count people?
On request, yes. GoTrack's standard reports are about products: what shoppers pick up, hold and put back. For stores that also need visitor numbers, GoTrack can count visitors with the same cameras, anonymously and without face recognition; it is set up per project.
Can GoTrack show whether sales went up?
Not on its own. GoTrack measures what happens at the shelf — pickups, hold time and put-backs — and does not read POS data. To relate interest to sales, join GoTrack's CSV exports or webhook events with your own sales data.
Which reports does GoTrack produce?
Pickups, hold time, put-backs, never-touched products and products compared together, per product, colour, zone, hour and store; store visits; and, with screens, which content goes with longer holds. Every report can be filtered by store and exported as CSV or PDF.
Does GoTrack use face recognition?
No. There is no face recognition, no face template, no biometric matching, and no shopper is recognised across visits.
Which question do you want answered in your stores?
Tell us; we will look together at which data answers it and where GoTrack helps.
or write to info@gotonom.com