Jan 16, 2009Time Domain Corp., a provider of a real-time location system (RTLS) based on ultra-wideband (UWB) RFID technology, has teamed with ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a firm that helps retailers and other clients track and analyze customer traffic via video cameras and business-intelligence software. The two companies have combined their respective systems to create FloorTrak, a retail solution that can monitor the locations and movements of employees using UWB technology, then merge that information with data collected by video cameras to obtain a more accurate picture of the flow of shoppers through the store, as well as their interactions with employees.
Time Domain's PLUS platform consists of active UWB RFID tags, interrogators, ceiling-tile antennas, synchronization distribution panels and software. UWB tags emit a series of extremely short signals (billionths of a second or shorter), each spanning a wide band of frequencies between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz. The pulsed signals act much like sonar waves, enabling the system to determine distance by measuring the length of time it takes a pulse to travel from one point (such as a tag) to another (such as an interrogator), and using time distance of arrival (TDOA) technology to calculate a person's location.
ShopperTrak's Orbit device utilizes two on-board video cameras with high-speed processing components that compile and analyze the video collected. The cameras can be installed at chokepoints, such as at the entrances to stores and dressing room areas, to unobtrusively track patrons' movements and compile that information into customer counts.
The difficulty, however, is that Orbit is unable to distinguish between staff members and customers. So to obtain a more exact count, the two firms combined their technologies so employees could be separated out from the customer counts. Workers can wear Time Domain's PLUS RTLS tags placed on lanyards, or behind their nametags. Each RTLS tag transmits a unique ID number that can be correlated with a specific employee in the FloorTrak solution.
FloorTrak includes a PLUS reader and the Orbit video sensors, connected to each other via a cable. The devices can be positioned above each store or dressing-room entrance, or above a pass-through area. When a tagged employee moves through a coverage zone, the PLUS reader captures the tag's unique ID, which is transmitted to the Orbit sensor and processor unit.
In order to enable the PLUS system to work with Orbit, Time Domain had to adjust its interrogator so its read range, or zone—the area surrounding a specific chokepoint—would match the range of the Orbit system, explains Greg Clawson, the company's VP of sales and marketing. "We match the UWB read zone with the video read zone," he says, "and that is important because you don't want to capture employees that are near the chokepoint."
FloorTrak can also help retailers determine if and how their staff interacts with shoppers that enter the dressing rooms. "There is a lot of research in retail that if you have the right employees working with customers at fitting rooms, then sales can go up," Clawson says. "And that directly impacts their revenues."
By positioning FloorTrak at dressing room entrances, a business can determine which staff member is working a particular dressing room, and also compare employee counts with customer counts. By analyzing data captured by FloorTrak, retailers can make sure their best-trained workers are positioned at dressing rooms as often as possible, and at times of the day when customer traffic is typically higher in the dressing rooms.
FloorTrak is currently being tested at two retailers: a specialty apparel store and an automotive retailer. Neither has yet agreed to speak publicly, though Clawson says both have been using the solution in multiple stores. The apparel retailer has been using FloorTrak since November to analyze traffic in and out of its dressing rooms. Employees wear the PLUS tags on lanyards. "This is an ongoing pilot," he notes, "and the retailer used FloorTrak to collect data over the holidays and is now analyzing that data."
The automotive retailer has been testing FloorTrak since July 2008 in six of its locations, mainly to separate employees from shoppers at store entrances. The PLUS tags are affixed to the backs of the workers' name badges. "At these stores, employees go in and out of the stores to help customers whose cars are in the parking lots," Clawson says. The retailer may opt to expand the project in 2009, he adds, and may also consider using the system to track assets. "There are a lot of specialty tools and diagnostics tools that go in and out of the store, so you could tag those assets to know when they went out and in."
FloorTrak is currently available from ShopperTrak.
