How to get into the head to the visitor, or about Wi-Fi analytics
Imagine, we can analyze the way customers with grocery carts: how and where they moved. Based on this, you can improve merchandising, explore which products from which groups they buy together and much more. But the most interesting begins when a person already arrives at the cashier: time spent in the store, the route and its final purchase can be synchronized, and the customer can also combine this information with its loyalty program.
One of the largest developers of Wi-Fi analytics in Russia, used in retail, shopping centers and at HoReCa, shares its secrets.
Any modern phone has a Wi-Fi module, and if it is turned on (and usually it is turned on), then without the knowledge of the owner, it starts sending multiple signals. These guys are “catching” the signals with the help of TP-Link equipment and their firmware. The signal contains the MAC address of the phone, the power with which the signal was sent, and the time it was sent. There are over 15 different offline metrics that can be calculated based on this data. Here are some of them:
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Now many are trying to work with a loyal mass of the audience, because purchasing power of the population decreases. In shopping centers, for example, 80-85% loyal audience, because Visitors are mostly residents of nearby houses or office workers. Therefore, shopping centers are trying to attract them, reward them for visiting and stimulate purchases.
TP-Link equipment can operate in various modes.
We promote Wi-Fi not only as a service for visitors, but also as a profitable resource for businesses and customers. Now access to the Internet for visitors is an unprofitable article for many companies. We see the opportunity to make the provision of Wi-Fi for visitors a profitable article.
Wi-Fi is a way to communicate with the client. Our project partner Shopster comments: “You can communicate with the client in different ways. For example, a user who connected to a guest Wi-Fi, saw a banner / video, etc. - this is already a communication. But we go even further, create complex integration systems with the customer. Wi-Fi can be a tool for recruiting into a loyalty program. ”
For example, you can make a link between the Wi-Fi analytics system and the customer's CRM system and, when the visitor connects to the network, run several scenarios.
One of these scenarios is when a user reconnects to a customer’s network — for example, in another coffee shop or restaurant on the same network. Under the law on the provision of public Wi-Fi networks when connected, the user is obliged to leave contact details and confirm the phone number. Since the system is one, when you first connect the user's MAC address and his phone number is stored in a common database. And the next time when the same user uses Wi-Fi in another coffee shop network, he will not have to re-authorize.
Another scenario is that when a user connects to the customer’s network, where Wi-Fi is used as a recruiting tool in a loyalty program, the CRM system has already been asked if this user is a member of your loyalty program. If "no", then the user is shown a questionnaire or any other form where you need to fill in only partial information (for example, name, gender, age), and the phone number is already there. He can only confirm - and the profile immediately flies into the CRM-system, and on the user's smartphone or tablet, immediately opens a personal account. Such a scenario facilitates interaction and increases the likelihood that a user will become a member of a customer loyalty program.
One big client of the Wi-Fi analytics system, Shopster, actively uses this tool, but in this case it’s not the recruiting to the loyalty program, but the following.
The synergy between the analytics product and the hotspot product is important. When there is a bunch of MAC address + phone number, then the system can work as a trigger platform . For example, take a jewelry store. We see the user walking past a jewelry store. We send this information to the customer's CRM system in real time, and she sees that such a number is in the database and he often buys jewelry. The customer understands that he can communicate with this user: send an SMS, for example, about available bonuses or a notice of a closed sale. As a result, the potential buyer receives an interesting offer exactly when he passes by the customer's window. It turns out such a bunch of loyalty programs, analysts and hotspot.
In a typical scenario, SMS with stocks almost always come at the wrong time. For example, you are at home, and some well-known sports brand sends SMS, that 1000 bonuses have accumulated in your account and you need to spend them until the end of the weekend. It is unlikely that this will encourage you to pack up, go to the store and buy something.
Shopster's idea is to do what is now called “Super Geo Communication” in the world of Internet marketing. That is, the Wi-Fi analytics system works as a trigger - it “catches” the MAC address and phone number of the user and sends it to the customer’s system. The latter (if it has permission) builds communication with the user: sends SMS at the right moment.
Further - more interesting. Maxim Telecom’s company, which provides Wi-Fi in the metro, has a base of over 19,000,000 MAC address bundles with telephone numbers. With this database, you can expand the coverage and work as a trigger.
TP-Link equipment with Shopster firmware installed in various stores and shopping centers catches MAC addresses, which are later transferred to the Maxim Telecom system, where MAC address is recognized by which phone number it belongs to. The text of the SMS message prepared in advance by the customer on behalf of Wi-Fi.ru is sent to the person who at some point passes by the store. The probability of “hooking” a passing person increases significantly.
This process is called the expansion of the audience, and this is a new tool that Maxima Telecom is now launching in conjunction with Shopster.
Another new product, which is now launching Shopster with TP-Link and major customers, is an online and offline combination tool. TP-Link equipment, together with the Shopster firmware, became a bridge connecting the physical world and the Internet world. It is no secret that on the Internet all sites monitor users, they put cookies on them, and Shopster catches their MAC addresses. So, Shopster learned to combine Cookies with MAC addresses: Shopster transmits them to large Internet sites, and recognition takes place on their side. Here is what it gives:
Another product at the junction of network equipment, software and Bluetooth technologies: a Bluetooth adapter with modified firmware is inserted into the device, and it is possible to work with iBeacon or Eddystone, which provides reasonably accurate indoor navigation (Indoor navigation).
Indoor navigation can exist as a standalone product for visitors (such navigation is already working in one of the central shopping and entertainment centers of Moscow (Shopster client)) or as an auxiliary solution for business (for example, personnel tracking).
Personnel tracking is a narrow need of retail. A consulting model is in demand in retail, that is, the consultant must necessarily communicate with the visitor in the store to increase the likelihood of purchase. Therefore, it is very important that the consultants during the work are in the sales area, and not, say, in the outbuildings or in the warehouse. When implementing a tracking system, you will see where employees go, what areas they are in. From this it is already possible to build statistics. And you can memorize the routes of visitors through the grocery carts. At the checkout, the same cart (and with it all the information collected) can be uniquely “tied” to the customer's number in the loyalty program, if he participates in it. This gives the store even more chances to please its regular customer and earn more.
In this case, a more serious mathematics is involved: Bayesian filters, a lot of linear algebra and machine learning.
The architecture of Wi-Fi analytics Shopster consists of three layers:
Now it's time to go through the main components of the system.
The server part is a collection of data storage clusters, a server with preprocessing services, as well as separate tools that provide the target functionality of each part of the solution. It uses both virtual and physical servers in several independent data centers (chipcore (select), firstDEDIC, firstVDS).
This distribution of power is important because it takes a lot of data to process.
All solutions can be implemented on the basis of even one TP-Link device.
In 95% of Shopster projects in retail, shopping centers and HoReCa facilities (and this is about 2,500 devices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, million-plus cities and other small cities), TP-Link equipment is used.
“The TP-Link equipment we use possesses characteristics that allow working in all modes without failures and stable. We are currently working on TP-Link EAP115 , EAP110 Auranet models. CPE210 v.1 and EAP110-Outdoor outdoor solutions are tested .
TP-Link Wi-Fi Ceiling Access Point, Auranet Series, EAP115
TP-Link 9 dBi outdoor Wi-Fi access point, Pharos lineup, CPE210
TP-Link equipment has a good service life - it has been working stably for a long time: the vast majority of locations have not had any equipment changes since 2013, ”commented Ilya Spasenov, co-founder of Shopster.
The system is based on a whole set of interesting algorithms, ranging from “smart” calibration of objects to data-mining algorithms. Even the seemingly trivial tasks at the level of the formation and processing of technical logs are in fact not so simple. A lot of the developers and hardware resources of the device are spent on fighting noise and radio interference. About 60-70% of signals are garbage that will not participate in “useful” calculations.
As Shopster describes: “Our work in Wi-Fi analytics sometimes resembles the work of a taxidermist (a person who creates stuffed animals) that brought a rabbit carcass torn by a grenade. You are trying to make “beautiful” for some pieces.
Wi-Fi analytics and earnings are synonymous. With the help of Wi-Fi analytics you can get unique analytical data, unique sales tools. Moreover, it is inexpensive and applicable in different conditions.
One of the largest developers of Wi-Fi analytics in Russia, used in retail, shopping centers and at HoReCa, shares its secrets.
Offline metrics
Any modern phone has a Wi-Fi module, and if it is turned on (and usually it is turned on), then without the knowledge of the owner, it starts sending multiple signals. These guys are “catching” the signals with the help of TP-Link equipment and their firmware. The signal contains the MAC address of the phone, the power with which the signal was sent, and the time it was sent. There are over 15 different offline metrics that can be calculated based on this data. Here are some of them:
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- Entry rate - a metric that shows how many people passed by the location and how many of them entered it. Entry rate allows you to assess the potential location, the volume of the audience with which the business works, as well as analyze the effectiveness of a particular marketing activity. Due to the fact that the MAC address is an individual telephone identifier and, as a rule, it does not repeat, with its help such parameters as “new visitor”, “repeated visitor”, etc. are evaluated.
- Frequency is an important parameter especially for retail. This metric shows the frequency with which new or repeated visitors come to one or another object; you can see the cycle of repeated visits.
- Routes . If there are several data collection points, you can analyze the routes of visitors, the proportion of people entering certain premises (shops), etc. You can unite people in groups and analyze how they, visiting tenant X, went to tenant Y, went to the cinema and so on - and on the basis of this information, develop a loyalty program.
Now many are trying to work with a loyal mass of the audience, because purchasing power of the population decreases. In shopping centers, for example, 80-85% loyal audience, because Visitors are mostly residents of nearby houses or office workers. Therefore, shopping centers are trying to attract them, reward them for visiting and stimulate purchases.
- Average time This is what affects our purchases, because the more time we spend in the store, the higher the likelihood that we will buy something. It is generally difficult to leave the shopping center without buying: there is more opportunity to spend a huge amount of time and, accordingly, to buy something, go to the cinema, etc.
- Intersections are another very interesting metric for business. This metric shows where else visitors of the same location go within the Wi-Fi analytics eco-system, including amusement parks and sports facilities. This data, for example, allows the company to better understand the behavioral portrait of its consumer.
Modes of operation
TP-Link equipment can operate in various modes.
- Providing Internet access for staff and visitors
We promote Wi-Fi not only as a service for visitors, but also as a profitable resource for businesses and customers. Now access to the Internet for visitors is an unprofitable article for many companies. We see the opportunity to make the provision of Wi-Fi for visitors a profitable article.
- Loyalty Program Recruiting Tool
Wi-Fi is a way to communicate with the client. Our project partner Shopster comments: “You can communicate with the client in different ways. For example, a user who connected to a guest Wi-Fi, saw a banner / video, etc. - this is already a communication. But we go even further, create complex integration systems with the customer. Wi-Fi can be a tool for recruiting into a loyalty program. ”
For example, you can make a link between the Wi-Fi analytics system and the customer's CRM system and, when the visitor connects to the network, run several scenarios.
One of these scenarios is when a user reconnects to a customer’s network — for example, in another coffee shop or restaurant on the same network. Under the law on the provision of public Wi-Fi networks when connected, the user is obliged to leave contact details and confirm the phone number. Since the system is one, when you first connect the user's MAC address and his phone number is stored in a common database. And the next time when the same user uses Wi-Fi in another coffee shop network, he will not have to re-authorize.
Another scenario is that when a user connects to the customer’s network, where Wi-Fi is used as a recruiting tool in a loyalty program, the CRM system has already been asked if this user is a member of your loyalty program. If "no", then the user is shown a questionnaire or any other form where you need to fill in only partial information (for example, name, gender, age), and the phone number is already there. He can only confirm - and the profile immediately flies into the CRM-system, and on the user's smartphone or tablet, immediately opens a personal account. Such a scenario facilitates interaction and increases the likelihood that a user will become a member of a customer loyalty program.
One big client of the Wi-Fi analytics system, Shopster, actively uses this tool, but in this case it’s not the recruiting to the loyalty program, but the following.
Trigger platform
The synergy between the analytics product and the hotspot product is important. When there is a bunch of MAC address + phone number, then the system can work as a trigger platform . For example, take a jewelry store. We see the user walking past a jewelry store. We send this information to the customer's CRM system in real time, and she sees that such a number is in the database and he often buys jewelry. The customer understands that he can communicate with this user: send an SMS, for example, about available bonuses or a notice of a closed sale. As a result, the potential buyer receives an interesting offer exactly when he passes by the customer's window. It turns out such a bunch of loyalty programs, analysts and hotspot.
In a typical scenario, SMS with stocks almost always come at the wrong time. For example, you are at home, and some well-known sports brand sends SMS, that 1000 bonuses have accumulated in your account and you need to spend them until the end of the weekend. It is unlikely that this will encourage you to pack up, go to the store and buy something.
Shopster's idea is to do what is now called “Super Geo Communication” in the world of Internet marketing. That is, the Wi-Fi analytics system works as a trigger - it “catches” the MAC address and phone number of the user and sends it to the customer’s system. The latter (if it has permission) builds communication with the user: sends SMS at the right moment.
Audience extension tool
Further - more interesting. Maxim Telecom’s company, which provides Wi-Fi in the metro, has a base of over 19,000,000 MAC address bundles with telephone numbers. With this database, you can expand the coverage and work as a trigger.
How it works?
TP-Link equipment with Shopster firmware installed in various stores and shopping centers catches MAC addresses, which are later transferred to the Maxim Telecom system, where MAC address is recognized by which phone number it belongs to. The text of the SMS message prepared in advance by the customer on behalf of Wi-Fi.ru is sent to the person who at some point passes by the store. The probability of “hooking” a passing person increases significantly.
This process is called the expansion of the audience, and this is a new tool that Maxima Telecom is now launching in conjunction with Shopster.
Online offline tool
Another new product, which is now launching Shopster with TP-Link and major customers, is an online and offline combination tool. TP-Link equipment, together with the Shopster firmware, became a bridge connecting the physical world and the Internet world. It is no secret that on the Internet all sites monitor users, they put cookies on them, and Shopster catches their MAC addresses. So, Shopster learned to combine Cookies with MAC addresses: Shopster transmits them to large Internet sites, and recognition takes place on their side. Here is what it gives:
- You can form a clearer picture of the interests and not only of your target audience.
- You can evaluate the effectiveness of investment in advertising (contextual advertising, banners, etc.) - for example, conversion from advertising on the Internet. Previously, the classic offline business was quite difficult to do. Now Wi-Fi analytics from Shopster can help - by collecting MAC addresses offline, for example, you can identify how many people from those who watched an online ad, visited an offline location, and much more.
- Also, these data can be used for the purpose of retargeting - you can collect the audience that came to a particular store in one segment and provide it to the customer. After that, the customer can very targeted or “Super Geo” direct online communication to these users, lure them, stimulate their return and thus develop loyalty. This is a new product that many customers are beginning to use.
Another product at the junction of network equipment, software and Bluetooth technologies: a Bluetooth adapter with modified firmware is inserted into the device, and it is possible to work with iBeacon or Eddystone, which provides reasonably accurate indoor navigation (Indoor navigation).
Indoor navigation can exist as a standalone product for visitors (such navigation is already working in one of the central shopping and entertainment centers of Moscow (Shopster client)) or as an auxiliary solution for business (for example, personnel tracking).
Personnel tracking is a narrow need of retail. A consulting model is in demand in retail, that is, the consultant must necessarily communicate with the visitor in the store to increase the likelihood of purchase. Therefore, it is very important that the consultants during the work are in the sales area, and not, say, in the outbuildings or in the warehouse. When implementing a tracking system, you will see where employees go, what areas they are in. From this it is already possible to build statistics. And you can memorize the routes of visitors through the grocery carts. At the checkout, the same cart (and with it all the information collected) can be uniquely “tied” to the customer's number in the loyalty program, if he participates in it. This gives the store even more chances to please its regular customer and earn more.
In this case, a more serious mathematics is involved: Bayesian filters, a lot of linear algebra and machine learning.
Architecture
The architecture of Wi-Fi analytics Shopster consists of three layers:
- Infrastructure. It collects and sends data. At this level, it is important to ensure equipment control, sufficient resiliency and monitoring.
- Data storage. Since this is about working with a large amount of information, it needs to be properly prepared and properly stored - in order to quickly process it in the future.
- Business Logic. Since the system has a high natural complexity, it is important to be able to correctly calculate complex analytical metrics based on the stored data.
Now it's time to go through the main components of the system.
Server part of the solution
The server part is a collection of data storage clusters, a server with preprocessing services, as well as separate tools that provide the target functionality of each part of the solution. It uses both virtual and physical servers in several independent data centers (chipcore (select), firstDEDIC, firstVDS).
This distribution of power is important because it takes a lot of data to process.
Hardware
All solutions can be implemented on the basis of even one TP-Link device.
In 95% of Shopster projects in retail, shopping centers and HoReCa facilities (and this is about 2,500 devices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, million-plus cities and other small cities), TP-Link equipment is used.
“The TP-Link equipment we use possesses characteristics that allow working in all modes without failures and stable. We are currently working on TP-Link EAP115 , EAP110 Auranet models. CPE210 v.1 and EAP110-Outdoor outdoor solutions are tested .
TP-Link 9 dBi outdoor Wi-Fi access point, Pharos lineup, CPE210
TP-Link equipment has a good service life - it has been working stably for a long time: the vast majority of locations have not had any equipment changes since 2013, ”commented Ilya Spasenov, co-founder of Shopster.
It is not that simple
The system is based on a whole set of interesting algorithms, ranging from “smart” calibration of objects to data-mining algorithms. Even the seemingly trivial tasks at the level of the formation and processing of technical logs are in fact not so simple. A lot of the developers and hardware resources of the device are spent on fighting noise and radio interference. About 60-70% of signals are garbage that will not participate in “useful” calculations.
As Shopster describes: “Our work in Wi-Fi analytics sometimes resembles the work of a taxidermist (a person who creates stuffed animals) that brought a rabbit carcass torn by a grenade. You are trying to make “beautiful” for some pieces.
Instead of conclusion
Wi-Fi analytics and earnings are synonymous. With the help of Wi-Fi analytics you can get unique analytical data, unique sales tools. Moreover, it is inexpensive and applicable in different conditions.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/341560/
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