Pevec d.d. is a large Croatian retail chain which has offered a wide range of non-food articles since 1990. Today Pevec operates thirteen retail stores nationwide, with surface areas of 4,500 up to 17,000 m² and employs 900 personnel in total. To prevent theft and burglaries, video surveillance cameras have been installed in all stores since their opening. In addition development of technology is continually monitored, and new technologies, such as video content analysis, have been implemented. Recently, the marketing department also became aware of the benefits of these cameras. Hence numerous RC100-5100 mini dome cameras and RC1100-1241 box cameras from Riva have been installed in Pevec stores, to count customers and therefore optimise marketing activities and plan sales space. Additionally the Riva cameras are used to extend the existing security system.

The mini dome RC100-5100 is a H.264 2-way audio IP camera with CMOS sensor for indoor use and offers a frame rate of up to 30 fps. The Riva RC1100-1241 box camera is equipped with a mechanical IR cut filter and is therefore ideally suitable for day and night usage. Like all Riva cameras both devices include the intelligent video analytics, powered by VCA Technology, as a standard feature at no extra costs. Additionally, the cameras have been equipped with a filter for People Counting. Thus customers in large groups can be counted easily, entrances and exits can be differentiated and data can be transferred in real time. The cameras have been integrated in the existing security system quickly and easily.

The installation was carried out by Alarm Automatika Ltd., one of the largest regional distributors of security solutions. Their core business for the past ten years had been maintaining security of more complex buildings using several electronic security systems. Today, Alarm Automatika offers complete solutions to their customers - from project to realisation, maintenance and software integration.

Nowadays People Counting is a common marketing instrument because it provides reliable data to analyse customer behaviour. These data are very important to evaluate and therefore to optimise point of sale activities. Using the People Counting filter the evaluation can be made easily and quickly: Firstly, the number of customers is counted. If the visitor amount increases within a promotion period, then the promotion can therefore be valued as a short-term success. After finishing a promotion it is measured, if the additionally acquired customers continue to visit the store then the promotion can be deemed as a long-term success.

Another important point is that the marketing department needs to clarify, how many customers are actually buyers. This can be found out easily by comparing People Counting data with cash desk data. If many people visit the store but only a few are buying, the product range, product presentation or product placement should be rearranged. If less people visit the store but most of them are buyers, marketing activities, pursuing the main objective to attract new customers, should take place.

Another advantage of People Counting is the reduction in labour costs. With a full knowledge of the customer numbers at specific times of day, weekdays and seasonal periods, the number of employees can be defined perfectly. On top of that, opening hours can be optimised depending on how longer opening hours influence customer behaviour. For example, are more customers visiting the store or are regular customers only being spread over the longer period?

Cameras in selected parts of a store generate even more benefits. For example due to People Counting the sales floor can be used better. This is very important for large retail stores like Pevec because not every customer visits the whole sales floor of up to 17,000m². If specific parts of the store are visited more often than others, marketing activities should take place there and products which need special support should be placed in these more highly frequented parts. Furthermore the direction in which customers travel while shopping, can be highly influenced due to intelligent product placement of best-selling products. Because of transferring real-time data, queues at cash points can also be reduced. If too many customers are queuing, an alarm is triggered and thus another cash point can be opened immediately. Due to People Counting in different stores of one retail chain, stores can be compared and thus strengths and weaknesses can be more efficiently analysed.

After a successful installation and implementation of the Riva cameras, Pevec were able to optimise their marketing activities quickly and efficiently. Pevec management have commented that the people counting functionality is a great help for their marketing department and for planning of space and activities in their retail centres. Furthermore the Riva cameras have created an improvement to the existing security system so that a higher protection against theft and burglary is also provided. Now Pevec is also thinking about equipping other retail stores with Riva´s RC100 and RC1100.