Customer Presence Detection
In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to track customer presence and movement within a shopping facility. More specifically, reflections of non-visible electromagnetic (EM) waves can be analyzed to locate customers within an area and track customer movement over time. Maps of the area can be created at first and second times and compared with one another to determine differences.
1 . A detection system for a shopping facility, the system comprising:
an electromagnetic (EM) wave generator mounted within the shopping facility and configured to emit non-visible EM waves generally into an area within the shopping facility;
an EM wave reader mounted within the shopping facility and configured to receive reflections of the non-visible EM waves from the area;
a control circuit operably coupled to the EM wave reader and configured to:
create a first map of the area including retail fixtures and any customers therein based on the reflections received by the EM wave reader at a first time;
create a second map of the area including the retail fixtures and any customers therein based on the reflections received by the EM wave reader at a second time; and
compare the first and second maps to detect changes within the area and thereby track customer movement within the area.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the EM wave generator and the EM wave reader comprise an EM transceiver.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the EM wave generator and the EM wave reader utilize radio waves.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the EM wave generator and the EM wave reader utilize micro waves.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first map comprises a first map of the area with no customers present.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to create a task to send an associate to check on stock levels within the area in response to determining that traffic within the area is higher than a predetermined value.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
receive product sales information for the shopping facility; and
correlate the product sales information to the customer movement within the area.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the EM wave generator and the EM wave reader comprise an array of EM wave generators and EM wave readers configured to cover an entire customer area of the shopping facility.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the EM wave generator is configured to emit non-visible EM waves at least every second.
10 . A method for detecting within a shopping facility, the method comprising:
emitting non-visible electromagnetic (EM) waves generally downwardly to an area within the shopping facility with an EM wave generator;
receiving reflections of the non-visible EM waves from the area with an EM wave reader;
creating a first map of the area including retail fixtures and any customers therein with a control circuit based on the reflections received by the EM wave reader at a first time;
creating a second map of the area including the retail fixtures and any customers therein with the control circuit based on the reflections received by the EM wave reader at a second time; and
comparing the first and second maps with the control circuit to detect changes within the area and thereby track customer movement within the area.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein emitting the non-visible EM waves and receiving reflections of the non-visible EM waves comprises a transceiver emitting the non-visible EM waves and receiving the reflections of the non-visible EM waves.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein emitting the non-visible EM waves comprises emitting radio waves.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein emitting the non-visible EM waves comprises emitting micro waves.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein creating the first map comprises creating a first map of the area with no customers present.
15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising creating a task to send an associate to check on stock levels within the area in response to determining that customer movement within the area is higher than a predetermined value.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving product sales information for the shopping facility; and
correlating the product sales information to the customer movement within the area.
17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein emitting the non-visible EM waves generally downwardly to the area within the shopping facility with the EM wave generator comprises emitting non-visible EM waves generally downwardly to an entire customer area of the shopping facility with an array of EM wave generators; and receiving the reflections of the non-visible EM waves from the area with the EM wave reader comprises receiving reflections of the non-visible EM waves from the entire customer area with an array of EM wave readers.
18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein emitting the non-visible EM waves comprises emitting non-visible EM waves with the EM wave generator at least every second.