DETERMINING DENSITY OF CUSTOMERS BASED ON WI-FI LOAD

1 . A system for determining customer density patterns in a shopping facility, the system comprising:

a wireless access point accessible by network enabled user devices and having a coverage zone in a shopping facility; and

a control circuit coupled to the wireless access point and configured to:

receive data corresponding to wireless traffic at the wireless access point;

process the data to determine a load of the wireless access point;

estimate, based on the load over a period of time, a customer density pattern in the coverage zone at a point in time within the period of time; and

output a signal to take an action based on at least the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless access point is a first wireless access point having a first coverage zone in the shopping facility, and the system further comprises a second wireless access point coupled to the control circuit and only accessible by workers of the shopping facility, the second wireless access point having a second coverage zone that overlaps a least a portion of the first coverage zone, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

receive data corresponding to wireless traffic at the second wireless access point;

identify wireless traffic at the first wireless access point that corresponds to wireless traffic at the second access point; and

subtract from the wireless traffic at the first access point the wireless traffic that corresponds to wireless traffic at the second access point to determine an estimated customer load of the first wireless access point;

estimate, based on the estimated customer load of the first wireless access point over a period of time, a customer density pattern in the first coverage zone at a point in time within the period of time.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to estimate the customer density pattern by being configured to:

estimate a customer density in the coverage zone based on the load of the wireless access point; and

estimate the customer density pattern based on a change in the customer density over time in the coverage zone.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein a store worker is alerted when the estimated customer density in the coverage zone exceeds a predetermined threshold.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine a duration that the estimated customer density of the coverage zone remains above a predetermined threshold; and

output a second signal to take a second action when the duration exceeds a predetermined duration.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to automatically create a task in a task scheduling system in response to the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to compare the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone to point of sale data to determine if the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone is justified by the point of sale data.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of wireless access points coupled to the control circuit and positioned throughout the shopping facility, the plurality of wireless access points having a plurality coverage zones.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of coverage zones are minimally overlapping coverage zones.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to track a customer leaving one coverage zone associated with one wireless access point and entering a neighboring coverage zone associated with a neighboring wireless access point.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit is configured to track customer flow in one or more directions based on changes in the estimated customer density patterns in the plurality of coverage zones over time.

12 . A method for determining customer density patterns in a shopping facility, the method comprising:

receiving data from a wireless access point corresponding to wireless traffic at the wireless access point, the wireless access point being accessible by network enabled user devices and having a coverage zone in a shopping facility;

processing the data, using a control circuit, to determine a load of the wireless access point;

estimating, using the control circuit, based on the load over a period of time, a customer density pattern in the coverage zone at a point in time within the period of time; and

outputting a signal to take an action based on at least the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the wireless access point is a first wireless access point having a first coverage zone in the shopping facility, and the method further comprises

receiving data corresponding to wireless traffic at second wireless access point that is only accessible by workers of a shopping facility, the second wireless access point having a second coverage zone that overlaps a least a portion of the first coverage zone;

identifying wireless traffic at the first wireless access point that corresponds to wireless traffic at the second access point; and

subtracting from the wireless traffic at the first access point the wireless traffic that corresponds to wireless traffic at the second access point to determine an estimated customer load of the first wireless access point;

estimating, based on the estimated customer load of the first wireless access point over a period of time, a customer density pattern in the first coverage zone at a point in time within the period of time.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein estimating the customer density pattern in the first coverage zone comprises:

estimating a customer density in the first coverage zone based on the estimated customer load of the first wireless access point; and

estimating the customer density pattern in the first coverage zone based on a change in the customer density over time in the first coverage zone.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein a store worker is alerted when the estimated customer density in the first coverage zone exceeds a predetermined threshold.

16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising automatically creating a task in a task scheduling system in response to the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone.

17 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

determining a duration that the estimated customer density of the coverage zone remains above a predetermined threshold; and

outputting a second signal to take a second action when the duration exceeds a predetermined duration.

18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising comparing the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone to point of sale data to determine if the estimated customer density pattern in the coverage zone is justified by the point of sale data.

19 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising tracking a customer leaving one coverage zone associated with one wireless access point and entering a neighboring coverage zone associated with a neighboring wireless access point.

20 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising tracking customer flow in one or more directions based on changes in estimated customer density patterns over time in two or more coverage zones associated with two or more wireless access points.