We have decided to go with the Store Traffic Counting Sensor as our final idea. We would like to build a sensor that will detect the number of people who pass by a certain area, as well as software that will analyze the data and generate valuable reports to the stores.

Having valuable information on traffic patterns helps larger stores manage their sales staff schedules, measure the performance of each department, measure the impact of their marketing, measure spending per visitor, etc. Most stores now only rely on sales data to determine store traffic. Having more accurate traffic data will allow stores to minimize inefficiencies. Brands who advertise their products in these stores are also highly interested in this data

There are several companies that already specialize in making store traffic counters. However, many stores decide to not install these sensors because they have very expensive installation costs, and reports tend to be too complicated for managers to understand. These are two points that can be improved that our product will focus on.

Installation costs- Overhead sensors have high installation costs because it requires wiring the sensor to the ceiling. There are beam sensors that are wireless, thus cheap to install, but they are much less accurate than overhead sensors. Beam sensors can’t detect the direction people are walking, where as overhead sensors can. There isn’t a single wireless (easy to install), and accurate overhead sensor on the market, which is what we would like to make.

Recently, there has been an emergence in businesses that specialize in mobile phone trackers, that can estimate traffic by detecting wireless signals on the phone. However, this is not as accurate as counting people.

White Space Grid

Our product would not infringe on any existing patents.