CASE STUDY

POS Data Analytics Misses Key Insights:
Here’s How to Fill the Gaps

The Iceberg of Customer Insights
What POS Data Analytics Can Tell You: The Tip of the Iceberg
What Lies Beneath: Customer Behavior Beyond Purchases
How People Counting Systems Fill the Gaps: Seeing the Full Iceberg
The Bottom Line

The Iceberg of Customer Insights

Imagine customer insights as an iceberg.
The tip of the iceberg—the part visible above the water—represents the POS data.

Beneath that waterline are hidden behaviors: why customers came to the store, how long they spent browsing, and why they left without purchasing.

Unfortunately, POS data only captures the tip, leaving this vast underwater world of information untapped.
This article will explore how integrating people counting systems can help retailers see the whole iceberg, giving them a fuller picture of customer behavior.

What POS Data Analytics Can Tell You: The Tip of the Iceberg

Sales and Transaction Data

POS data is incredibly useful for understanding what is happening at the transaction level.
It records sales, transaction history and inventory movement, helping retailers understand what products are moving.

Basket analysis is also used to understand customer buying habits.
Identify product groups and items that are most likely to be purchased together.

The Critical Gaps in POS Data

While POS data provides insight into sales transactions, it overlooks a much larger aspect of customer behavior.

POS data provides information about customers who make a purchase, but it doesn't provide much information about customers who walk out without making a purchase or how they interact with products.

It's the underwater part of the iceberg-the much larger, hidden part-that retailers are missing.

What Lies Beneath: Customer Behavior Beyond Purchases

The real mystery lies in the customers who didn’t complete a transaction.

How many people came to the store in the first place?
What is the conversion rate?
How long did they spend in the store?
Which products did they consider but not purchase?

This is why the people counting system plays an important role.

How People Counting Systems Fill the Gaps: Seeing the Full Iceberg

Calculating Conversion Rates

People counting systems reveal how many potential customers walked into your store, and when combined with POS data, it allow retailers to calculate conversion rates—the percentage of visitors who make a purchase.

[We have another blog post explaining 🔗How to Calculate Retail Conversion Rate🔗]

You might have a store full of customers but no sales, and POS data wouldn’t reflect this inefficiency.

Accurate Customer Traffic Data

People counting technology provides accurate data on customer trends and peak times.
This enables store manager to allocate staff more effectively and improving in-store service.

For instance, during busy periods, more staff can be scheduled to handle the increased foot traffic, ensuring customers receive timely assistance.

Optimizing the Customer Journey

With people counting data, retailers can map the entire customer journey, from entrance to exit.

By identifying high-traffic areas and understanding where customers tend to linger, stores can optimize layouts to increase engagement and encourage purchases.
This helps expose the hidden sales opportunities.

The Bottom Line

POS data is obviously important first-party data, but footfall data is also important first-party data and will play a critical role in providing key insights.

By combining POS data with people counting, retailers can gain richer insights into their customers, helping them make better decisions, optimize store performance and drive sales.