The world has eased back into opening its doors and people going out and about. However, the acceleration of digital solutions over the past few years has changed the way people experience and consume products. Now, we can shop and eat in the comfort of our own homes. Of course, people are still raring to go outside, but it’s important for physical stores to be more cognizant than ever of where their consumers usually go. This is a challenge that physical stores will need to overcome, which is why tools like hystreet‘s laser scanner are important to provide data on foot traffic.
hystreet aims to provide real-time data on the number of people in a city center to help businesses make smarter decisions. The company believes that despite the change in how people move around, city centers are still pivotal for people to socialize in. They offer a detailed and transparent analysis of the data of 80 cities, accurate to the hour and downloadable as a CSV file. Besides the real-time data, they can also offer back data. Users can see data from previous days, months, and even years.
An mittlerweile sieben Stellen der Münchner Innenstadt wird das #Passantenaufkommen gemessen. Im Dezember 2021 war das Besucheraufkommen der Neuhauser Straße am größten. Im Abschnitt zwischen Kapellenstraße und Färbergraben waren über 1,8 Mio. Menschen unterwegs. #Hystreet pic.twitter.com/uq7VeEGQH1
— Statistisches Amt München (@StatistikMuc) January 12, 2022
Statistics from hystreet
hystreet claims that its scanner has 99% accuracy and can capture data any time of the year while being compliant with data protection. Apart from determining the frequency of people, they also take note of the weather. From the February statistics, they’ve found that Sundays and Saturdays are the days with the fewest pedestrians on the streets in Friedrichstrasse in Berlin.
According to hystreet’s data, Munich, Frankfurt, and Hanover are currently the most frequented cities in Germany, counting more than 1.6M pedestrians each. The sensors also showed that Wilmersdorfer Strasse in Berlin is one of the busiest shopping locations with just under 865,000 measured pedestrians in February. The company claims its data is exact and could make an objective assessment of pedestrian traffic in the upcoming months. They currently have 230 scanners throughout Germany and the numbers will increase.
The method behind the measurements
To accurately measure the frequency of pedestrians, hystreet’s laser scanners attached to home facades produce a fourfold light. As a result, the counter can determine the pedestrians’ walking directions and differentiate between various zones. People who pass the imaginary line multiple times during a measuring interval are counted anew. The lasers are also able to tell the difference between children and adults, so users can only find the frequency of pedestrians that are over 90 cm tall.
The device can measure a road of up to 32m in width, and it must have a clear view in its measuring lines. If it’s blocked by external circumstances such as cranes or there is a power failure, temporary measurement inaccuracies may occur. While they are using lasers to determine foot traffic, hystreet claims it is safe for the eyes and also invisible.
Inner cities in Germany have a problem
Like every other country, Germany was no exception to a lot of businesses closing down due to the pandemic. The number of visitors in most German shopping streets is still lower than it was before the corona pandemic, although they’ve noticed the numbers are starting to pick up again. hystreet’s data shows that there is a strong indication of recovery but retail sales are still far from pre-pandemic levels.
hystreet is trying to help businesses not close their doors forever. Marketers and businesses can use the data to measure the success of events and the attraction of certain cities. Other retailers can optimize workforce planning and calculate conversion rates while property owners and investors can calculate the location quality of their properties with the help of the data.
Photo credit: The images used are symbolic and have been taken by Christopher Isak for TechAcute.
