Specto Footfall Counters are designed to address the last mile challenges and investment appetite of Indian retailers: Omer Basith

Jossbox, one of India’s leading boutique digital agencies, has recently partnered with Mango to introduce 'Specto Footfall Counters ' at all their retail stores across India to help improve the brand’s retail strategy and enhance consumer experience using data and insights. Jossbox has been steadily expanding their services and with this, are marking their foray into retail technology solutions. ‘Specto Footfall Counters’, the IoT technology, measures retail footfall traffic and provides heat mapping solutions that enable brands to better understand both in-store traffic and customer engagement. Jossbox has partnered with e-commerce giant Mytra, who recently launched Mango in the country with the first store in Delhi followed by a second in Mumbai. ‘Specto Footfall Counters’ is an IoT solution that counts the number of people entering and exiting the store. It’s accurate, robust and easy to install. The IoT devices connect via in-store WiFi to the Jossbox retail cloud servers and the devices are monitored and supported remotely. We spoke to Omer Basith, Co-founder, Jossbox, about this IoT device and how will this help the retail brand.

Tell us about Jossbox, its inception and journey so far.
Established in 2013, Jossbox has operated in the digital and retail space in association with some of India’s largest brands since its inception. We had to adapt and evolve our offerings to keep pace with the ever changing scenarios in the digital and technology spheres. Though we are new in the market, we have achieved a leadership position in the nascent retail IoT space and are expanding our technology solutions that are proudly developed and made in India.

Tell us about various services offered by Jossbox.
The various services offered include, Jossbox retail cloud which is a suite of retail technology solutions that marry in-store IoT devices with a centralized cloud back-end which helps unlock the black box that is brick and mortar retail. The services included in the retail cloud are:

- Footfall Counters: Customer feedback analysis device located at PoS or exit. Customers have the ability to leave instantaneous feedback based on their in-store experience.

- Sentiment Tracking: Computer vision devices capture and recognize expressions to help retailers understand consumer sentiment in-store.

- Demographic Tracking: Computer vision devices along with our proprietary algorithm recognize age and gender of customers in-store.

- Consumer Movement Tracking and Heat Maps: Consumer movement and path analysis through the retail store identifies congregation points and high footfall areas and ultimately helps retailers optimize the space.

Retailers can opt to activate these services by having Jossbox install IoT devices in-store, which populate data to the retail cloud back-end in real time. In addition to this, Jossbox also operates as a digital agency, working with some of India’s largest brands in the FMCG, apparel, beauty and media space.

Introduce us with the ‘Specto Footfall Counters’ at Mango retail stores. How does it work?
The Specto retail counters utilize a proprietary array of sensors that we refer to as warm blood sensors. These capture thermal images of human bodies in a very high resolution, ensuring a minimum of 95 percent accuracy. The devices connect to in-store WiFi and upload data to the cloud back-end. They are monitored and supported remotely and require zero human intervention. We have wired and battery powered devices, the latter requiring no power source or modifications during in-store installation and are powered by AA batteries and support a battery life of upto 1.5 years.

How will ‘Specto Footfall Counters’ prove to be beneficial for Mango?
Specto Retail Footfall counters automate one of the basic functions of any retail store, that is, keeping count of customer visits to that location. This data point is the base on which several key insights are gathered, starting with conversion ratios, busy periods, marketing efficiency and staffing requirements, to name a few. Mango understands that technology is the future of brick and mortar retail and is integrating a suite of devices to take their stores into the digital age. We are happy to be associated with one of India’s leading fashion retailers Mango for this solution. With over 640 locations for some of India’s most respected retail brands, ‘People Counting Solutions’ which is our proprietary technology, will quickly become the industry standard choice for retail 2.0.

What will be the terms of this partnership with Mango?
We operate as technology service providers with Mango.

What would be the average cost of installation of ‘Specto Footfall Counters’ at each store?
 ‘Specto Footfall Counters’ are designed to address the last mile challenges and investment appetite of Indian retailers and as such are a cost effective solution ranging from as low as Rs.15,000 per location with a low monthly service fee for the retail cloud back-end.

How will retail industry respond to such technological advancements in the times to come?
Retailers recognize the need for technology to ensure their survival as e-commerce and other digital retail models gain popularity. Adoption, while slow at the moment, is gaining pace and we hope to be at the forefront of this revolution.

How do you see India as a market for a service provider like Jossbox? 
The Indian market offers a huge amount of opportunity, but has its own idiosyncrasies and unique challenges. Retailers have a limited appetite for capex at the moment. Jossbox offers solutions and technologies which are cutting edge the world over and it is somewhat understandable that retailers need some time to adopt these new technologies. However, it’s becoming apparent that the only way for brick and mortar retailers to thrive in the next few years is to embrace these new technologies.