It is a new tool that could make life easier for traders, henceforth requiring juggling with the rules of social distancing within their own brands. Specific slabs, installed inside and outside the store, can count the number of customers shopping, in order to limit precisely the number of people in the business.
Since Monday, stores are gradually reopening. But inside, you have to make sure that customers can respect social distancing. Some are now using special tiles, which count the number of people entering and leaving.
It will be much more reliable than a manual count. Especially when the store has five or six entrances on two or three floors. These are tiles that are installed at each door (inside and outside). They will analyze everything that goes on. And be able to differentiate a cart, someone entering, an animal or someone leaving.
This allows you to count the comings and goings and to know, at all times, how many people there are in the store. When the maximum is reached, a message is displayed on the reception terminals. Or we alert the security guards to make the new arrivals wait.
You will have to get used to it, but it is never pleasant to be blocked in front of the door of a store.
Yes, it's true. But the system will have the advantage of being open to the outside. So we will also know how many people there are in the store. And go shopping only when there are fewer people.
Another advantage: it is less intrusive than cameras, with which there is always a risk of surveillance, of recording images. Whereas with the slabs, at worst, you will only know your size.
Are there already stores that use them?
It begins. Until now, we found this kind of technology rather in large trade shows. With the pandemic, they have been adapted to our neighborhood businesses. They could also be found in public transport, to avoid saturating the trains.