Highly accurate Beonic sensors at each IKEA entrance track the number of people entering the 26,000 square metre store, ensuring that its checkout sales attendants are in position by the time customers reach the exit.

IKEA Homebush Bay Drive Store Manager Andreas Petersson said he used reports from Beonic’s software to determine checkout staff levels. “We have a warning before a peak hits because customers take 90 minutes to go through the store,” he said. “This gives us one hour 20 minutes to get manpower in place to meet that peak. Beonic has been absolutely accurate, giving us clear trends of customer traffic.”

IKEA International www.ikea.com is one of the world's top furniture retailers, selling Scandinavian-style home furnishings and homewares from more than 200 stores in 30 countries.

IKEA Homebush Bay Drive opened in December 2004, less than two years after the opening of the IKEA Richmond store in Melbourne. Both stores have independently chosen the Beonic people counting system to assist with making better management decisions in relation to staff, stock and promotion.

Beonic’s world-leading retail intelligence system assists retailers to learn how to convert store visitors into actual customers. Beonic’s accurate people counting technology integrates with its smart software to measure the sales conversion rate – the relationship between visitor numbers and actual sales.

Beonic reports equip retailers to make more effective decisions about marketing, merchandising and service levels, leading to happier customers, more sales and greater profit.

IKEA Homebush Bay Drive expects to have more than two million visitors pass through its doors during its first year of operation. A key requirement was to accurately track customer traffic through the store so it can effectively meet demand.

Mr. Petersson said IKEA selected Beonic after looking at other systems. “We found Beonic was a system that met our needs at a reasonable price,” he said. “We could get good support and it offers the possibility to expand.

“Our basic need is to know visitation rates through the day in a way that is consistently accurate. We use those reports in our forecasting to plan manpower, sales and stock ordering. Beonic has performed above expectation in doing that.”

Mr. Petersson said Beonic’s people counting accuracy assisted IKEA to improve its sales performance. “We can see clear trends in how changes to the store affect our sales conversion rates,” he said.

“For example, we can track how the placement of takeaway items, such as cushions or throw rugs that customers pick up as they walk along, increase sales if they are located outside of their functional area. Too many make the average sale go down while with too few, the sales conversion is not good. The right balance gives us a high conversion rate and high average sale.”

Mr. Petersson said IKEA would look to enhance the Beonic system over time to measure traffic throughout the store. “That would let us have separate measurement for the restaurant and how people move through different areas of the store,” he said. “Beonic is the system that fulfils our needs, is reliable and provides the best value over the long term.”

For more information about Beonic, visit www.beonic.com. For media assistance, call John Harris at Impress Media Australia on 08 8431 4000 or email jharris@impress.com.au.