From Clickstream to Brickstream

Earlier this week, we had an internal discussion on media metrics and on the fundamental question whether the GRP as the central media measurement unit should also be applied to digital media. While there are several tempting reasons to do so (we’ll finally understand each other, clients will find it so much easier to understand the web, imagine how easy we could embed it into our excel charts…) it simply does not make sense in the long run.

Whatever is digital is measurable. Ultimately, everything can be broken down into ones and zeros and allows therefore an unprecedented precision of measurement. While this huge advantage of digital media almost became a disadvantage in the early days of internet advertising (paralyzed by analysis and over promising 24/7 stats…) it is (finally) more and more spilling on traditional media now entering into the brick and mortar environment.

A clickstream is a digital measurement term describing common behavioural patterns of online consumers surfing through a website. It allows a better understanding of specific consumer motivations. Clickstream patterns are highly valuable information to structure a website’s content and render it more userfriendly.

Brickstream is an Atlanta (GA) based company bringing the very same approach back to the brick and mortar environment. Their advanced video analytics software brings a new level of consumer behaviour analytics to the point of purchase. Inspired by existing dashboards of online measurement, Brickstream offers a dashboard with real time data allowing retail outlets a just-in-time management of cashier staff (see image).   It displays average service time and queue length per cash point.

Using sophisticated dual-lens cameras scattered throughout big retail spaces, Brickstream’s BehaviorIQ software allows as well a detailed understanding of the « consumer flow » through the shelve space (see image). This smart use of technology brings hard data on the table and turns gut feel decisions into factual business decisions.

This to me is a perfect example of the shape of things to come for all media measurement. Instead of imposing our decades old media metrics heritage onto digital media, let’s get ready for digital precision across the whole media landscape.