Germany’s xplace Markets Smart Entrance Kit For Retail

April 29, 2020 by Dave Haynes

One of the things discussed at length in the latest 16:9 Podcast, released overnight, is the use of displays, sensors and software to control foot traffic into stores and other businesses.

The heads of the German consultancy invidis relate how these digital A-Frame displays are being used as a measure to limit access and meet social distancing guidelines or mandates.

This is the version of that, being marketed by a German company, xplace. It will be similar to what some others are doing, but I relate this because the website and video do a good job of showing how this “smart entrance kit” is used and the tech behind it.

In the last two or three days I have seen these likened to traffic lights for shoppers, which I think is a simple concept people can wrap their heads around. This version auto-counts people coming in and out, and uses audio commands to complement the simple red-green visual messaging.

I like these a bit more than some of the sandwich boards I have seen because of their increased display size.  For a grocery or larger footprint retailer with a larger entrance, I think you need a bigger screen to get noticed and obeyed.