Sports retailer Decathlon is using Actility IoT entrance monitoring technology in Belgium to make sure its stores do not exceed the number of people recommended by health authorities during Covid times.

Decathlon has fitted 25 of its 37 stores in Belgium with technology from French firm Actility that can detect when maximum capacity is being reached. Movement maps have been developed throughout the shops, also making it possible to visualise traffic in different areas through heat maps and differentiate most used routes and even potential cross selling between departments.

This is provided by Proximus, and based on its LoRaWan powered by Actility.

On a display, visitors can see how many people are in the store. Some stores choose a colour code and work with green, orange or red to give an overview of the busy periods of the previous week. This way the customer sees at once how busy it is at any time of the day or week. As an extra option, it is even possible to analyse how long an average store visit lasts using wifi sensors.

Through a multidirectional IoT sensor placed at the entrance or exit of the store, connected to a LoRaWan, the device can detect people entering or leaving, bearing in mind an authorised maximum of 600 people for every 8000m² is allowed in shops in the country, and can indicate if the next customer can enter or not through a screen displayed at the entrance. Without this technology, it is very difficult for large retail operators to know if security measures are being respected.

Decathlon now monitors the flow of visitors in store depending on a maximum authorised number that is calculated based on sales areas. Decathlon stores know that, for example, the average store visit time is 31 minutes, leading to the need to optimise the presence of employees in different areas.

This technology not only reduces Covid risk, but also helps large retail operators know if health security measures are being respected at each store.

LoRaWan allows battery-operated devices to communicate with IoT applications via long-range, wireless connections, improving battery life, thus lowering the cost of device ownership. It is especially useful in large-scale deployments because of its availability, cost and reach, due to its use of unlicensed spectrum and the availability of standard low-cost modules.

Actility provides the LoRaWan server and the ThingPark IoT platform for network management.

Decathlon has developed other technology to collect different types of data through IoT sensors, such as a movement detector to visualise traffic in different areas of the store through heat maps. This allows store managers to simplify store routes and make the site easier for shoppers.

Decathlon is also working on electronic self-labelling to simplify price changes, allowing information to be centralised, managed and sent to digital labels in stores. Its latest DX concept store is being developed in France, and will be a mix between a boutique and a showroom where all technological innovations will be tested and improved.