It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for UK’s town centres due to COVID… But With the help of TownandPlace.AI, we can aid economic recovery! Southend have been able to not only track footfall but understand tourism behaviours by accessing data such as origin postcodes, where else they visit in the UK.
Southend Borough Council was aiming to transform the perception and image of Southend-on-Seas town centre. They desired to be independently recognised as a popular location for businesses, residents, students, and visitors.
The council identified the demand for a footfall counting and visitor behaviour analytics solution which they previously didn’t have.
At TownandPlace.AI we knew we could provide the council with the most appropriate, accurate, and high-quality footfall and behaviour data, together with our user-friendly reporting tools that they required to reach their goals. We are very pleased to have secured this contract through the tender process during February 2021.
Town Centre Covid Recovery
Since the outbreak of COVID, footfall significantly decreased in all areas of Southend on Sea. This meant it was increasingly important for the council to measure the impact of the pandemic on footfall in the town centre and more importantly, how successful the recovery of the high streets will be after the easing of lockdown restrictions in April.
TownandPlace.AI Footfall and Visit Behaviour Data
TownandPlace.AI’s online platform offers many amazing features that wouldn’t be possible with traditional and more expensive footfall hardware implementation. We use GPS data from GDPR compliant mobile apps, combined with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to calculate our footfall data, meaning you aren’t limited to measuring just a few streets, the possibilities are unlimited!
Extending beyond footfall insight, TownandPlace.AI answers the ‘who, where, and what’ questions which need to be answered to help town centres grow back successfully post the Covid 19 pandemic.
Through TownandPlace.AI you can:
- Track footfall volumes, visit frequency, and length of stay.
- Use TownandPlace.AI’s street heat map showing how footfall is distributed across the town centre. Streets, car parks, and green spaces are also included.
- Measure where ‘tourism’ visitors originate from across the UK. Identify the region of the country.
- Benchmark your town centre against any one of 2,300+ other town centres across the UK.
- View the data by table or easily export it as a spreadsheet for further analysis.
- Tourist and Local Visitors – Identify by postcode where town centre visitors originate from.
- Local Shoppers – Easily understand where residents of an individual postcode visit and which town centres share postcode populations.
- For Events – Analyse footfall volumes, dwell time, and store/leisure business visits during your events.
The future for Southend on Sea
Southend Borough Council has now been utilising the TownandPlace.AI platform during the recent relaxation of Covid lockdown rules. Already during this period, the council has been able to accurately monitor the impact of reintroduction to face-to-face retail, and the economic recovery of Southend-on-Sea town centre post COVID lockdown. The ability to view historical data and quickly produce reports has proven to be extremely helpful to Southend council in the recovery of the Town Centre.
As the year progresses the footfall data will also be extremely helpful in monitoring the increasing footfall and the success of tourism after the ease of covid restrictions. We hope to see visitors back into the city enjoying the beautiful seaside town, the amusement park, and the world’s longest pleasure pier!
Access Town Centre Footfall Data Immediately
Sign up to access your town centres footfall now and we will upgrade your registration to a 14 day free FULL access plan.
Click the link to get started: TownandPlace.AI
