Rautakesko Selects Ekahau RTLS for Retail Store Visitor Tracking

HELSINKI, October 23 /PRNewswire/ --
- Analysis of Consumer Shopping Patterns Enable Home Improvement Retailer
to Optimize Store Layout and Increase Marketing ROI
Ekahau Inc., a leading provider of Wi-Fi-based Real Time Location Systems
(RTLS), announced that Rautakesko Ltd, a market leader in its operating area
and the fifth biggest in do-it-yourself (DIY) business in Europe, has
selected Ekahau Wi-Fi-based RTLS solution for retail store customer behavior
analysis.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081014/324879-a )
Rautakesko will be using the RTLS technology from Ekahau to capture data
on customers' shopping patterns. Customers at Rautakesko stores will have a
special tag associated with them when they are shopping, enabling the Ekahau
RTLS system to identify their location and time spent within the store.
"The analysis of visitor behavior, including their walking routes,
stopping patterns and wait times, produces invaluable knowledge about
consumer habits and motivation," said Konsta Kuokkanen, project manager at
Rautakesko. "This information helps us to arrange the store layout optimally
and develop retail concepts." The system has been used to collect customer
traffic data at Rautakesko's Byggmakker Trondheim in Norway and at K-rauta
Orebro in Sweden.
Unlike competing solutions, that are based on a proprietary Infrared
(IR), Ultrawide Band (UWB) wireless infrastructure, or using wall mount video
cameras, Ekahau RTLS is utilizing the stores' existing Wi-Fi network, which
already is being used for data and voice services. Retail stores also
extensively use Wi-Fi handheld barcode and RFID scanners. By leveraging the
existing Wi-Fi networks, Rautakesko eliminates the need to deploy new
expensive infrastructure for behavior analysis purposes.
"Understanding how customers behave in the store - including what
sections they visit and why - helps retailers improve their in-store layouts,
increase ROI on marketing dollars and enhance customer service," said Antti
Korhonen, Ekahau's president and CEO. "This concept and outcome similarly
applies to patient flow in hospitals or work-in-progress processes in a
manufacturing facility. With Ekahau's RTLS technology, users can visualize
this previously invisible process - in retail, healthcare, manufacturing and
other industries in a new innovative way."
Rautakesko's new customer tracking system is leveraging Ekahau's proven
RTLS technology. One key component to the Ekahau RTLS solution for this
application is a patented "rail tracking" method that enables Rautakesko to
analyze the process flow paths with an improved accuracy along the retail
store aisles.
"The performance of Wi-Fi-based RTLS solution can vary depending on what
types of algorithms are being used for location tracking," said Pauli
Misikangas, Ekahau's CTO. "Ekahau's patented technology ensures that the
historical location data of a moving person can be analyzed along the
pathways more accurately than has ever been possible before."
About Rautakesko Ltd
Rautakesko (http://www.rautakesko.com) is engaged in the hardware and
builders' supplies and interior decoration trade through the K-rauta, Rautia,
Byggmakker and Senukai retail chains. Rautakesko manages its chains, combines
their purchasing power, arranges efficient logistics, acquires store sites
and ensures strong marketing and development support for the stores.
Rautakesko operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia and Belarus.
About Ekahau Inc.
Ekahau Inc. is the industry leader in providing Wi-Fi-based RTLS
solutions. Ekahau's customers, including several Fortune 500 companies
worldwide, are realizing the benefits of Wi-Fi based location services and
innovative Wi-Fi network planning and optimization tools. Ekahau's solutions
are being used in more than 150 hospitals around the world, as well as by
manufacturers, mining/oil/gas companies, government agencies and the
military. Ekahau partners include wireless software developers, leading
system integrators and international OEM partners, who develop and market
wireless enterprise applications. Ekahau is a U.S. based corporation, with
offices in Saratoga, Calif.; Reston, Va.; Helsinki, Finland; and Hong Kong,
China. For more information about Ekahau, please visit at
http://www.ekahau.com.
(c) Copyright 2008, Ekahau, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SOURCE Ekahau Inc.

U.S. Media Contact: Juliet Travis, Rocket Science PR, for Ekahau,
+1-415-464-8110 x 215, juliet@rocketscience.com; Rautakesko Media Contact:
Heidi Talja, Communications Officer, +358-1053-20950, heidi.talja@kesko.fi