Why video analytics is becoming essential for horeca and retail businesses in 2026

By 2026, visitor counting might seem like a solved problem. A wide range of solutions, from basic infrared counters to turnstiles, creates the illusion of control. Most business owners in Retail and HoReCa rarely think about the depth and accuracy of this data until they encounter an anomaly they cannot explain.

Consider a real-world example. The manager of a food hall contacted us for video analytics because their current visitor counting system was yielding paradoxical results. Sales were growing steadily but the existing traffic counters showed no change in footfall. Meanwhile, the average ticket remained flat, yet purchase conversion was rising. Visually, it was obvious that the number of visitors had grown and that seating was chronically insufficient.

On one hand, revenue growth is a positive sign. On the other, inaccurate data prevents the management team from making objective decisions. What exactly is driving conversion growth? Which actions led to higher footfall and a shortage of seats? How can staff schedules be optimized without a clear understanding of the actual workload? The existing system provided no answers, turning a simple counting task into a complex process of rechecking and manual auditing.

After installing a video analytics system for a trial period, we identified a discrepancy of more than 35% in daily visitor counts compared to the old system. The client decided to replace their legacy hardware with the True Detection solution to obtain up-to-date, fact-based data.

This situation clearly demonstrates that in today’s competitive environment, accurate traffic analysis is a key indicator of business health. It is used to build ROI forecasts, evaluate marketing effectiveness, and allocate operational resources.

Unlike businesses where customers can be easily digitized through online booking or loyalty cards, traffic-based businesses — shopping centers, food halls, markets, stores, restaurants, and cafés — constantly face challenges in counting visitors accurately. They often struggle to build a clear profile of their target audience.

So, why is it so critical for a business to understand its audience, count visitors accurately, and analyze their behavior? And how can True Detection solve these challenges? Let's dive in.

Key challenges: why businesses need accurate data

Every day, HoReCa and Retail businesses face systemic problems that can be solved quickly and effectively with video analytics.

As a result, when management has no tools for traffic analysis, decision-making ultimately relies solely on experience, observation, and intuition. But every wrong business decision means lost resources: labor, money, or time. This is exactly why businesses need accurate, fact-based data.

Now that we have identified these recurring systemic problems businesses face, it's clear that solving them usually comes down either to tedious managerial work that takes up most of the working day, or to intuitive decision-making based on historical data. But how exactly can video analytics solve these issues? To understand this, we need to look at how the technology works.

1. Inaccurate traffic counting. Manual headcounts or basic entrance counters provide only a superficial picture. They do not track movement across the floor, distinguish between new and returning guests, calculate visit duration, or identify demographic characteristics like gender and age.

2. Limited understanding of the target audience. Who are your guests? Students or families? Men or women? How often do they return? Answers that are not based on factual data can have an error margin of up to 40–50%. Launching marketing campaigns without this data means wasting money. A clear example is a food hall that launches advertising aimed at students while its core audience consists of office workers aged 30 and over. The result is lost revenue potential, since the 30+ audience has higher purchasing power, can generate higher revenue, and is more likely to become loyal.

3. Blind marketing. The inability to collect accurate traffic data leads to wasted marketing budgets. It is extremely difficult to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns without precise data on the number of visitors. As a result, making the right management decision also becomes difficult.

4. Queues and slow service. A long queue in a store might indicate popularity, but more often it means losing up to 15% of customers — people who, for example, are already tired after work, do not want to wait, and leave for competitors. During peak hours, employees cannot cope with the workload, while during quiet periods they stand idle. This imbalance leads to staff burnout, dissatisfied visitors, and unjustified payroll costs. By identifying queue frequency and peak hours, a business can make faster decisions about introducing innovations such as self-service kiosks or scheduling more employees on specific days and time slots.

5. Inefficient staff management. There is often no objective data on team performance: Do shifts start on time? Are service standards followed? Is the workload distributed evenly? Managers spend time on manual oversight instead of strategic development.

6. Difficult scaling. It is hard to monitor compliance with chain standards across every branch without manual checks and automated analytics.

To explain why hundreds of thousands of companies already trust computer vision for visitor counting, and how its implementation can solve the tasks described above, let's briefly look at the technology behind the solution.

Computer vision is an AI-based technology that automatically detects, identifies, and analyzes human faces in video or images. It extracts distinctive facial features from an image and compares them against face vectors recorded in a database. This is how the system determines whether a visitor is unique and whether they are new or returning.

This technology has long been used by public authorities and government agencies. You encounter it, for example, every time you go through passport control at an airport.

Its main advantage over systems that count people by heads or silhouettes is the ability to provide not only quantitative but also qualitative counting. Video analytics with computer vision determines visitor uniqueness based on the position and size of facial vectors. This helps avoid duplicate data, identify visitor status — new or returning — and determine demographic characteristics like gender and approximate age.

Crucially, the functionality used to determine visitor uniqueness does not involve collecting, storing, or processing guests’ personal data. The system stores an anonymized digital template. This means the True Detection system fully complies with the legislation of the Russian Federation. We will explain the security principles in more detail below.

How the technology works

Key operating principles of the True Detection system

Computer vision systems are widely used by law enforcement agencies to ensure public safety. In that context, they are deliberately used to track specific individuals, meaning they can identify a particular person based on stored data. This constitutes direct processing of personal data.

In business applications, this functionality is not used due to personal data protection requirements. Furthermore, businesses already have other tools for digitizing customers and guests, such as loyalty cards.

Therefore, taking into account the restrictions introduced to ensure the safety and privacy of Russian citizens, our product is intentionally simplified. It is limited to collecting and analyzing general statistical data on demographics and guest preferences, expressed through visits to a specific area or time spent near a counter.

If you want to use the system to monitor employees, you must:

Once the reliability and legality of the technology are established, the next logical question is: does the market trust it? The answer is clear: it does not simply trust it — it is actively adopting it. The global trend toward using video analytics in business is confirmed by impressive figures from independent studies.

Security and privacy are our priority

The video analytics market volume by year is as follows:

In 2025, video analytics and precise traffic data are becoming increasingly popular among Retail and HoReCa businesses. This is driven by fierce competition from online retail and delivery services, as well as from more technologically advanced competitors.

According to the Precedence Research study “Video Analytics Market Size, Share, and Trends 2025 to 2034,” a global trend toward the growing use of video analytics in business has been accelerating since 2023.

Video analytics customers include Retail chains, HoReCa businesses, and shopping centers, which use the technology not only for security but also to analyze traffic and visitor behavior.

The research confirms that video analytics is no longer the future — it is the present for successful businesses. But how exactly does data turn into profit? Let's look at real cases showing how the True Detection system solves systemic industry problems by replacing assumptions with accurate data.

Global growth in the use of video analytics

It is important to understand that video analytics will not give you the same type of knowledge about customers and employees as a CRM system, such as personal data, loyalty bonuses, and so on. Instead, it allows you to objectively view your business from above. For example:

True Detection already has experience implementing video analytics for HoReCa and related businesses. Below are real examples of how video analytics addresses the industry’s key pain points.

True Detection: how data replaces guesswork and turns into profit

Problem: Lack of knowledge about guests → Solution: Demographic analysis and target audience profiling.

The system determines a visitor’s gender and approximate age, counts unique customers, and divides them into new and returning visitors. This makes it possible to segment the audience by gender, age group, and number of visits, as well as track changes in the behavior of returning customers.

Most importantly, the system works in real time. You do not need to wait hours for a report to be generated — you see current data instantly.

Case. A food hall contacted True Detection with a request to analyze visitor demographics. The existing solution could not handle the data flow and produced results with a delay of 6–8 hours.

Solution. We analyzed the client’s camera video streams, optimized the position of the entrance cameras, installed additional cameras at floor entrances and exits, and launched data processing through the True Detection system.

Result. The client receives daily reports for the previous day without data processing delays and can also view real-time data directly in the web dashboard. The indicators tracked by the client include:

Problem: Manual traffic counting → Solution: Automated and barrier-free data collection.

All information is collected passively, without requiring any action from guests or staff. Statistics are processed in real time and are always available for viewing.

Case. A shopping center contacted True Detection with a request to count unique visitors. It already had a solution based on 3D counters, but it did not provide accurate data. The situation was complicated by additional staff passages throughout the day, as employees went outside for smoking breaks. The security service manually counted this data at each checkpoint.

Solution. To implement the case, we analyzed the client’s camera video streams, partially changed the position of entrance cameras, created an exclusion list with employee photos without linking them to personal data, and configured visitor counting while excluding employees from the count.

Result. The client now has up-to-date and reliable traffic data for analyzing shopping center attendance. The workload of security specialists has been reduced.

Problem: Blind marketing → Solution: Advertising campaign performance analysis.

The key function is the identification of new visitors. Have you launched an ad campaign? The system will show exactly how many new guests arrived during the specified period and will build their demographic profile. You can now accurately evaluate ROI and redirect the budget to the most effective channels.

Case. A supermarket contacted us with a request to create heat maps for analyzing traffic across different departments and near promotional stands. The task included collecting statistics across the entire store to help marketers and merchandisers study customer behavior and conduct A/B tests on stand placement and product display. Existing analytics based on receipts did not allow the client to accurately assess the impact of product display on sales.

Solution. We analyzed the store layout and divided it into detection zones. We configured the video analytics system to collect data on traffic, dwell time, and interest in departments and stands. We created heat maps visualizing visitor movement and activity. We also developed a dashboard for marketers with data on traffic, zone popularity, and A/B test results.

Result. The marketing department can now study the target audience of different departments and develop more personalized offers, increasing traffic to less popular departments and improving purchase conversion.

Problem: Queues and slow service → Solution: Accurate traffic counting and peak hour detection.

The system counts not just people, but unique visitors and groups in real time, analyzing their movement across floors, departments, and even specific corners in a food court. This data is also used to build heat maps. In addition to traffic counting, detection is aimed at identifying queues and measuring their length. All this data, including peak-hour information, is analyzed and transmitted to the manager, enabling flexible staff schedule adjustments — strengthening the team at the right time and in the right place.

Case. A grocery store contacted True Detection with a request to implement a video analytics system for detecting queue length in checkout areas. The client faced a problem: during peak hours, queues became too long, worsening service quality and leading to customer loss. The existing manual monitoring system did not allow employees to respond quickly to changes, and checkout workload data was inaccurate.

Solution. We analyzed the position of cameras in checkout areas and fine-tuned them for accurate queue detection. We enabled an algorithm for automatically calculating queue length and waiting time. We integrated employee notifications into messaging apps so staff could quickly receive alerts when queue limits were exceeded. We created a real-time dashboard for management with data on checkout workload.

Result. Managers gained the ability to quickly open additional checkouts during peak hours, reducing waiting time. Customer experience improved: waiting time decreased significantly, which increased loyalty. Employee workload during peak hours also decreased thanks to automated queue monitoring.

Problem: Inefficient staff performance → Solution: Employee activity monitoring.

The True Detection video analytics system can distinguish employees from general traffic, which is especially relevant for locations with a large number of staff and visitors. The program records arrival and departure times, tracks employee presence in work zones, and helps maintain discipline and optimal distribution of responsibilities.

Case. A client contacted True Detection with a request to monitor employees who were paid hourly and frequently changed locations, moving between stores in the chain. The existing access control system did not always provide accurate data: an employee could check in but not actually be present at the workplace. The company could not promptly detect and resolve such incidents.

Solution. We analyzed the client’s camera video streams, partially changed the position of cameras near entrances, created an exclusion list with employee photos without personal data, and launched analytics collection. It included:

Result. The client received a system with employee performance analytics and the ability to see, in real time, the staff composition at each store in the chain.

Problem: Uncertainty in scaling → Solution: Real-time service quality monitoring.

The system calculates the number and duration of employee consultations with customers, checks whether displays are stocked, and sends notifications when products need to be replenished. These and other functions allow managers to monitor branch performance without visiting each location in person.

Case. A restaurant contacted True Detection with a request to implement a video analytics system for monitoring employee checklist completion in the kitchen and dining area. The client faced a problem: during high workload periods, staff sometimes skipped key work stages, such as checking table cleanliness, following dish presentation standards, or observing kitchen hygiene rules. This led to guest complaints and lower service quality. Management wanted to automate checklist compliance and minimize errors.

Solution. We analyzed workflows in the dining area and kitchen, identifying key stages for video-based checklist monitoring. We configured cameras to detect employee actions in accordance with the checklists. We developed an algorithm that records whether stages are completed or skipped and sends notifications to the manager in case of violations. We created a real-time dashboard for monitoring checklist completion.

Result. The number of guest complaints decreased thanks to strict monitoring over compliance with standards. The manager gained the ability to monitor service quality in real time.

Problem: Inability to track the appearance of people from allowlists or blocklists → Solution: Real-time notifications.

The system allows businesses to maintain visitor allowlists and blocklists and send notifications when a person from one of these lists appears on the premises.

Case. A clothing retail chain requested a system for tracking shoplifters in real time. At the time of the request, the client relied only on video surveillance operators and loss prevention staff, who manually monitored each store. There was no shared database of unwanted visitors, and visits by shoplifters were often discovered only after theft had already occurred.

Solution. The True Detection team analyzed video streams from store entrance areas, adjusted camera positioning and settings, and replaced camera models that did not support the required detection level. Based on theft videos provided by the security department, a blocklist of unwanted customers was created with city-level segmentation. After the launch of the computer vision technology, the security service and loss prevention department began receiving notifications with screenshots confirming the appearance of a person from the list.

Result. Within just two months, the number of theft and vandalism cases decreased by more than 30%.

These cases demonstrate which tasks video analytics can solve. Depending on the objectives, different system functions can be configured. But one thing remains unchanged: its positive impact on business performance.

At the same time, businesses should not forget that the most important factor is people: customers and employees. Next, we will explain how video analytics affects them directly.

From data to outstanding customer experience

The ultimate goal of any implementation is not just reports, but real improvements in service and customer experience. In HoReCa, video analytics means:

Loyal customers and satisfied employees are the ideal combination for a thriving business. Customers not only become regulars but also bring in new people. Employees, in turn, stay longer when they feel a high level of organization and stability, which reduces staff turnover.

But can video analytics and the resulting increase in customer loyalty influence financial performance? Of course they can. Let us explain how.

Direct impact on financial performance

The implementation of video analytics, which also improves customer experience, is not an abstraction. It is a factor that directly converts into money in the following ways:

Thus, although implementing the system involves costs, in the long term it will not only pay for itself but also increase profit.

Conclusion: Video analytics as a strategic asset in 2026

True Detection helps you assemble a complete picture of your business piece by piece. The system can:

In 2026, video analytics is no longer an option — it is a must-have for any serious player in HoReCa and Retail. It is not about total control. It is about a deeper understanding of your business and your guests. Video analytics is a tool for continuous optimization that directly affects the bottom line.

Admit it: you already want to know how video analytics would work specifically in your business and which pain points it could solve.

Find out how video analytics will work for your business

All the functions described in this article are only a small part of what video analytics can do. You can find out which functionality will be most useful for your company during a demonstration of the True Detection platform.

Do not postpone improving your business. At the very first meeting with us, you will learn:

Book a free demonstration of the True Detection platform — and get ahead of your competitors.