Customer journey analytics is the study of the path shoppers take, in the store, online, or across both, from first contact through to purchase and beyond. In a physical store it shows which areas people visit, in what order and where they spend time.
In-store journeys are usually measured with overhead sensors, video analytics or Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, and presented as heat maps and zone reports. Online journeys come from web analytics. Joining them together depends on data the customer has chosen to share, for example through a loyalty account.
Retailers use the findings to adjust layouts, move best sellers to better positions, fix bottlenecks and decide where staff should stand. A zone that gets traffic but little dwell time may need a clearer display, while a zone nobody visits may need a better route.
Care is needed with privacy. Anonymous, aggregated movement data raises fewer concerns than identifying individuals, and customers should be told how their data is used. Insight is only valuable if it leads to a change that is then measured.