New app will tell you how busy a shopping centre is in South Africa
by Staff WriterData analytics company Lightstone and Tracker have launched the ShopSafe app which provides consumers with up-to-date information on vehicle attendance at shopping destinations they choose to go to.
Lightstone said that the website application is mobile friendly and uses geo-location to identify your closest shopping centres. It then provides a comprehensive analysis on the number of visits each hour of a seven day week, to help you to find the least busy time to shop.
This data is updated weekly, to reflect changing dynamics and is aimed at minimising the Covid-19-related risks consumers are faced with when visiting high-density shopping centres,
The app uses Tracker’s aggregated and anonymised data and includes around 1,300 shopping centres from across South Africa.
“Not only are we as South Africans very cautious of the exposure risk related to a trip to the grocery store, but with foot count restrictions stores have put in place, we are unaware of the number of fellow shoppers we could encounter, and the amount of time we may need to spend in a queue waiting to enter the store,” said Linda Reid, head of Data at Lightstone.
“The aim of lockdown is to minimise our exposure to other people, to ensure the risk of the virus spreading is as low as possible,” says Michael du Preez, head of Product and Marketing at Tracker.
“ShopSafe will provide you with a view of when and where it’s safest to do your next shopping trip to reduce exposure to a crowded space.”
How to use the app
The app is available through its official website here.
Lightstone said there are different ways to access the required information related to the shopping mall you would like to view.
- Either choose ‘allow’ when you are prompted to identify your location or;
- Put your latitude and longitude into the relevant fields or;
- Choose the shopping centre that you’re interested in, from the drop-down list.
