Collecting data from smartphones to measure customer traffic and deliver world-class retail analytics may seem complicated. There are many ways to collect the data, to manage it and report on it - all of which have their pros and cons.

Without needing extensive technical knowledge, this document will help you make sense of how different solutions compare and will quickly assist you to work out what is fact or fiction.

Cut through the tech jargon to easily understand the most important differences between solution providers.

These questions are simple and should be easily answered by any provider of smartphone-based analytics. I'd recommend you email them to your supplier, or potential supplier, to see how they stack up. You can click the picture of the Buyer's Guide below to see how Blix answers these questions.

The 7 questions to ask every provider of smartphone-based analytics

1. What technology is being used to detect and track smartphones (e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth, Cellular, 3G, 4G, GPS etc.)?
2. If using WiFi, how is MAC randomisation dealt with?
3. Is the positioning of sensors important to data integrity?
4. Is it possible to calibrate a sensor to only measure a particular space or direction?
5. What are the technical specifications of the hardware (e.g. make, model & components)?
6. What are the specifications of the antenna used to collect data (range/power) and is it directional?
7. What monitoring and notifications are provided when a sensor goes offline, and what data is lost?