Founded in Hiroshima, Japan in 1913, Megane no Tanaka Optical has built more than a century of excellence in eyewear, hearing aids, and contact lenses, with over 100 locations and a reputation for celebrating each individual through a tailored, memorable customer experience.
The Challenge
As customer expectations of the in-store experience evolved rapidly, leadership decided to reinvent the century-old retailer's approach using real-time, data-driven decision-making. Its then-existing data did not provide a layered, contextual understanding of the store: it lacked comprehensive insight into shopper journeys and the effectiveness of in-store marketing, could not define traffic "power hours" or the staffing they required, and left sales targets unquantified.
The Solution
Megane no Tanaka Optical introduced the RetailNext platform — first as a pilot in a few stores, then fleet-wide — for its accuracy, real-time data, verifiability, and actionable insight. The Aurora® all-in-one IoT sensor uses a patented deep-learning AI algorithm to anonymously detect people with high accuracy; every sensor is manually audited post-install against HD video, data is available almost immediately through the interface and APIs, and managers can access dashboards spanning their KPIs, including AI-driven predicted traffic and recommendations.
The Results
Store managers adopted the easy-to-use interface immediately and could access accurate data to benchmark performance against KPIs. Satisfied with the marked improvement in reporting from the pilot, leadership rolled the platform out to all stores — using the insight to drive a performance-based culture across staffing, store layouts, and merchandising.
