Vauxhall Tony Le Voi has become the first car dealer in the UK to trial GForces’ new tracking system NetDirector Footfall.

Installed at its Thurrock showroom, the technology uses smart Wi-Fi and hardware by Cisco Systems to track any Wi-Fi enabled device in the dealership and gather showroom visitors’ personal and contact details.

Customers opting to log into showroom Wi-Fi are asked to provide basic personal and contact details which are delivered to NetDirector Footfall’s bespoke reporting system. This aids staff in personalising that customer’s visit, as well as enabling them to create a new CRM record for that individual.

Group strategy director at GForces, Tim Smith, said: “On the face of it NetDirector Footfall seems a bit ‘big brother’. However, only customers who want to use the showroom’s Wi-Fi facility become ‘known’ to the dealer.

“A major benefit of NetDirector Footfall is in the way it is possible to use the customer data collected from the system by matching it against digital enquiries. For example, if a customer has undertaken an online valuation and a CRM record has been created, when they then visit a showroom and log into the guest Wi-Fi, dealer staff can offer a far more personalised experience to them based on their previous digital interaction – or simply based on any previous transactional history with the business.”

Showroom heat-mapping ability is to be included in the technology soon.

Tony Le Voi group sales operations director Simon Dayes said: “This is a very exciting trial to be involved with as we think it represents the first stages of true integration between a customer’s online interactions and what they subsequently do when visiting a showroom.

“There is a ready opportunity to create a ‘virtual meet and greet’ which benefits both the customer and us as a business, whilst the data we gather will be vital in terms of optimising processes for the better.”

Anyone who does not log into the system remains anonymous, but their in-showroom interactions are still tracked.

NetDirector Footfall is available through GForces and can be applied to any showroom location, regardless of website provider.