Nairn Connects Business Improvement District (BID) has invested in artificial intelligence (AI) to measure shopper numbers in the town.
The technology will make footfall and location data available to business owners.
Nairn Connects BID aims to use the information to understand visitor behaviour.
It wants to make sure the town is “an attractive place to do business, live and visit”.
The investment is with research firm Place Informatics, which will provide the data.
‘Crucial information’ to help benchmark Nairn’s attraction
Daily, weekly and monthly visitor numbers will be available to view.
Nairn Connects BID manager Lucy Harding said it would help to prove the business group has a positive impact on the town.
She added: “It’s a fantastic piece of kit.
“The analytics of these events is so specific. We can pinpoint hour-by-hour what is going on.
“We will see peak and low times for visitors, and using this data we may make changes to future events to ensure the maximum potential for everyone involved.
“We’ll be able to access data from events to ensure they’re driving footfall and doing exactly what we want them to.”
Data for Taste of Nairn 2023 showed 27,702 visitors to the town over the three days.
This was an increase of 8% on Taste of Nairn 2022.
Nairn Connects BID was voted in by businesses in 2018 and is currently going through a renewal ballot.
AI will help to attract new businesses, says Nairn Connects BID
Ms Harding said the AI involvement would also help business owners decide where to set up shop.
She continued: “We can help potential business owners decide what days of the week and times to open.
“We’ve known for years that Nairn’s population swells during the summer. We’ll know by how much in the future.”
The new data will also show information on how far people travel to come to
events including the Farmer’s Show and Nairn Highland Games.
