Bluetooth tracking of humans in an indoor environment: An application to shopping mall visits

•We demonstrate the applicability of Bluetooth tracking in an indoor setting.•The method proves to be valuable in a marketing context.•A real-life test with 56 Bluetooth scanners was established in a shopping mall.•High data quality is achieved, while preserving low cost of data collection.

Intelligence about the spatio-temporal behaviour of individuals is valuable in many settings. Generating tracking data is a necessity for this analysis and requires an appropriate methodology. In this study, the applicability of Bluetooth tracking in an indoor setting is investigated. A wide variety of applications can benefit from indoor Bluetooth tracking. This paper examines the value of the method in a marketing application. A Belgian shopping mall served as a real-life test setting for the methodology. A total of 56 Bluetooth scanners registered 18.943 unique MAC addresses during a 19-day period. The results indicate that Bluetooth tracking is a sound approach for capturing tracking data, which can be used to map and analyse the spatio-temporal behaviour of individuals. The methodology also provides a more efficient and more accurate way of obtaining a variety of relevant metrics in the field of consumer behaviour research. Bluetooth tracking can be implemented as a new and cost effective practice for marketing research, that provides fast and accurate results and insights. We conclude that Bluetooth tracking is a viable approach, but that certain technological and practical aspects need to be considered when applying Bluetooth tracking in new cases.