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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

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Overcrowded spaces are health risks that cost people time, money, and their peace of mind.  There is currently no product that allows users to reliably know if somewhere is crowded. Through our research, we learned that: “Current methods of collecting crowd data make it easy to identify and track individuals, so privacy has become one of the primary issues in crowd meters and crowd tracking”(Koerhuis).  During customer discovery, 57% of respondents answered that they would be willing to contribute anonymous location data to Crowd Meter, and 14% always check for crowds before going somewhere, while 57% sometimes check.  Our solution is an app that will provide users with accurate crowd information, without infringing on privacy.  Our app will help customers avoid crowds, saving them time and improving their mental state. We will do this by collecting optional anonymous crowd data and presenting it to them in a customizable way.​

MARKET ANALYSIS

Over half of the customers we interviewed already check for crowds sometimes, and many of the people we interviewed did not know of any crowd meters.  Our app will allow individuals to reliably check for crowds before going somewhere, saving them time, reducing their stress, and improving their health.  We will collect data in ways that are anonymous and optional, to preserve user’s privacy.  For businesses, we will offer analytics that allow them to optimize their space, keep the ideal amount of people employed and working, and improve their resource allocation.  Our business to business model is similar to competitors like RetailNext, who offers crowd analytics services for stores(RetailNext), and SenSource, who claims to have “The most accurate system for measuring footfall”(SenSource).  We believe that our app can provide value to both individuals and businesses by offering them reliable information about crowds. 

Our primary users are university students, professionals, introverts, people worried about the health risks of crowds.  In our customer discovery, people mentioned that they avoid crowds because they don’t want to wait, they just don’t like them, and they are worried about the health and safety risks with crowds.  We can create value for these customers by allowing them to see how crowded a place is before they go.  Our secondary customers are businesses like grocery stores, universities, gyms, cafes, movie theaters, and more.  We can create value for them by providing analytics that show them why and when crowds form at their locations.  With this information, businesses can optimize their operations to fit crowd trends. 

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The relationships with our users will be low cost and digitally maintained.  Our app will be self service and will offer a tutorial when users open the app for the first time.  We will send users notifications and custom alerts to add a sense of personalization to the app.  For businesses, we will offer account management and usage reports.  

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Our app for individuals will be found on the IOS app store, the Google Play Store, while businesses will contact us to set up their account.  We will market via social media, university newsletters, and business to business outreach.  We hope that our app will become integrated into individuals’ routines and become something they check before going anywhere.  Additionally, we hope that businesses will use our reports to make decisions. 
 

COMPETITION AND DIFFERENTIATION 

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Some competitors that Crowd Meter has include Google Maps, our most direct competitor. The strength of Google Maps is that they use big data pools for their "popular times" section that shows a location's business. Another benefit is that this section is also built into the navigation section, which makes looking for the crowdness convenient. However, the weakness of Google Maps is that the popular times section is inaccurate, delayed, and vague. There is also little contextualized detail to understand what it means. Users also cannot contribute to the accuracy of the data.

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Some indirect competitors would include location-specific crowd meters like Planet Fitness' or the Transit mobile app for public buses. The strengths of these types of services are that they are specific to locations, making their data more accurate in real time. The downside to these types of services is that they are limited and niche in their use cases and are not scalable to other venue types. 
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• Google Maps

• Strengths: Big data pool, built into the navigation portion of the app, and convenience.

• Weaknesses: Inaccurate, delayed, user’s lack of contribution, vague and no contextualized meaning.

• Planet Fitness 

• Strengths: Accurate to niche location, real-time, data is meaningful.

• Weaknesses: Limited to specific venues, non-scalable.

• Transit

• Strengths: Accurate to niche location, real-time, data is meaningful, and a user can contribute.

• Weaknesses: Limited to specific venues, non-scalable.

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MARKET SEGMENT 

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Crowd Meter targets two primary market segments: time-conscious individuals and crowd-averse users. These include busy professionals, students, and parents who value efficiency and wish to avoid unnecessary delays, as well as introverted individuals who experience discomfort or stress in crowded spaces. Crowd Meter empowers these users by providing real-time crowd data, helping them plan visits to public places during off-peak hours. This not only saves time but also reduces anxiety and enhances the overall user experience.

The secondary market includes businesses and public venues such as grocery stores, libraries, gyms, and entertainment centers. These organizations can leverage Crowd Meter to gain insights into foot traffic patterns, manage peak times more effectively, and improve customer satisfaction.

• Using a top-down market sizing approach, if just 1% of the approximately 250 million adults in North America adopt the app, that results in a potential user base of 2.5 million individuals. Assuming an average revenue of $5 per user annually through premium features or data insights, the primary market alone could represent a $12.5 million opportunity, not including B2B subscriptions or partnerships. This dual-sided approach differentiates Crowd Meter by serving both consumers and businesses with a shared interest in crowd optimization.

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SOLUTION  

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Crowd Meter provides a seamless, privacy-first solution for users looking to avoid crowded spaces and for businesses aiming to better understand and manage foot traffic. By combining anonymous location tracking, Wi-Fi signal detection, and optional IoT sensors (for partnered locations), Crowd Meter delivers real-time crowd insights without compromising user privacy or control.

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The solution works in four steps:

• Step 1: Data Sources – Crowd Meter passively collects anonymous data through optional location tracking, Wi-Fi signal detection, and sensors in partnered venues. These technologies ensure no personal data is collected—only the volume of people in a given area.

• Step 2: Aggregation & Anonymization – All data is processed either at the edge or in the cloud, with no identifying information stored. The app is built around the principle that it doesn’t care who is present, only how many. Users can toggle location sharing on or off at any time.

• Step 3: Crowd Level Estimation – Using advanced algorithms, Crowd Meter categorizes crowd levels into “Low,” “Moderate,” and “Busy,” along with a more granular score out of 10 to guide user decisions.

• Step 4: Display to Users – Within the app, users can search for specific locations, browse nearby areas, or set alerts for when a space hits a preferred crowd level. This allows them to optimize their schedules, reduce stress, and save time.

• We chose this approach to prioritize ease of use, accuracy, and privacy. Unlike competitors who may rely solely on user-submitted data or invasive tracking, Crowd Meter blends multiple data streams to provide real-time crowd data reliably and securely.

• What differentiates Crowd Meter is this dual value proposition: helping individual users avoid inconvenience while empowering businesses with actionable insights. It creates a win-win ecosystem where users gain control over their time and space, and businesses can operate more efficiently.​                                                       

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REVENUE MODEL 

The revenue model Crowd Meter will use is a "freemium" model. The features the premium $4.99 a month will unlock includes predictive alerts for crowd levels at places you frequently visit, in-depth statistics like how long someone usually stays at a venue, alerting notifications for when a place becomes less busy, and more. People who would pay for the premium feature include those who have minimal time to waste because their gym is too crowded or because Starbucks is too busy, making them late for work. According to our Customer Survey, 57% of people would actually pay for the premium feature. 

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Another avenue for revenue Crowd Meter will be able to access is to work with businesses for $99 a month to provide hyper-specific crowd analytics so they can promptly have an appropriate amount of people on shift and supplies for the busy parts of the day. Crowd Meter would also form partnerships with companies wanting to employ our solution for their app or, for example, an implementation into Google Maps, which Google would have to pay for.