Retail landlords and mixed-use complex operators across Europe are turning to advanced occupancy intelligence systems to navigate mounting energy costs, stringent ESG regulations, and shifting customer expectations. Scenera's cloud-based platform, MAIstro, combined with its privacy-first camera sensor BlindEye, is enabling property managers to transform conventional retail parks into fully integrated smart buildings whilst delivering measurable returns on investment.
The technology addresses critical pain points facing the sector. Real-time energy monitoring and optimisation can deliver up to 20% reductions in consumption, directly supporting both ESG compliance targets and operational cost savings. Equipment maintenance, particularly for HVAC systems, lighting, and escalators, benefits from predictive analytics that identify potential failures before they occur, minimising downtime and repair expenditure. Customer behaviour analytics provide owners with data-informed insights on footfall patterns, dwell time, and tenant performance, enabling more strategic space utilisation decisions.
What distinguishes Scenera's approach is its privacy-maximising architecture. BlindEye provides floor-plan level occupancy intelligence, including fall detection, hygiene compliance monitoring, security alerts, and real-time footfall heatmaps, whilst keeping all imagery anonymous and GDPR-compliant. The system runs video AI primarily at the edge, with configurable data transmission that can be limited to anonymised analytics only, reducing bandwidth costs whilst maximising both privacy protection and AI accuracy.
The platform's recent integration with Microsoft Copilot enables property teams to configure systems by uploading company policies and operating procedures, and to query data using plain-language questions such as "Is the food court energy usage rising?" or "When is washroom cleaning required?" This accessibility factor is particularly relevant for institutional investors and REITs seeking to enhance asset valuations through demonstrable operational efficiency improvements and lower risk profiles, factors increasingly weighted in property valuations and lending criteria.
In South Korea, Scenera and its partner S&I implemented MAIstro across retail chains and office buildings, achieving approximately 10% energy savings and a 17% reduction in maintenance costs. The solution is integrated with existing camera infrastructure, ensuring straightforward deployment without major capital expenditure. Collaborations with Sony Semiconductor Solutions have enabled real-time event detection and safety monitoring across retail and public-facing environments, demonstrated at MWC and CREtech showcases.
"Scenera offers an unprecedented combination of AI technologies to help retail operators understand customer behaviour, ensure safety, without compromising on privacy. The Scenera platform is the easiest and most cost-effective way to run cameras based on Sony's IMX500 sensor, ensuring optimal vision AI accuracy and timely spatial intelligence," Patryk Laurent, CEO, Scenera.
For European retail property managers, the convergence of ESG pressure, tenant experience demands, and cost reduction imperatives makes smart building infrastructure increasingly essential. Scenera's camera-agnostic architecture allows retrofitting without prohibitive capital expenditure, whilst its privacy-first model addresses public trust concerns that have hindered the adoption of surveillance-based analytics systems. The ability to monetise data through quantifiable savings, service improvements, and enhanced competitive positioning offers a clear path to justify investment in an environment where margins remain under pressure.
For shopping centre providers, occupancy intelligence represents a fundamental shift from reactive property management to predictive asset optimisation. In an era where institutional investors and lenders increasingly factor ESG performance and operational resilience into valuations and lending terms, demonstrable reductions in energy consumption and maintenance costs directly enhance asset values and borrowing capacity. The granular data on tenant performance, customer flow patterns, and space utilisation enables landlords to have evidence-based conversations with tenants about lease renewals, fit-out requirements, and rental adjustments, transforming what were previously subjective negotiations into data-driven commercial discussions. Furthermore, the ability to provide tenants with anonymised footfall analytics creates a value-added service that strengthens tenant relationships and reduces vacancy rates, a critical metric in portfolio performance.
For retailers operating within these centres, access to detailed occupancy and behaviour analytics eliminates the guesswork from staffing decisions, inventory positioning, and promotional timing. Understanding peak footfall periods down to specific zones within their stores allows retailers to optimise labour costs, reduce queuing times during busy periods, and position high-margin products in verified high-traffic areas. The privacy-compliant nature of the technology means retailers can gain these insights without the reputational risks or compliance burdens associated with traditional surveillance systems. In competitive retail environments where conversion rates and basket values determine profitability, having real-time intelligence on how customers move through spaces, where they dwell, and which areas they avoid provides a measurable competitive advantage that directly impacts the bottom line whilst supporting more sustainable operations through optimised heating, cooling, and lighting based on actual occupancy rather than assumptions.
People mentioned:
- Patryk Laurent, CEO, Scenera
Companies mentioned:
- Scenera, occupancy intelligence and smart building platform provider
- Microsoft, technology and AI integration partner
- Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a camera sensor technology provider
- S&I, implementation partner in South Korea
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