Swiss firm Richnerstutz is helping shops and stores halt the spread of the Covid-19 with a traffic light system that automatically measures and controls customer flows without incurring personnel costs.

“Extraordinary situations require extraordinary measures,” said the CEO of one of Switzerland’s largest event agencies when its turnover completely collapsed in March due to the coronavirus.

The CountMe product facilitates access controls for retailers.

Governments have imposed drastic reductions to the recommended numbers of customers per floor area to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In practice, affected companies are attempting to do so through controls by door personnel, entry ticket distribution systems or mobile barriers. The result is usually unsatisfactory and cost-intensive.

The easy-to-install traffic light system is said to implement the mandatory access controls effortlessly and cost-effectively, and measure customer flows. This should help retailers, restaurants, museums, railway stations, airports and even virus test centres.

CountMe looks like a welcome sign and is similar to a traffic light in red and green. The pillars stand at the entrance and exit of a store and a sensor registers the customers as they enter and leave. It turns red once the defined number of people in the store has been reached. Otherwise, customers meet a green light and may enter the store.

The system is said to be easy to assemble; installation and set-up can be done in a few minutes via an app. The appropriate floor stickers are also available to match the pillars to maintain the required distance.

“When we had the idea, we immediately started developing it together,” said André Richner, CEO of Richnerstutz. “We tested the prototype after only a week, as we have the necessary knowledge and expertise, technology and material within the company. We are really happy to be making a significant contribution to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The first CountMe systems have already been installed at several hundred retailers across Europe and the USA and several overseas markets are already primed for the roll out.