QEA, the Galician AI bringing big retailers' technology to SMEs, wins two awards in Barcelona

For years, knowing how many people pass by a shop window, how many enter, and how many end up buying was only within reach of large retailers. They paid for costly installations, cameras, and teams of analysts. The Galician startup QEA aims to end that gap, and the European SaaS ecosystem has just recognized it: last week it took home two awards at The Last of SaaS, held in Barcelona.

An online store knows instantly how many visits it has and how many convert to purchases. A physical store, in most cases, doesn't even know how many people pass its door. QEA fills that gap with a small device that plugs in, connects to Wi-Fi, and starts measuring what happens in the premises.

What differentiates QEA from a traditional people counter, which only counts who crosses the threshold, is its artificial intelligence agent. It cross-references what happens inside and outside the store with context: the weather, city events, cruise ship arrivals, changes in surrounding businesses. With all this, each week it proposes two or three concrete recommendations: reinforcing staff on a Saturday with expected higher traffic, changing the window display, or comparing two stores in similar conditions.

At a time when artificial intelligence often makes headlines as a threat, QEA shows its most useful side: reducing costs and democratizing access to data. The work that previously required expensive hardware, installers, and analysts is now done automatically by AI. This allows offering a top-tier solution to businesses with tight budgets, which until now hadn't even considered measuring their store.
QEA requires no construction or technician: it's installed in about five minutes and self-calibrates in about two weeks. The device is free, as is the first month, and afterwards it costs €49.90 per store per month, with no commitment. Thus, the same business intelligence used by major brands becomes accessible to a boutique, a franchise, a corner in a department store, or a pop-up store.

QEA does not use cameras or facial recognition and works with aggregated data, without identifying anyone. Its AI also filters out employees and noise, so the figures reflect only actual customers.

“Not everything artificial intelligence brings will be bad news. Thanks to it, we can reduce costs and bring solutions that were exclusive to large chains to companies that until now could not afford this type of data. SMEs are the heart of commerce and they no longer have to decide blindly. These two awards confirm that the path is to democratize data in physical retail,” state those in charge at the Galician startup.

Interested businesses can try QEA's AI-powered people counter for stores for free.