🗺 Location overview – grid, list and map view
When you visit the Locations section from the sidebar, you’ll see a clean interface that defaults to grid view – a tile-based layout showing each store and its connected devices.
You can toggle between:
Grid view – visual tiles of each location, including name, photo, device count (cameras, kiosks, links) and status indicators
List view – compact table view for power users managing many stores
Map view – all store pins on a map, useful for regional monitoring or spotting offline zones
💡 Tip: You’ll be able to see how many devices are online or offline at a glance from any view. This makes it easy to check for performance drops or issues.
➕ Adding a new location
Click + (top right) to create a new location. The setup happens in three simple steps:
1. Details – add name, image and store hours
You’ll be asked to:
Name the location – e.g. John Lewis & Partners – Chelmsford
Upload a store photo – this helps quickly identify the location across views
Set opening hours – these will later be used to identify anomalies in footfall, campaign performance, and device uptime
You can set different times for each day of the week and choose whether to mark specific days as closed.
2. Map – drop a pin on the map
Begin typing the address and choose from autocomplete suggestions. Once selected:
A purple zone will appear to represent the store’s coverage area
You can drag the pin manually if needed
This step ensures the store is locatable and allows Merlin Cloud to:
Track devices to ensure they’re physically in the right place
Trigger uptime alerts for devices that unexpectedly go offline or move
Detect possible theft or unauthorised relocation of kiosks or cameras
3. Address – confirm and lock in the address
In the final step, confirm:
Full address – pulled from the map step or edited manually
Country – this is used for organisation-level filtering, regional dashboards, and role-based access control (e.g. country managers only seeing UK stores)
Click Create to finish. Your new location is now ready.
📍 What happens next?
After setup, you’ll land on the location details page, which becomes the central hub for that store. From here, you can:
➕ Add a kiosk
Create a new in-store experience
Assign a campaign and track live usage
View real-time interactions and campaign performance
➕ Add a link
Generate QR links for posters, receipts, or handouts
Track views, scans, clicks and conversions
Compare against in-store dwell and visit time
➕ Add a camera
Connect overhead or shelf-level cameras
Track live occupancy, people counting and movement
Feed data into your Analytics dashboard
All devices and interactions are visible on this page, including:
Live headcount (if cameras are installed)
Dwell time, content views and conversion performance
Kiosk activity over time
All deployed hubs and their device statuses
📊 Final outcome
A fully set-up location gives you everything you need:
Centralised visibility across all your in-store tech
Analytics per store, campaign and interaction point
Smart zone-level tracking and alerts when something is off