When planning to open up a brick-and-mortar store, one of the important things you should do is measure foot traffic in the prospective location. Businesses with physical locations rely on people coming into their establishments to purchase their products or avail of their services. Therefore, the amount of retail foot traffic will determine whether or not you’ll make a sale. It’s a critical factor in your retail store’s success.
What Is Foot Traffic?
Before anything else, let’s discuss the foot traffic meaning.
Foot traffic refers to pedestrian activity, such as the number of individuals walking by a specific location. In retail, the term refers to the number of people walking past, around, or through a commercial establishment. It also talks about how many pedestrian visitors a business gets.
Importance of Foot Traffic
Foot traffic is a crucial metric for retailers. After all, the presence of people walking around the store usually influences sales volume. It is even what keeps retail stores alive. When there’s high exterior foot traffic, there’s a better chance of getting more store visitors and making a sale. On the other hand, low foot traffic means slow business.
Significance of Foot Traffic for Business Growth
Understanding retail foot traffic is essential in growing your business. You can use the knowledge of foot traffic in your area to improve your store layout, inventory management, and other aspects of your business to boost your sales. It can even help in balancing your staffing needs. When you know how much foot traffic to expect, you can avoid over- or under-staffing and related expenses.
But First: Understanding Your Audience
If you wish to increase your store’s sales, you’ll have to get more pedestrians to visit your store. You can do that through advertising. You can hang posters of special discounts, host community events, conduct product demonstrations, etc. But with so many marketing strategies to implement, how will you know which one will work?
The key is identifying and understanding your target audience. What type of customer is most likely to purchase your products or services? Begin by determining the demographics of your ideal persona. What is your ideal customer’s age or gender?
Then, learn about the preferences of your target audience. Determine what psychological, cultural, and sociological elements affect the way the target customers engage with the market. Use that information to craft your marketing strategies for how to increase foot traffic.
Optimizing Storefront Appeal
Your storefront can be a powerful tool for attracting more walk-in traffic and making your business stand out from your competitors. Start making your storefront appealing by installing eye-catching and professional-looking signage. Make sure outdoors and indoors are well-lit and keep everything clean, including the pathway.
If you have huge glass windows, display products that will make good impressions, or use them to advertise your latest offers and promos. For example, a bike store can display the latest or discounted models by the window.
Strategic Location-based Marketing
Implementing strategic location-based marketing is another effective way of increasing store traffic. Tap into the location data customers have chosen to share through location services. Use the data to reach customers based on qualifiers like events in the region and their proximity to the store. You can also draw digital virtual fences, known as geofences, around your service area. When a customer enters the boundary, send them tailored marketing content.
Drive more customers to your doorsteps by going online. More than 80% of shoppers research online before visiting a physical store. Without an online presence, you’re missing out on business opportunities from website visitors.
How to Measure Foot Traffic
Getting foot traffic measurements and learning how to increase foot traffic is easier, thanks to technological advancements. You can find a solution that fits your needs, whether you’re a small business looking for affordable tools or a growing ecommerce company that wants more advanced solutions.
Monitoring Foot Traffic Data
There are multiple ways to gauge the foot traffic your brick-and-mortar store is getting. Some businesses use something as simple as manual clickers or security cameras. They are workable and cost-effective tools but do not provide in-depth information. Furthermore, tracking foot traffic manually is prone to error.
Fortunately, you can now find a plethora of software that can give foot traffic counts and collect more valuable customer information. You just have to search for foot traffic tracker solutions online. The tools aren’t created equal. Some may offer benchmarks to compare your in-store foot traffic to competitors, insight into shopper journey, calculate rent per passerby, etc. Determine what features you exactly need when choosing a tool.
Feedback and Surveys
Feedback and surveys will provide you with valuable data you can use to improve your business and gain a competitive advantage. You can capture customers’ opinions and suggestions through various means, like putting up suggestion boxes in your retail store and letting visitors to your events fill out survey forms.
Consider asking questions like:
- How likely are you to recommend the product or service to others?
- How satisfied are you with your in-store experience?
- How easy was it to find the product you’re looking for?
- What can we do to improve the service or products?
You can also gain insights from customer reviews. Not all customers initiate leaving feedback, so consider sending them review requests. Mattress City is a great example of a company that has seen a tremendous increase in reviews using the Podium review solution. Podium also has many other tools designed to help furniture and mattress retailers sell more.
Adjusting Strategies Based on Results
Once you have aggregated foot traffic data, the final step is to analyze them and determine ways to use the wealth of information you gathered to drive sales. If you’re just planning a retail business, you can use foot traffic analytics to determine the best possible location for your physical store. You can also use it to identify your target market.
If you are already running a retail store, you can use the data to determine peak and slow times and adjust your staffing needs accordingly. You may also use information like the amount of time people spend in your store to change your store’s layout. Retail foot traffic analysis can also help you determine what products will most likely sell and lead generation efforts that will work.
By looking at the number of people who enter your store versus the number of customers who pay for the service or product, you can get a better picture of your offer’s overall success.
Enhancing Customer Experience to Increase Foot Traffic
As a small business owner, you want to see your store filled with customers. Aside from offering desirable products and services and implementing effective marketing strategies, delivering an unparalleled customer experience will help.
Customers with memorable and satisfying interactions with your store can become your brand ambassadors. They may share their positive encounters with the people they know, attracting more potential customers to visit your business. Consequently, a positive customer experience fosters loyalty. It encourages your existing customers to become repeat visitors.
Furthermore, positive customer experiences can help build a strong brand reputation. Modern consumers often consult online reviews and ratings before deciding to purchase. You will likely garner glowing reviews that will attract customers by delivering exceptional experience.
Improve customer experience by training your whole sales crew so they can address all customer queries and concerns. Spend time and effort getting to know your customers so you can offer them personalized experiences. Make it easy to process orders and get assistance. Using web chat can be a great way to boost customer experience. If you also have an ecommerce business, keep the customer service quality consistent across all channels. Improve your customer experience and drive more traffic to your retail store with the help of Podium solutions.
