Many retailers are now using traffic flow analysis in retail management to look at the distribution of traffic by hour, day of the week, store location, seasonal periods, promotion periods, total chain, etc. Retailers can also look at the conversion ratio of their store which is the total sales transactions divided by total traffic.
Full Answer
What is traffic in retail?
What is Traffic in Retail? Traffic is the number of people entering your store. The more traffic you can get across your doors, the higher the probability of having more sales, if you can convert enough of those visitors into customers. You can still make high sales with low traffic if your conversion rate is very high.
What is floor traffic flow and why is it important?
A good retail floor traffic flow allows your customers to move through every part of your store efficiently – while ensuring that customers don’t just grab what they need and walk right to your register, missing over half your merchandise. How customers move through your store can depend on what you’re selling.
How does foot traffic affect sales in retail?
Generally, higher foot traffic leads to higher revenue. Foot traffic numbers can either be monitored manually using counters, or digitally using cameras and retail tracking software. There are several factors that can impact your store’s foot traffic, most notably where it's located.
What is foot traffic and why is it important?
Foot traffic is a key factor of any successful retail store. And increasing customer traffic to your physical store is a constant struggle. The more customers visit your store, the more sales you stand to make. Plus, connecting with shoppers in-person is a unique opportunity to build rapport and earn their loyalty.
What is meant by customer traffic flow?
Traffic flow is the movement of customers through the store. It is a critical aspect of store layout due to the impact that it can have on the customer both practically and psychologically.
What helps manage the traffic flow at retail outlets?
Use lighting and layouts that ensure your customers can always easily see the way through and way out of your store. Customers who feel trapped or lost in your store will leave quickly. Create aisle space that is narrow enough to slow customers down to look, but wide enough to be comfortable, clear and safe.
How is retail traffic measured?
Common retail traffic counting systems use sensors at the entrance areas to count the number of visitors to the store. Infrared technology is used to register customers coming in or going out of the store by counting each time a beam is broken.
What are the two types of traffic important to retailers?
Natural traffic is going to consider you at some point of their buying process simply because you are convenient to where they work, live or go to school, and you sell a product that interest them. The second type of traffic is called “owner body traffic.”
How do you increase customer flow?
Practical Ways to Increase Your Customer FlowAdd complementary products or services. ... Start a loyalty program. ... Accept all credit cards. ... Create partnership deals with other merchants.
How can I improve my retail sales?
11 ways to increase sales:Let customers try before they buy.Understand customer movement.Create an engaging environment.Encourage recommendations.Stock up on what sells.Offer your expertise.Optimize your counter space.Make sure your business is easy to find online.More items...
What are the KPI in retail?
8 Important Metrics for Retail Industry KPIsSales per square foot.Gross margins return on investment.Average transaction value.Customer retention.Conversion rate.Foot traffic and digital traffic.Inventory turnover.
How do you get KPI in retail?
4 Ways to improve your retail KPIsReturn on marketing spend. Understanding what brings customers into your stores is a big part of driving more sales, and seeing how customers respond to your marketing campaigns will be a big help towards this. ... Average customer spend. ... Sales staff demand. ... Overall conversion.
What are measures of retail performance?
Average sales order value = Total sales value / Number of transactions. This is far the most powerful and the most effective measure of the productivity of the sales system. You get more people to your retail store, they do actually buy more often, but the order average is falling?
Why do customers feel less rushed in the free flow store layout environment?
There are no specific design rules followed for this retail store design, and customers have more liberty to interact with merchandise and navigate on their own. For this reason, the free flow layout is sophisticated in its simplicity. Ebster points out that customers feel less rushed in this creative environment.
How can I increase my online traffic?
Here are 8 expert tips on how to drive traffic to your online store:Attract Customers with a Sales Campaign.Target Your Audience on Facebook.Use Instagram's Many Features.Lean into Email Marketing.SEO Optimize Your Site.Utilize Content Marketing.Engage with Influencers.Advertise on Google.
Why is it crucial to understand the shopper Behaviour and its impact on sales of a retail store?
Why is it important to understand and monitor shopper behavior? Because it has a major impact on the retail strategy. While trends keep changing so does the behavior of the shoppers and retailers need to be prepared and try to offer exactly what shoppers are looking for.
What is E Commerce will you be utilizing this way to do business?
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer or consumer-to-business.
What is traffic in a store?
Traffic is the number of people entering your store. The more traffic you can get across your doors, the higher the probability of having more sales, if you can convert enough of those visitors into customers. You can still make high sales with low traffic if your conversion rate is very high. That’s why, the first thing you try to do ...
How to Drive Traffic to Your Retail Store?
Go out in the community and create a list of nearby businesses who don’t compete with you, yet serve the same customers as you do.
What is targeted traffic?
“just about any traffic”. By targeted we mean people who are more likely to buy from you. People who fit into the demographic profile of your typical customers.
Why should retailers utilize all their assets and all the possibilities available to them in their local community?
In today’s market of high competition, retailers should utilize all their assets and all the possibilities available to them in their local community to drive their business and build loyalty among their customers.
Can you make high sales with low traffic?
You can still make high sales with low traffic if your conversion rate is very high. That’s why, the first thing you try to do to improve your sales is to try and increase your conversion of your current traffic while also trying to drive more traffic to your store.
What is traffic flow?
Traffic flow isn’t just about going into a store, finding a product and walking to the cashier point with the easiest path possible. It is actually far more about designing the customer’s experience so that he or she feels encouraged to engage with what is available to see, touch, smell, and hear. More often than not, an experience designed right will frequently produce more in sales than what the customer first intended to buy during the visit. So, customer flow management matters a lot; it has a real impact on the bottom line of floor sales revenue. Done incorrectly, flow management could hinder revenue channels from upselling, add-ons, and similar, leaving money on the table that could instead be part of a store’s revenue for the month.
How does traffic flow affect a store?
There is no question that traffic flow has a tremendous impact on a store’s revenue and ability to sell goods successfully. Traffic flow management is an ongoing balance between helping people find what they are looking for efficiently as well as “pushing” them into an opportunity to see other ideas and possibilities they weren’t thinking of when first entering the store’s floor area. Redesigning a store’s traffic flow is far more than just simple graphic design on the walls. It is an applied science regarding how people behave and encouraging movement behavior that works to the benefit of your business.
When Does a Fitout Happen?
It typically happens on the natural when a store first moves into a location and the management decides the initial layout where all the internal fixtures will be placed. This is one of the most critical decision points for a practical fitout because it sets the stage for so much of the rest of the store in terms of traffic, work areas, advertising, interior decoration and more.
What does it mean to open a retail store in a high traffic area?
Opening a retail store in a high-traffic shopping area means you’ll be one of many retail stores in a popular location. To stay competitive it’s important to differentiate your product assortment from other local shops. Just because you’re in a high foot traffic area it doesn’t mean you’re set. You’ll need to find ways to win over foot traffic and make enough sales to justify the higher rent you’re likely paying to set up shop in a high traffic zone.
How to increase foot traffic in a pop up store?
Those businesses will also promote the event via social media, email marketing, and word of mouth, which will result in increased foot traffic at your store.
Why track foot traffic?
Tracking foot traffic equips you with more data to inform the decisions you make as you run your store. For instance, you can determine what your store’s busiest days are based on both total sales and foot traffic and plan your staff schedule accordingly. You can also get more insight into how external factors (like seasonality or the weather) or your latest marketing activations and promotions impact foot traffic.
How to monitor foot traffic?
Foot traffic numbers can either be monitored manually using counters, or digitally using cameras and retail tracking software. There are several factors that can impact your store’s foot traffic, most notably where it's located.
How many retail stores will close in 2026?
Overall foot traffic trends in the retail industry will naturally affect your foot traffic. For example, investment banking company UBS projects that 80,000 retail stores will close by 2026 (9% of the current total). This is based on the assumption that ecommerce sales (as a percentage of total retail sales) will continue to grow at a rapid rate, from 18% to 27% in the same period.
What is the importance of the layout and design of a retail store?
The layout and design of your retail store—the way you set up fixtures, product displays, and merchandise— is an important factor in the volume of foot traffic you see.
Do you need to count everyone who enters to measure foot traffic?
Don’t worry —you don’t need to stand at the door and manually count everyone who enters to measure foot traffic. Thankfully, there are plenty of great tools to help calculate foot traffic and collect information about the customers who visit your brick-and-mortar location (s).
Which business has the most foot traffic?
To understand how this works, take a look at the three businesses with the most foot traffic: Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and Subway.
Why do people frequent convenience stores?
That's because convenience stores thrive on business from people who need a fast solution and easy purchase access, which is why customers tend to frequent convenience stores along their commuting route.
How to attract customers in a recession?
The most important element is to close your needs-offer gaps -the gap between what the customer needs and what you offer.
Does location matter in online shopping?
Location. As the old saying goes, location, location, location. Even in the era of online shopping, when customers can take the store anywhere they can carry their phone, the physical location of your store does matter when attracting door traffic. You see, your location is about more than your storefront.
What is the challenge of increasing foot traffic?
The challenge of increasing foot traffic is something that virtually every retailer faces. And in today’s increasingly competitive landscape where consumers have a ton of choices, it’s more important than ever to come up with ways to get people walking through your doors.
How does space affect retail?
Space conveys value in retail. The more open space you have, the higher the perceived value of your merchandise. So, if you’re a high-end retailer, make sure to have a lot of space between products. If you’re a bargain store, then you don’t have to space out different items as much. Update your windows regularly.
Does Google drive traffic?
Fact: Google can help drive in-store traffic.
