Increasing Footfall in Retail Stores
Although there has no doubt been a decrease in the number of people willing to splurge, many retail stores are seeing little change in their sales according to the Office for National Statistics, with estimates showing that retail sales volume has actually increased since January.
However, one analytic that some retailers don’t even consider is footfall. Footfall is essentially the number of people that enter your store, and measuring and analysing footfall data can help you make several changes to your store that will benefit both you and your customers. Fortunately, there are plenty of tricks and tips that you can try in your store to increase footfall, improve the customer experience and boost your sales.
Here is our full guide on increasing footfall in retail stores!
What Is Footfall?
Retail footfall is the number of people who are entering a shop at any given time. Working out footfall in your retail shop is an essential performance indicator for measuring several KPIs, such as average shopping times and sales conversion.
How Is In-store Retail Changing?
The retail industry is constantly evolving, but with the ever-increasing popularity of online shopping, how does in-store shopping look nowadays? Understanding how the industry has evolved in just a few short years is vital to store retailers wanting to measure footfall, as knowing the buying habits of your customers can help you cultivate a better in-store shopping experience and increase footfall traffic to your store.
How Has The Cost of Living Crisis Affected Retail Footfall?
Unfortunately, the cost of living crisis has affected several aspects of our everyday lives. With the amount of money people are willing to spend on common necessities, let alone luxuries, should retailers be worried about how this crisis will affect their footfall and profit?
Despite some negative predictions over the last few months, the future is looking brighter than expected. With few retailers worrying about footfall and some even looking to take the place of their local competitors, many retailers don’t seem to expect the cost of living crisis affecting them as much as could be expected.
The reality is that if people aren’t as willing to spend too much on non-essentials, local retailers can take a hit. So, if you are worried about a change in footfall in your retail store, we have some of the best advice in this article to help boost your marketing strategies above your competitors!
Why Measure Footfall Traffic In Your Store?
Measuring the amount of foot traffic can prove extremely beneficial to the future of your store and the decisions you make. Just some benefits of measuring footfall traffic in your store are that the results will make it possible for you to:
- Inform staffing decisions
- Target profitable customers
- Calculate retail conversion rate
- Compare store performance
- Measure the effectiveness of marketing
- Evaluate training programs
- Identify consumer trends
- Decide if/when to expand your retail store
- Identify changing patterns
- Provide a better customer experience
How Do You Measure Footfall?
When it comes to measuring footfall, you can choose a period of time to look at - such as every hour, every day, every week, or every year. There are several ways of measuring footfall traffic in a retail store. These include:
Using the data you gather in your footfall analysis, you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing, identify customer trends, compare your store performance, and monitor several other KPIs to influence future decisions in your store.
How To Increase Footfall Traffic To Your Store
Now you know how to measure footfall and the benefits of doing so, we can get stuck into how you can start increasing the footfall traffic in your store.
So, browse through our top tips for increasing footfall in retail stores and find ways to increase your clientele easily and quickly.
Driving In People From The High Street
Promote Deals & Demos
Just like with your window displays, enticing more footfall traffic into your retail store starts before your customers even enter the store. So, don’t limit yourself to those four walls - take your tactics out into the street with pavement signs and plenty of confidence.
You could offer vouchers or discounts, demonstrations and free samples. These freebies will show people what your brand is all about, what you sell and let potential customers know where to find you if they enjoy the deals you offer.
Offer Bonuses and Offers
Offering bonuses and offers is one of the most beneficial things you can do to bring potential customers in from the high street and encourage previous customers to return.
Providing offers to consumers has been proven to increase sales, build customer loyalty, help meet sales objectives and boost awareness of your brand.
Hold In-Store Events
Holding in-store events and functions is a unique way of introducing your store to new people and providing them with a helpful service.
Provide Amenities
Amenities such as wi-fi, mobile payments or the option to purchase drinks are a fantastic way to entice customers in from the high street, as these will encourage people to make good use of them and also make the customer journey easier.
Online & Offline Strategies
Invest In Your Socials
Social media is one of the handiest tools to reach your customer base, and if you use it wisely, you can increase in-store footfall traffic.
Encourage Customers To Leave Reviews
Reviews are vital to reputation and footfall traffic in your store. Hearing or reading about someone else’s positive experience in store or with products will influence others with their buying decisions.
Pair With Influencers
Bringing in outside reinforcements that can share and talk about your brand or store is fantastic publicity that is sure to increase interest.
Encourage Location Tagging & Social Shares
Encouraging customers to share their in-store experiences on social media is some of the best publicity you can give yourself.
Convert Online Traffic To In-Store Traffic
A lot of people’s lives are contained on the internet, so investing in digital marketing is a key tool to increasing footfall in your retail store.
Offer Click & Collect Services
Click and collect is the perfect way to merge your online and offline traffic without seeming pushy.
Bringing Back Past Customers
Boost Relationships With Loyalty Schemes
Loyalty schemes are the best way of increasing footfall traffic from existing customers and reducing the risk of them gravitating towards your competitors.
Build Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty should be at the centre of any strategy to encourage your customers to return, as loyal customers are returning customers.
Go Above and Beyond
In-store processes, layouts and service can all leave a bad taste in the mouths of customers, and one or two bad experiences can lead to them never returning.
Boost Your Customer Service
Customer service is often a sore spot with customers, and feeling as though they were not understood may lead to your customers finding somewhere else to go.
Keep Your In-Store Experience Tip Top
The in-store experience is the perception that customers receive while going through the process of purchasing from a store, and it’s one of the most important things that brick-and-mortar stores have over online retailers.
Leverage Mobile Numbers
Many people never leave the house without their phones, and leveraging your customers' mobile numbers can have a large impact on your store’s footfall.
