Store Traffic: 3 Ways To Increase Footfall and Boost Sales

Despite what many think, online shopping isn’t going to replace in-store purchases. People still prefer to have a look in-store for the reassurance that only comes with touching or trying the product. Keeping an eye on your store traffic will help you take proper advantage of this.

You must know who visits your store, how often they visit, what they buy, how long they stay, etc. Such questions help shape your strategy for making your store approachable and keeping your customers’ interest.

The more people you have in your store, the likelier you will make more sales. And it’s needless to say that more sales mean more revenue and profits. That’s the ultimate goal for any business. So, let’s dive right in to help you achieve this goal.

Let’s Start With the Basics of Store Traffic

If you’re not familiar with the concept, you might want to start learning what store traffic is. Fortunately, it’s not a difficult concept to grasp. Store traffic is simply the number of people who visit your venue during a period. Due to the name, you might associate this metric specifically with retail stores. However, other industries can also use it to their advantage. However, the name might change to foot traffic or footfall.

You can look at this number daily, weekly, or monthly. But if you want to squeeze all the benefits, you’re better off calculating it daily. Now, what are those benefits, you might ask?

Knowing the health of your business is the most obvious benefit. More foot traffic means your business is popular among customers, while a lower number might indicate a problem.

Combining footfall with other metrics can help you solve these problems. Moreover, this metric gives you actionable insights into customer behavior. You’ll know how many visitors remain visitors and how many change into customers. It will also tell you how people navigate your venue and the peak traffic times.

Knowing these things makes it easy for you to make better decisions. For example, let’s say you own a bookstore. Your customer traffic data reveals that people spend more time in the fantasy section.

If you launch special deals or simply keep your inventory updated with the latest releases, you’ll make more sales. Or you can maximize your efforts during busy times to make the most of them.

Lastly, you can improve staffing, store layouts, targeted promotions, and product placement with these numbers.

Manual Tracking vs. Automated Store Traffic Counter

While you might be able to track foot traffic manually, it won’t give you the best results. Instead, using store traffic counters proves to be the best approach here. If you own a small business, you might not be ready to invest in tools. However, the following discussion may well change your mind.

Manual tracking means hiring someone to stand at the entrance and count all visitors. They can write the number down in a register or go into more detail by interacting with potential customers. This will be enough to measure basic foot traffic.

But at the end of the day, those employees are human. They might make a mistake like missing a customer or two. That would disrupt the whole count.

On the other hand, incorporating technology will streamline the process and reduce the chances of error. These devices use sensors, cameras, and computer vision algorithms to count customers and create store traffic analysis. But for that, you’ll have to place multiple counters in strategic locations.

It will also give you a better view of the behavior and preferences of your customer base. That’s because you can integrate other tools with the counter, like your POS system, to know what each customer bought.

3 Ways To Increase Store Traffic and Bring in More Sales

With online shopping and channels, you’re behind a screen. You don’t get to make a physical impression on your customer.

However, in-store shopping gives you a better chance of interacting with customers and creating a genuine connection with them. No matter how personalized your online marketing is, it can never surpass real human interactions. That’s the best way to convince customers to buy from you.

But none of this will matter if you can’t get customers to visit you. Therefore, here are three ways to increase store traffic.

1. Improve Your Venue’s Appearance and Atmosphere

If you want more people to visit your business, you must try to stand out. One of the best ways to do this is to improve your venue’s appearance and ambiance. Here’s how to approach this strategy.

Start by always keeping your venue clean. Poor hygiene will discourage people from visiting, no matter how good your products or services are.

Moreover, you must think outside the box about what to display in your store. A simple sandwich board will do the trick, provided you write something that catches people’s eye. Or you might create a theme, for example, in the holiday season. That way, you’ll experience an influx of customers during those times.

In short, you must give people something to discuss and generate a buzz around your business.

However, it’s not just about the appearance. Incentivizing store visits can also be a good approach. These don’t always have to be monetary benefits, though.

For example, offering in-store free WiFi will entice customers to visit. While they’re there, you can also get to know them. Or you can give free items on every in-store purchase.

2. Increase Retail Store Traffic by Allowing In-Store Pickup and Returns

Even when shopping online, people want an easy return policy from you. 92% of customers say they’ll buy again if they can easily return the order.

Plus, they don’t want to pay for shipping when sending you the return.

Regardless of the retail location, in-store returns are a successful customer engagement strategy. Customers get their money back when they return the package, which adds convenience.

Once this convenience increases your retail store traffic, you’ll have a higher chance of making sales on other products. You can either do this by displaying signage or interacting with them.

Apart from returns, you can allow customers to order online and pick up from your store. Not paying for shipping enhances their shopping experience while increasing your sales.

3. Host Events at Your Venue

Customers often view shopping as entertainment. Hosting events at your venue is a perfect in-store marketing initiative.

This doesn’t mean you have to approach celebrities. Even a small workshop or product demonstration will work wonders for you. For example, Sephora often hosts beauty classes and makeup services for visiting people.

Alternatively, you can collaborate with other businesses to generate the same appeal. For example, restaurants can partner with bakeries to offer a complimentary dessert. Or grocery stores can display food stalls to keep customers there for a long time. Charity events can also bring in customers while creating a sense of community.

Improve Your Foot Traffic to Experience Real Growth

The more store traffic you have, the more sales you’ll be able to make. The strategies outlined in the article can help you with that. Additionally, if you offer free WiFi, you can push it even further.

Beambox is an all-in-one platform for WiFi marketing that can help you with that. It allows you to gather customer data to offer customers what they want. Moreover, using data in your campaigns can promote your business effectively and increase brand awareness. Start your trial today!

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