When running a business, chances are you’ll be reliant on foot traffic. Foot traffic is the number of customers crossing your physical threshold - entering your restaurant or store. And naturally, when it comes to measuring success, foot traffic growth is what to keep your eye out for. Seeing an increase in customer foot traffic is a vast green flag.
Increases in foot traffic show that you are marketing and running your business effectively. What more reassurance could you ask for?
Monitoring foot traffic growth is a huge part of increasing target engagement and boosting your business toward success. Whether running a chain of discount stores or full-service restaurants, these skills and tactics are vital. This guide will unpack all there is to know about growing foot traffic.
Simply put, foot traffic growth is an increase in customers visiting your business. Specifically, these customers visit in person rather than visiting your website or online store. Foot traffic is where customers step over a physical threshold to interact with you and your business.
Foot traffic growth could come in spikes - like how discount stores have seasonal spikes like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. In this case, the increase is temporary.
However, by monitoring foot traffic patterns, businesses can prepare themselves for consumer behavior and sales performance. This preparation could mean ordering more specific products (like flowers before Valentine’s Day). Or business owners may schedule more staff on the rota for particular shifts.
Traffic growth could also be permanent. Restaurant owners may notice in their second year of business, and there’s an increase in traffic compared to their first year. Gradual growth in foot traffic is an encouraging sign that people are becoming more aware of your business. Awareness and popularity are reassuring steps toward business success.
As you can see, foot traffic can signal many different things. Growth is positive for your business, but it doesn’t mean you should stop monitoring foot traffic patterns. You can prepare for the extra pressure on staff by watching your traffic grow. You can also more accurately celebrate your successes.
It is simple; foot traffic growth means more people visiting your business. And more people visiting your business means a higher profit for you. If you want to run a successful, profitable business (and who doesn’t?), seeing growth in foot traffic is fantastic.
The more people visit your business, the higher your sales performance. You have more opportunities to sell your services or stock. Picture a growth in foot traffic as a golden ticket.
Even if you aren’t motivated by driving sales and profit margins, foot traffic growth is impressive for understanding customer demographics. The more customers visit, the more information you can get from your target audience. And the more information you get, the better you can make your customer experience.
There are many ways to collect customer demographics through foot traffic. You could set up Wi-Fi for customers and then use a captive portal to request details in exchange for a Wi-Fi connection. Some stores and restaurants even offer discounts in exchange for customers completing quick feedback forms.
Get creative. Foot traffic is like gold dust - even if you want a more exclusive experience and are happier with fewer customers. You can use the extra foot traffic to improve your business and understand customer behavior and your target audience.
Similarly, seeing a growth in foot traffic is valuable feedback that you are on the right track. Your marketing? Service and customer experience? Brand awareness? Tick, tick, and tick.
There’s always room for improvement. However, seeing a rise in your foot traffic trend shows that you can afford to keep doing what you’re doing.
By now, it is pretty clear that measuring foot traffic growth is essential. So, how do you do it? In some industries, it’s easier than in others, especially when foot traffic links directly to sales.
For instance, in a restaurant, you can track booking numbers. It gets trickier when foot traffic doesn’t necessarily correlate with sales.
If you are running a store, you might find more people visiting but not buying anything. People not buying anything isn’t necessarily a bad sign. There are many reasons that this could happen, including personal finances or lack of time.
An increase in foot traffic still shows a rise in brand awareness, even if people don’t buy. But how do you measure these customers? The customers appear and disappear without trace through sales.
In this section, we will look at how to measure foot traffic growth rate - whether customers buy or don’t buy.
One way to track foot traffic patterns is to outsource the task by purchasing specialist software. This software typically comes with special sensors that count customers as they walk through your door. Using this information, it compiles data and statistics onto an informative dashboard. Business owners can then extract the data they want straight from the dashboard - foot traffic growth analysis made easy.
Of course, the primary benefit of foot traffic report software is that it isn’t sales based. The sensors count customers as they enter your business, regardless of whether they purchase anything. The software is a fantastic solution if you want to overcome that barrier of tracking foot traffic without sales.
Foot traffic report software is easy to find. Scanalytics is a popular software provider and has a unique underlay design. Traffic detectors neatly hide under the floor for professional design and business-minded results.
An online foot traffic map is one of the newest tools to measure foot traffic. This technique is fresh on the scene and one of the most cutting-edge pieces of technology.
A foot traffic map is most useful when analyzing where to place a new business. It allows you to explore an entire region - for instance, analyzing foot traffic at 8 am in New York City. With this knowledge, you could place a coffee shop in the most popular places to target commuters. When it comes to business research, this technique is flawless.
You could also use traffic maps to analyze movement around your current business. You could also monitor how many people pass your store or restaurant on the street. Seeing how many people choose not to engage with your business might sound disheartening.
However, traffic maps are valuable because they give you this rare statistic. With knowledge of the customer and non-customer foot traffic, you can boost your marketing and tempt those usually walking past.
Of course, talking about measuring foot traffic growth leads us to the golden question. How do you increase foot traffic in retail store businesses? Luckily for you, there are endless ways to boost your foot traffic as a retail store.
Firstly, first impressions matter. Your store exterior should be up-to-date and well-maintained. If it is mid-February and you still have a stray Christmas decoration, that’s hardly a positive brand image. Similarly, where would you rather buy your cosmetics, a brightly painted store or one with chipped paint and moss?
Creating a positive first impression will boost your foot traffic tenfold. Definitely invest in fresh paint and regular store displays. You would carefully select a theme for a restaurant, a retail store is no different.
Secondly, make sure people know you exist. It might sound obvious, but customers can’t come if they don’t know where you are or what you do. Get your business listings online - on Yelp, Google My Business, and whatever other directories you can find. Getting your retail store on Google Maps is essential, especially if you want people to find you easily.
Finally, a key to foot traffic growth is stopping customers in their tracks. Make sure that your business spills out onto the pavement.
You could add a bench or seating area. You could add a sandwich board with your latest details. You could invest in something eye-catching like a statue or significant symbol if you want.
Toy stores sometimes have giant plastic teddy statues to catch children’s eyes and encourage parents to take them inside. With a memorable pavement outside your store, people will come to remember it, and foot traffic will grow.
Foot traffic growth is undoubtedly essential for your business. Seeing an increase in foot traffic is many things; an opportunity for further growth, demographic understanding, and celebration. It is a positive sign that every successful business will see.
Measuring increased foot traffic is just as important when scaling businesses and customer experience. The verdict is out - you should definitely care about foot traffic growth.
After reading this guide, you have all the details you need to celebrate, utilize, and increase foot traffic. You’ve taken the first step towards business success by choosing to learn about its importance. Your next step is investing in software or traffic tools and tracking foot traffic today.
Feeling a little lost starting the process? At Beambox, we are happy to help. Outsource to us, and let us begin your foot traffic journey. We are experts in making the most of customer demographics, so let’s get the ball rolling today.
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