Will a Foot Traffic Tally Help a Small Business?

Brick-and-mortar stores are constantly seeking ways to optimize their operations and attract customers, sans the big budget spending. One strategy that everyone almost always uses is foot traffic tallying, which involves counting the number of people entering and exiting a physical location. But is this a worthwhile effort for small businesses or will it not yield results that may be used in the improvement of the business?

Let’s explore the pros and cons to help you decide.

Potential Benefits of Foot Traffic Tallying

Foot traffic data can be a valuable tool for small businesses, according to E-commerce giant Shopify. Here’s why:

Customer Traffic Patterns: By having a good grasp of how many people walk by your store and how many actually enter, you gain insights into your storefront’s visibility and effectiveness. This data can help you evaluate marketing campaigns, optimize store layout and displays, and determine ideal staffing hours.

For example, if you notice a significant drop in foot traffic during specific times of the day through your traffic tally, you might adjust staffing levels or experiment with window displays to attract more attention.

Identifying Trends: Foot traffic data allows you to track trends in customer visits and identify busy and slow periods. This can help you with inventory management and scheduling.

If you know you historically have a surge in traffic on weekends, you can ensure you’re adequately stocked and have enough staff on hand to handle the increased demand.

Conversion Rate Insights: While foot traffic data alone won’t tell you the percentage of visitors who make a purchase, it can be an important piece of the puzzle, as combining foot traffic data with your sales figures will let you calculate a basic conversion rate and identify areas for improvement.

For instance, if you have a high volume of foot traffic but low sales, it might indicate an issue with product display, customer service, or checkout process.

Limitations to Consider

While foot traffic data offers valuable insights, it doesn’t paint the whole picture.

Limited Customer Behavior Data: It doesn’t tell you how long customers stay in your store, what products they browse, or why they might leave without making a purchase. This additional customer behavior data can be crucial for optimizing your store layout and product placement.

Online Customer Base Consideration: Relying solely on foot traffic data can be misleading if your business caters to a significant online customer base. Foot traffic data only reflects physical store visits and wouldn’t account for website traffic or online sales. For a more comprehensive understanding of your customer base, consider integrating foot traffic data with other analytics tools, like sales figures and website traffic data.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to implement foot traffic tallying depends on your specific needs and budget. For small businesses with limited resources, there might be more cost-effective ways to gather customer insights, such as simple observations or customer surveys. However, if you have the budget and are looking for ways to optimize your physical storefront, foot traffic data can be a valuable tool to help you make data-driven decisions. (GFB)