In retail, a people counting system is one of the best ways to uncover the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about where people are most commonly walking through your store. Instead of guessing when it comes to staffing, sales conversions, and other aspects of your business, retail foot traffic data provided by people counters gives you the cold, hard facts to right-size your retail strategy.
Truth #1: Staffing
You may think you have the right number of sales associates on the floor at any given time, but by examining your retail foot traffic you can gain insights to better align staffing with traffic volume. It can help you understand the times of day, days of the week, and period of the year when you need to increase or decrease staffing levels.
Maybe you’ve always hired more seasonal workers to handle the holiday crush only to reduce staffing back to “normal” levels at the start of the New Year. But perhaps your people counting system indicates that volume remains high through mid-January as shoppers rush to return or exchange holiday gifts. With insights like these, you can ensure you always have sufficient employees on hand to provide excellent customer service.
Data from a people counting system helps you not only focus on adding employees during busy times, but also making sure you’re not spending more on labor than is absolutely necessary when traffic is slower.
Truth #2: Sales Conversions
Is your sales conversion rate where it should be? Or a better question might be: Do you even know what your conversion rate should be? Investigating retail foot traffic can give you a better sense of how many shoppers who enter your store make a purchase.
For example, a conversion rate that remains flat when foot traffic rises may be cause for concern, as it could indicate that shoppers are either simply browsing instead of buying, or they cannot find the products they’re seeking. On the other hand, perhaps shoppers aren’t converting into buyers because they’re deterred by long lines at the cash wrap. Understanding why conversion doesn’t mirror foot traffic can help you to adjust your operations accordingly.
Truth #3: Promotional Displays
Are your promotional displays actually driving results? Look to your retail foot traffic and POS data to find out. If your promotional display isn’t resulting in more sales of the promoted product, you may need to reposition or rethink the display.
In addition, use A/B testing of your promotional displays to determine which is more effective at drawing shoppers and driving sales. You can adjust display design, location, or time of day/day of the week that it’s promoted to your customers.
Truth #4: Finding Your Slow Periods
In reviewing retail foot traffic data, you can identify when your store is busy versus when business is slow. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about how to attract shoppers to your store when traffic and sales are lagging. Perhaps you can create a promotion that rewards customers for making a purchase on a sleepy mid-week afternoon or advertise an in-store event to generate interest at a time when shoppers otherwise would stay away.
Retail foot traffic data reveals the hard truths — good and bad — about what’s really going on inside your store. Armed with this knowledge, you can make data-driven decisions about how to improve operations and conversion rates to provide a better experience for your customers.
