How Do Retailers Measure Foot Traffic?

Foot traffic counting is a big part of monitoring the success of a business and can provide insights that would otherwise be lost to business owners. In this article, we will answer the question “How do retailers measure foot traffic?” and explain how this can improve business.

What is Foot Traffic Monitoring?

Foot traffic refers to the number of people that enter and exit a determined location within a certain period of time. This time frame can span anywhere from a day to a week, or a month. Locations can be stores, malls, restaurants, and more. The practice of gathering this data is known as foot traffic monitoring. This data is used to measure the popularity of a location, peak times, the effect of marketing efforts, and more.

How is Foot Traffic Data Collected?

Data on foot traffic is collected by making use of certain technologies and systems such as TrueCounts 3D. This technology makes use of video and Wi-Fi to gather the desired data that is part of business intelligence. While video counting provides data on the number of people entering and exiting, Wi-Fi counting can provide an array of extra information. This information can include the number of passers-by, turn-in rate, return customers, new customers, time spent in-store, and more. This system makes use of an Ethernet cable to receive power and transfer the data collected to the cloud for safe storage and easy access.

Data Collected by Foot Traffic Monitoring

The data collected by foot traffic monitoring is invaluable when it comes to growing your business and tracking trends to ensure you continue to provide services and products that customers value. Some important data points and what they can tell you about your business include:

• Busy Times: All industries have certain times of the day, week, and month when traffic peaks. When making use of foot traffic counting you can accurately predict times when your store or business might be overwhelmed with the sheer number of customers. To ensure customer satisfaction, one can increase staff headcount in these times.
• Inventory Planning: It is important to plan your inventory correctly to ensure that you have enough stock available in busy times. This can also be pre-empted when one makes use of the data collected by means of foot traffic monitoring.
• Location: It is well known that location is paramount when it comes to opening a business as you need to be where your ideal clientele dwells. Making use of foot traffic counting can provide you with data on whether the location you are thinking of is the one, or if your current location still has access to your ideal customer.
• Display and Marketing Success: Foot traffic monitoring can also provide valuable information on whether or not a new window display or marketing campaign is successful. This will allow you to improve on these efforts and appeal more to potential customers.

Contact Milestone to find out more about foot traffic monitoring and how it can improve your business.