Definition: Foot traffic is the number of customers that walk into a retail store. This is especially important for retail businesses because it indicates the presence of customers in the store. Therefore, higher the foot-traffic means higher sales.
What Does Foot Traffic Mean?
What is the definition of foot traffic? High-end retailers use foot-traffic as an indication of projected sales. They organize promotional events, sales, and fundraising to attract more people to the store and achieve higher sales. In doing so, they increase foot-traffic, i.e. the number of people that enter the store. Brick-and-mortar retailers with a strong online presence, promote their websites to increase traffic, i.e. the number of people that visit the online store. Another popular method to increase foot-traffic is Groupon, which offers a great discount to customers in particular stores for a commission that the stores pay to Groupon for getting promoted and advertised.
Let’s look at an example.
Example
Customer traffic analytics are especially important for a business. Retailers can collect all kinds of information about traffic and the number of people visiting their store on a given day. The most important information that can, actually, provide retailers with valuable data about traffic includes the time spent in the store, the average shop time on an annual basis, the types of merchandise mostly preferred, the distance between a customer’s residence and the store, and traffic data comparisons to competitive stores.
There are many ways to track the movement of customers in the store or even a few feet down the road. Most retailers use their Wi-Fi network or POS systems and integrate the data into the customer traffic analytics to receive the information they want. Hugo Boss uses the heat sensors in the store to collect customer traffic data and customer preferences with respect to high-end products. Godiva gains insight about customer traffic from the counter in its stores and, depending on customer satisfaction, it places the best employees during peak hours. So, customer satisfaction increases customer traffic, which, in turn, increases, sales.
Summary Definition
Define Foot Traffic: Foot traffic means the amount of customers walking in the doors of a retail store.
