Why retail stores should utilize storefront passersby data for improved performance

For traditional physical store merchants, passenger flow serves as an important indicator of daily store operations. While stores typically focus on data regarding the number of people who have entered the store, there is another crucial indicator: storefront passersby.

To better understand the idea of passersby and their role in the customer journey, let’s first explore the concept of a retail conversion funnel.

A retail conversion funnel is a marketing concept and framework that outlines the stages potential buyers go through on their customer journey towards making a purchase or completing a desired action. It helps businesses understand and optimize the entire customer journey, from attracting visitors to converting them into satisfied customers. By analyzing and optimizing the conversion funnel, businesses can effectively engage prospective customers, address their concerns, and create specific touchpoints to encourage conversions, ultimately maximizing their marketing strategy.

As depicted in the diagram, storefront passersby data holds great importance in the retail conversion funnel for brick-and-mortar stores. It serves as a valuable indicator of the potential customer base. As a store owner, your aim is to increase the number of potential customers by attracting more foot traffic. However, it becomes crucial to determine whether your store is effectively attracting the ideal number of potential customers. This is where people counting technology comes into play, providing valuable insights and analysis.

Retail stores can benefit from using people counting technology to count storefront passersby data for several reasons:

• Measure Storefront Visibility: By counting the number of passersby in front of the store, retailers can assess the visibility and exposure of their storefront display.
• Assess Marketing Impact: Tracking storefront passersby data allows retailers to evaluate the impact of the marketing efforts in generating interest and attracting potential customers.
• Understand Conversion Rates: By correlating storefront passersby data with actual customer visits and sales, retailers can calculate conversion rates, which helps evaluate the effectiveness of storefront strategies in converting passersby into customers.
• Identify Peak Hours: Analyzing storefront passersby data helps retailers identify peak hours when foot traffic is highest, enabling them to allocate resources and staff accordingly.

In simpler terms, by focusing on the number of people passing by your storefront, which is a key aspect of the retail conversion funnel, you can determine if your store is effectively attracting customers and you will know when you need to optimize resource allocation.

Merchants should prioritize the initial layer of data in their store analysis, starting with storefront passersby. A high number of passersby indicates a successful choice of store location and effective marketing efforts, increasing the likelihood of attracting customers. However, attention should also be shifted to the store’s walk-in rates, which measure the effectiveness of window displays and in-store promotional events.

While storefront passersby data is important, retailers should not solely focus on this one-dimensional metric. For instance, there may be instances where passersby numbers are low, but the walk-in rates remain high, indicating successful marketing and store promotion strategies. It is crucial to consider a combination of factors, including passersby, walk-in rates, walk-out rates, sales volume, and conversion rates, to gain a holistic understanding of the store’s operational status and identify any potential issues.

OP Retail has developed a retail funnel analysis tool that provides a panoramic view of all your stores’ passenger flow status through the entire customer journey. This tool allows you to pinpoint current operational flaws and make timely improvements.

About OP Retail 

OP Retail (Suzhou) Technology Co., Ltd, headquartered in Suzhou, China, offers quality products mainly for retail stores, providing technical solutions for visitor analysis, customer behavior insights, store operation analysis, and more. OP Retail’s solutions are based on the principles of usability, high security, and flexible scalability. For more information, please visit our website or send us inquiries for details.