We’re going to walk you through 7 of our easy steps to increase footfall in your store.
If you want to increase footfall in your store, you firstly need to understand foot-traffic, and most of all understand customers. Foot-traffic is one of the most important measures in retail. More traffic means more opportunities for sales and customer engagement… which in turn leads to higher revenue!
First impressions
Did you know shop windows are increasingly becoming a valuable marketing asset? Think about it, when you walk up to a shop, what’s the first thing you see? The front of the store! With a shop window you have the opportunity to show the public exactly what your store is offering. Most customers are looking for experience not just a transaction.
Next time you’re outside your own store, ask yourself… does it make you want to come in? Factors customers mainly look at are:
- Cleanliness
- Eye-catching
- Inviting
- Interesting
Not everyone has the resources to spruce up there entrance but even something as small as a little welcome mat can make your store seem more approachable!
Clean and tidy
A spruced up store will do wonders for your curb appeal. To put it bluntly, if your store is dirty, messy and out of date not many people are going to want to purchase from you. A daily clean should be a standard procedure… making sure the shelves aren’t dusty, the produce is fresh and the floors are swept. Just that little bit of effort will go a really long way.
Even little maintenance jobs are essential. A good paint job can last years! Keep it clean and you’ll increase footfall in your store in no time.
Customer service
It’s so important that your customers feel welcomed and important. Nothing worse than dealing with rude staff that couldn’t care less about your needs. We understand sometimes working in retail can be intense and pressure but it shouldn’t be taken out on customers.
With a happy employee, comes good customer service. So it’s important that your employees are feeling valued and motivated… which is why we’ve got a few ideas to drive your employees service skills.
You need to offer them an incentive. For example, some companies get their employees to hand out review cards, if the customer they’ve served feels they have received great service they can write a nice little message about that employee. Then at the end of the week the employee with the most positive reviews will get a little prize, such as, an extra day off!
It’s important that your employees are representing your brand in the right way when serving customers but it’s also important for you to look after your employees, it’s about balance.
Did you know 52% of consumers say they have made an additional purchase from a company after a positive customer service experience?
Happy employees = Happy customers = Happy bank account
Trends and Events
We think the best way to engage customers is to really give them a reason to come into your store. If you’re adapting your store to fit in with different events, you’re doing it right!
Yearly and seasonal events make large amounts of money, every year! Especially in Retail. Get on board with tonnes of celebrations and you will definitely catch customers attention. According to The Bank of England, a typical UK household spends over £500 more than any month during the Christmas season…
After each seasonal event you should complete a retail analysis to see when your store had the largest increase of footfall to establish patterns an trends in customer purchasing. This insight will help you to plan ahead for next time to give your customers exactly what they need. Increasing footfall just got easier!
Direct Marketing
Try going behind the typical window display… you could add additional elements outside your shop like a card stand or plant selection! Give them a reason to stop and check it out.
You could even consider a hand out of promotion flyers. Or even a door-drop. Add a little incentive in there to draw the customer in like a discount voucher!
Deals and discounts
Who doesn’t love a bargain? Holding a sale is the perfect way to engage customers. Be smart with your sales strategy, you don’t want to lose money. With an analysis try and work out which products aren’t selling so well and test the waters by putting them on offer and see if it lures your customers to it!
Offer an additional service
Did you know 76% of customers pay by cash? But only 58% of shops have cash machines… according to the ACS Local Shop Report 2018.
By providing your customers with a cash solution you are increasing the chance of customers spending more in your store… 65% of customers go onto impulse buy after using a cash machine!
Take it from our customer testimonials! Having an ATM will help to increase footfall in your store… if you still have some questions you can contact us today and we will get back to you as soon as we can!
If you have any advice on how you increase footfall in your store that we can share, please tweet us today! For more advice on how you can improve your store, check out our blog page.
