Retail traffic counting may be more significant to your business than you might think. There was major remodel of a store I worked for and it affected sales for the business. The front of the store was being repainted which affected where customers could walk. Painter scaffolding was blocking portions of the entrances and we were forced to redirect traffic. A large area of our parking lot was fenced off and storage trailers occupied the space impacting vehicle parking. Inside the doorway plastic sheeting was hung down and our customers had to walk through cut out doorways. Further inside the store full departments were combined with other departments and space between fixtures was restrictive to say the least (downright claustrophobic is more appropriate). Floor tile and carpet were pulled up in areas and made walking around a cement floor uncomfortable. We did not have a door counting sensor to take an actual headcount of how many shoppers were entering the store but the information could have been useful to the company before jumping into other remodeling projects.
Retail traffic counting is exactly what it sounds like. It is the tracking of the number of people entering a store not just the tracking of daily sales data. The information obtained is important because it can aid store management in assessing the impact of events on the business. Sales data is useful for replenishment of products or comparisons of how many dollars are spent in one time frame versus another. Data can be driven down to the product level to see if a special sale item was successful or not. The downside to sales data alone is that it fails to provide the end user with the actual number of people who walked in and out of the store during the day. When people are factored in a business owner or manager can compare that figure to the total number of transactions and start to analyze if there were factors that may have contributed to missed sales opportunities. How difficult is it to obtain people counts? It is done with a door counting sensor that can be a stand-alone unit or better yet if a store has a Checkpoint System with electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers at the doors it can be connected to that system. The additional benefit is that EAS alarm activity and response can be tracked and evaluated.
Consider the usefulness of tracking the headcounts for your store. Going back to my remodel situation, we saw changes in our sales as the construction process took place. But if we knew how many patrons we were down compared to the prior year we could then make suggestions in our final store recap about what we could have done better. Would better signage or directional signs aided the parking situation? Perhaps the look of the work around the store entrance scared some customers away and we could have suggested an alternate entryway for customers. Looking back on it I believe the use of a door counting sensor would have been beneficial to us and the company.
Another useful application for retail traffic counting is that it can help measure the effectiveness of store advertising signage or new window displays to attract customers. If you have a baseline established for your patron counts and then do something creative with your signage and you can validate that the number of clients increased you can reasonably attribute the increase to the signage. If foot traffic goes up but sales data remains flat then you know you have another issue you need to evaluate and address. It may be your pricing strategy, your customer service level, too few cash registers open or something else. At least you can rule out that a lack of customers is your problem.
With the appropriate application a retail traffic counting system can be a useful assessment tool for your store. Evaluate your business and how certain activities may be driving or impeding sales so you can more effectively strategize in the future. Try adding a door counting sensor and see how you may be able to open the door to increased sales.
Need information on a retail counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now
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Innovative Ideas Using A Door Counting System
Innovations to improve profits and service are always fascinating to me. I came across something that piqued my interest while in a grocery store with my wife. We were just starting to walk past the frozen food freezer units and I saw a light turn on. Initially I thought this was possibly a bad bulb but then I noticed that the rest of the lights in the other coolers were out. We then turned to walk down the aisle and as we progressed the lights in the units immediately in front of us came on. I thought it was cool that someone thought of this innovation to save money. But I also thought about what may be another added bonus to the system. The lights coming on as we passed by the front of the aisle attracted my attention. How many customers does this cause to turn into an aisle they may have passed by? Does this have an unintended impact on driving sales? As those questions came to my mind I thought about retail traffic counting systems as an innovation in retail. Sure, they can tell a store owner how many people are coming in a store that is the natural intent of the devices. Are there other benefits that may be considered afterthoughts to installing them as were the draw of the motion sensor lights in the freezers?
Before I explore this any further it would be a good idea to clarify what retail traffic counter systems are for the uninitiated reader. These are systems that utilize a door counting sensor to track how many people are entering a store. The information gleaned from the system is used to determine exactly what the traffic patterns in a store are by time of day and the day of the week. This information is then used by store managers and store owners to determine payroll allocations. Payroll is spent where trends indicate the busiest days and hours are from a historical perspective.
Back to my observation about side benefits how else might a store owner benefit if he/she were to place a door counting sensor at the entrance to the store? Is there more than knowing how to spend payroll more effectively? Consider what happens when a new window display is set up. Does management really know whether it was impactful to set up that mannequin or layout a new lawnmower or tool set? Using the data from retail traffic counting systems it is possible to compare days. Maybe last year 300 people entered the store on this day of the week. This year the totals were 350 people coming to visit. Barring any external factors that may have played a part such as snow or a special event in the community, something that might have drawn in people to the town, it would be fairly safe to assume the display was the draw. Note should be taken for next year on what was displayed you may have hit a jackpot.
Another positive effect of a retail traffic counting system is it can help measure your store social media presence. It is one thing to get tweets and re-tweets or hundreds of Facebook shares but that means nothing if you don’t know if your media presence translates to sales. On the other hand a tweet about a special event in your building or a Facebook post telling everyone there is a special one-time deal being offered may drive in people but you don’t have any clue how many unless you can track that number by foot traffic. I know what you are thinking, “I always have my receipt tape to tell me how my event impacted sales.” If you think this an accurate measure you might want to reconsider that line of thought. How many customers came in but did not buy anything? Perhaps they just wanted to browse merchandise but what if they didn’t buy because no one was available to offer assistance? A door counting sensor along with sales receipt data can paint a true picture of how many people were in your store and how many actually made purchases. This information can help in creating future action plans that will make sale promotions more profitable than in the past.
Innovation often requires looking at something more than on the surface. A motion sensor can save money on energy and draw in a customer. A door counting sensor can count people and give vital information that will help in assessing social media and advertising impact along with other statistical data. See how a retail traffic counting sensor can help drive up your sales.
Need information on a door counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Innovations to improve profits and service are always fascinating to me. I came across something that piqued my interest while in a grocery store with my wife. We were just starting to walk past the frozen food freezer units and I saw a light turn on. Initially I thought this was possibly a bad bulb but then I noticed that the rest of the lights in the other coolers were out. We then turned to walk down the aisle and as we progressed the lights in the units immediately in front of us came on. I thought it was cool that someone thought of this innovation to save money. But I also thought about what may be another added bonus to the system. The lights coming on as we passed by the front of the aisle attracted my attention. How many customers does this cause to turn into an aisle they may have passed by? Does this have an unintended impact on driving sales? As those questions came to my mind I thought about retail traffic counting systems as an innovation in retail. Sure, they can tell a store owner how many people are coming in a store that is the natural intent of the devices. Are there other benefits that may be considered afterthoughts to installing them as were the draw of the motion sensor lights in the freezers?
Before I explore this any further it would be a good idea to clarify what retail traffic counter systems are for the uninitiated reader. These are systems that utilize a door counting sensor to track how many people are entering a store. The information gleaned from the system is used to determine exactly what the traffic patterns in a store are by time of day and the day of the week. This information is then used by store managers and store owners to determine payroll allocations. Payroll is spent where trends indicate the busiest days and hours are from a historical perspective.
Back to my observation about side benefits how else might a store owner benefit if he/she were to place a door counting sensor at the entrance to the store? Is there more than knowing how to spend payroll more effectively? Consider what happens when a new window display is set up. Does management really know whether it was impactful to set up that mannequin or layout a new lawnmower or tool set? Using the data from retail traffic counting systems it is possible to compare days. Maybe last year 300 people entered the store on this day of the week. This year the totals were 350 people coming to visit. Barring any external factors that may have played a part such as snow or a special event in the community, something that might have drawn in people to the town, it would be fairly safe to assume the display was the draw. Note should be taken for next year on what was displayed you may have hit a jackpot.
Another positive effect of a retail traffic counting system is it can help measure your store social media presence. It is one thing to get tweets and re-tweets or hundreds of Facebook shares but that means nothing if you don’t know if your media presence translates to sales. On the other hand a tweet about a special event in your building or a Facebook post telling everyone there is a special one-time deal being offered may drive in people but you don’t have any clue how many unless you can track that number by foot traffic. I know what you are thinking, “I always have my receipt tape to tell me how my event impacted sales.” If you think this an accurate measure you might want to reconsider that line of thought. How many customers came in but did not buy anything? Perhaps they just wanted to browse merchandise but what if they didn’t buy because no one was available to offer assistance? A door counting sensor along with sales receipt data can paint a true picture of how many people were in your store and how many actually made purchases. This information can help in creating future action plans that will make sale promotions more profitable than in the past.
Innovation often requires looking at something more than on the surface. A motion sensor can save money on energy and draw in a customer. A door counting sensor can count people and give vital information that will help in assessing social media and advertising impact along with other statistical data. See how a retail traffic counting sensor can help drive up your sales.
Need information on a door counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
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Special Events And Helping Charitable Causes Can Create Increases In Customers; Customer Counting Systems Aid In Future Planning
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Have you ever held a special event in your store to support a charity or perhaps to try to increase your sales or even to do a little of both? I can think of several instances when I worked for a big box retailer that we did some of these things. One time our store manager permitted a local radio station to hold a radio-a-thon in the store to raise money for a great cause. Normally charities were not permitted to hold such events but our store manager had a big heart for children and especially the great work by this organization. To be honest, I can’t recall if only pledges were accepted or if monetary donations were received as well, but I do recall it was a success by the money raised for the organization. Did new people visit our store who had never been there before? We had no idea, we had no way to track foot traffic since we had no door counting sensor. An event that I helped sponsor in the store for several years was a “Santa’s Helpers” program. Working with our local police and fire department we would provide additional staff and cashiers to help underprivileged children and the public safety officials to shop for clothing, toys and necessities. Our store also donated lunch in our food court to feed everyone before they left. It was a very satisfying experience to see these kids getting new items they might not have had an opportunity to purchase otherwise. How many people came during these events, including visitors who were curious about what was going on? I wish I knew, a retail traffic counting system could have provided that information.
A retail traffic counting system keeps a retailer informed about how many customers are walking through their doors. A door counting sensor at the entrances detects the patrons walking in and out and can break down that information to the time of day. Stores that have installed a Checkpoint security system with electronic article surveillance antennas at the front doors in order to prevent shoplifting can have door sensors attached to the antennas. In these cases stores an also receive reports of EAS alarm activations and analyze that data to detect patterns of theft attempts. They use the information to create theft prevention plans and reduce shoplifting. By knowing how many people are actually entering the store at given times, retail managers can create improved staffing and payroll models based on historical data. This could include day of the week information or holiday staffing by hours of the day. If your Wednesday mornings show a minimal amount of foot traffic, it might be the time you shift some of your payroll spending elsewhere.
This historical data provided by the customer counting systems can also be used to determine if an event or sales promotion had an impact on pulling in additional customers. Let’s say for example you own a book store and you bring in an author for a book signing. The author is there to sell his/her book and you want to be the store to sell those books. You may be able to use sales information to determine if you sold a quantity of a certain book, but how many people showed up to the store that day? Sales receipts don’t tell you that information, a customer counting system will. Did you have an increase in the number of customers this year over the same day last year? If not, maybe this was an event you will not want to hold again in the future, especially if you brought in extra staff to help out. A door counting sensor gives you the ability to make intelligent decisions about how to spend payroll. Perhaps you choose to hold another book signing but this time you don’t spend the extra money on additional staff.
Retail traffic counting systems can make your business more profitable using measurable results of special events or marketing activities. By making sure you have enough staff on hand for your next event based on prior data and sales will certainly be increased. Don’t delay in getting a door counting sensor installed, the sooner you do, the sooner you will start collecting information for the future!
Need information on door counting sensors? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
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Customer Counting Systems Can Help Convert Foot Traffic Into Improved Sales And Reduced Shrink Part 2
In Part 1 of this 2 part series I discussed the potential for customer counting systems to help improve in-store marketing efforts by taking advantage of data that can be provided by a VisiPlus people counting system. Overhead sensors can be strategically installed in locations where high profile displays or endcaps may be set up to attract customers and generate sales. If information from these sensors determines that foot traffic is not increasing or garnering the attention intended by managers, the display can be changed out rather than taking up space. New displays can be set up or changed out to get the desired effect. Another advantage that a VisiPlus retail traffic counting system offers is being able to determine electronic article surveillance activity at your entrance/exits. If you can take steps to make your theft prevention efforts more effective, you not only drive down merchandise shrink, you send thieves to other stores.
I’ve spent a lot of time already talking about advantages of a retail counting system, specifically Checkpoint’s VisiPlus customer counting system, but I do need to take a minute to explain what it is. VisiPlus is a retail traffic counting system that is attached to your Checkpoint electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas and collects information on the number of customers entering and exiting the store, and EAS alarm activity that takes place. You will receive reports that break down patron traffic by time of day. The information can aid a management team in creating better scheduling models to help make a better customer service environment. More employees at the times of heaviest customer traffic translate to improved sales as cashiers are available to checkout patrons with less wait time. There will also be more employees available to assist on the salesfloor. This in turn improves the ability to help customers find what they are looking for and increased salesfloor coverage also serves to deter shoplifters who seek out stores where there is little or no attention paid to customers. The VisiPlus system also has overhead sensors that can be installed in strategic salesfloor areas to assist in tracking foot traffic near promotional displays.
I now want to get back to the topic of a door counting sensor reducing shrink and improving profits. If a store is practicing good electronic article surveillance alarm response at the front doors, they are keeping a log of alarm activations and the causes of those alarms. Having worked as a Loss Prevention Manager for many years, I know that many alarms were not recorded in our log book. I rarely had a true picture of exactly how many alarms were activated during the day and, therefore, could not measure whether our supervisors or cashiers were responding to alarms properly. It also made it difficult to determine if I was experiencing any malfunction issues with our EAS antennas. The VisiPlus door counting sensor records EAS alarm activations in a daily report. Management can use the report information compared to the alarm response book and determine if alarms are being properly addressed. If not, retraining can be conducted for front end employees. They can also look for indications of excessive alarms that could be indicative of system problems. Since the report breaks down activity by time of day, possible theft trends can be determined and action plans created to stem the issues.
A door counting sensor doesn’t have to be limited to the traditional idea of a retail traffic counting system only numbering the people entering and leaving your business. A customer counting system can help you increase sales and decrease theft with accurate data reporting and timeline breakdowns. Count on more from your customer counting system than just people, count on sales growth too!
Need information on a retail traffic counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
In Part 1 of this 2 part series I discussed the potential for customer counting systems to help improve in-store marketing efforts by taking advantage of data that can be provided by a VisiPlus people counting system. Overhead sensors can be strategically installed in locations where high profile displays or endcaps may be set up to attract customers and generate sales. If information from these sensors determines that foot traffic is not increasing or garnering the attention intended by managers, the display can be changed out rather than taking up space. New displays can be set up or changed out to get the desired effect. Another advantage that a VisiPlus retail traffic counting system offers is being able to determine electronic article surveillance activity at your entrance/exits. If you can take steps to make your theft prevention efforts more effective, you not only drive down merchandise shrink, you send thieves to other stores.
I’ve spent a lot of time already talking about advantages of a retail counting system, specifically Checkpoint’s VisiPlus customer counting system, but I do need to take a minute to explain what it is. VisiPlus is a retail traffic counting system that is attached to your Checkpoint electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas and collects information on the number of customers entering and exiting the store, and EAS alarm activity that takes place. You will receive reports that break down patron traffic by time of day. The information can aid a management team in creating better scheduling models to help make a better customer service environment. More employees at the times of heaviest customer traffic translate to improved sales as cashiers are available to checkout patrons with less wait time. There will also be more employees available to assist on the salesfloor. This in turn improves the ability to help customers find what they are looking for and increased salesfloor coverage also serves to deter shoplifters who seek out stores where there is little or no attention paid to customers. The VisiPlus system also has overhead sensors that can be installed in strategic salesfloor areas to assist in tracking foot traffic near promotional displays.
I now want to get back to the topic of a door counting sensor reducing shrink and improving profits. If a store is practicing good electronic article surveillance alarm response at the front doors, they are keeping a log of alarm activations and the causes of those alarms. Having worked as a Loss Prevention Manager for many years, I know that many alarms were not recorded in our log book. I rarely had a true picture of exactly how many alarms were activated during the day and, therefore, could not measure whether our supervisors or cashiers were responding to alarms properly. It also made it difficult to determine if I was experiencing any malfunction issues with our EAS antennas. The VisiPlus door counting sensor records EAS alarm activations in a daily report. Management can use the report information compared to the alarm response book and determine if alarms are being properly addressed. If not, retraining can be conducted for front end employees. They can also look for indications of excessive alarms that could be indicative of system problems. Since the report breaks down activity by time of day, possible theft trends can be determined and action plans created to stem the issues.
A door counting sensor doesn’t have to be limited to the traditional idea of a retail traffic counting system only numbering the people entering and leaving your business. A customer counting system can help you increase sales and decrease theft with accurate data reporting and timeline breakdowns. Count on more from your customer counting system than just people, count on sales growth too!
Need information on a retail traffic counting system? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
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Get A Better Sense For When Your Customers Are Shopping; Invest In A Door Counting Sensor
It’s the middle of the afternoon; you have lines of people at your checkout counters and two cashiers to check them out. Isn’t it wonderful to see this kind of business in your store? Someone on the sales floor needs help but you can’t assist them just now, it’s too busy. Get the checkout lines down a little bit and THEN you can see what the customer wanted assistance with. The thought crosses your mind that you don’t recall ever seeing it this busy when it isn’t a holiday. Is that really true or is it just your perception at the moment? I suppose it doesn’t matter the store is hopping and there have to be a gazillion people in here shopping. When things calm down a bit, did you notice the shopping cart filled with merchandise pushed to the side? Did you question why there is so much stray merchandise just plopped down all over the place? Just signs of what a busy day you have had, right? How many people were in your store for that rush? Does it matter? A door counting sensor would have been a great tool to answer that question, but you haven’t invested in one. A retail traffic counting system can give you data that can help you staff the store to better serve your customers.
A door counting sensor keeps track of the number of visitors entering your store. It can help establish the days your store is busiest and it breaks that information down to customer traffic by the hour. A retail traffic counting system provides a store owner or management team with information that can help in creating more effective schedules for a business. As historical data is gathered, you will be able to compare apples to apples in other words a Monday afternoon on a labor day may require more scheduled workers than a Monday afternoon in February. Making informed decisions about how many people you should staff your store with and at what times makes your business more efficient and profitable.
One of the old maxims in retail is, “Time enough to lean, time enough to clean.” I’ve heard this said in a number of different stores and the idea is that when it is slow and your associates have nothing else to do, they can find things to stay busy like dusting, wiping counters, sweeping etc. I would suggest to the business owner that if this is repeated frequently in your stores, it could indicate you have too many employees working at the wrong times. Using information collected from a door counting sensor, a business manager could validate peak shopping hour trends and staff the store according to those indicators. A regular Sunday afternoon peak rush from 3pm-6pm may mean that for those 3 hours, Sundays are scheduled heavier on cashiers so there are no lengthy lines. How does this impact the bottom line? Those shopping carts filled with merchandise that I mentioned in the beginning of the article would not exist. The patron frustrated by the long line that you were so pleased with, who abandoned that purchase due to the wait time would now complete the purchase. The extra cashier would have made the difference between losing that sale and profiting from it.
How about that stray merchandise stacked up around the check lanes that you considered signals that you were having a great sales day? Many of those items may well be individual purchases that people gave up on rather than stand in a line for a single item purchase. How do I know? I have been one of those customers. I do get irritated when I have to stand too long for one or two items because a store is not staffed correctly. I have put down merchandise and left rather than spend my money. I have also seen it happen as an employee and at that point even the best customer service can’t recover that sale. Additionally, I have walked away from a potential purchase when I had to wait too long for service at a display case. If I do it, and I can be a little forgiving with my background in retail, how much more does the average customer walk away because of a lack of service? A retail counting system can help you boost sales by giving you the information you need to optimize store coverage on the floor and at checkout.
Don’t play a guessing game at properly staffing your store. Invest in a retail traffic counting system so you know when your business is busiest. Opportunity knocks, count on it with a door counting sensor!
Get more information on Door Counting Sensors, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
It’s the middle of the afternoon; you have lines of people at your checkout counters and two cashiers to check them out. Isn’t it wonderful to see this kind of business in your store? Someone on the sales floor needs help but you can’t assist them just now, it’s too busy. Get the checkout lines down a little bit and THEN you can see what the customer wanted assistance with. The thought crosses your mind that you don’t recall ever seeing it this busy when it isn’t a holiday. Is that really true or is it just your perception at the moment? I suppose it doesn’t matter the store is hopping and there have to be a gazillion people in here shopping. When things calm down a bit, did you notice the shopping cart filled with merchandise pushed to the side? Did you question why there is so much stray merchandise just plopped down all over the place? Just signs of what a busy day you have had, right? How many people were in your store for that rush? Does it matter? A door counting sensor would have been a great tool to answer that question, but you haven’t invested in one. A retail traffic counting system can give you data that can help you staff the store to better serve your customers.
A door counting sensor keeps track of the number of visitors entering your store. It can help establish the days your store is busiest and it breaks that information down to customer traffic by the hour. A retail traffic counting system provides a store owner or management team with information that can help in creating more effective schedules for a business. As historical data is gathered, you will be able to compare apples to apples in other words a Monday afternoon on a labor day may require more scheduled workers than a Monday afternoon in February. Making informed decisions about how many people you should staff your store with and at what times makes your business more efficient and profitable.
One of the old maxims in retail is, “Time enough to lean, time enough to clean.” I’ve heard this said in a number of different stores and the idea is that when it is slow and your associates have nothing else to do, they can find things to stay busy like dusting, wiping counters, sweeping etc. I would suggest to the business owner that if this is repeated frequently in your stores, it could indicate you have too many employees working at the wrong times. Using information collected from a door counting sensor, a business manager could validate peak shopping hour trends and staff the store according to those indicators. A regular Sunday afternoon peak rush from 3pm-6pm may mean that for those 3 hours, Sundays are scheduled heavier on cashiers so there are no lengthy lines. How does this impact the bottom line? Those shopping carts filled with merchandise that I mentioned in the beginning of the article would not exist. The patron frustrated by the long line that you were so pleased with, who abandoned that purchase due to the wait time would now complete the purchase. The extra cashier would have made the difference between losing that sale and profiting from it.
How about that stray merchandise stacked up around the check lanes that you considered signals that you were having a great sales day? Many of those items may well be individual purchases that people gave up on rather than stand in a line for a single item purchase. How do I know? I have been one of those customers. I do get irritated when I have to stand too long for one or two items because a store is not staffed correctly. I have put down merchandise and left rather than spend my money. I have also seen it happen as an employee and at that point even the best customer service can’t recover that sale. Additionally, I have walked away from a potential purchase when I had to wait too long for service at a display case. If I do it, and I can be a little forgiving with my background in retail, how much more does the average customer walk away because of a lack of service? A retail counting system can help you boost sales by giving you the information you need to optimize store coverage on the floor and at checkout.
Don’t play a guessing game at properly staffing your store. Invest in a retail traffic counting system so you know when your business is busiest. Opportunity knocks, count on it with a door counting sensor!
Get more information on Door Counting Sensors, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
