While many of your customers plan a trip to your store, a high percentage of new customers find a store by “stopping in” while shopping for something else. By increasing the foot traffic into your store, you can raise profits and introduce your brand to a whole new customer base.
Right now, many stores are feeling the pain of the economic downturn. One thing that everyone needs is more customers in their stores. Fewer people are shopping, so you need to attract the attention of the people who are out and about shopping. So how do you increase foot traffic?
Our first suggestion would be to increase the visibility of your store. One way to do this is to feature signs and promotional lighting at the entrance. Sidewalk signs, beacon lights and banners are extremely effective for improving foot traffic.
Another way to get people in your store is through a sale. We have discussed this before, but featuring items outside your store will get people browsing. Put merchandise in a dump bin or on a rolling rack so that it can be easily transported during store hours.
Finally, for the more courageous owner, consider some sort of stunt. Liberty Tax has waving Statue of Liberty costume characters outside their store during tax season. Great Clips often has a dancing shampoo bottle on the sidewalk. While you don’t necessarily need to be that extreme, consider having one of your workers hand out fliers or carry a sign to alert other shoppers about your sale.
By increasing foot traffic into your store, you can then show off your merchandise and entice shoppers to make a purchase. Hopefully they will become frequent shoppers after that first “stop in” to your store.
