Article
Article
In our recent post Back to School Traffic Patterns Vary by Region, we pointed out that week-to-week traffic fluctuations in August were tied to school start dates, with traffic peaking the week before the school started. We also observed another common phenomenon: when traffic increased, conversion and average transaction size took a tumble.
The first two weeks of August had more traffic than the last two weeks – 51.8% of total vs. 48.2%. Conversion, however, was 160 basis points lower than it was during the second half of the month, when traffic was just 48.2% of total August traffic. Average transaction size was also nearly 4% lower during the heavier traffic period.
To retailers who closely monitor their traffic, store conversion, and average transaction size, this insight will come as no surprise. During periods of heavy traffic, the shopping experience is most likely to be affected. The sales floor may be messier and not restocked, making it difficult to find merchandise. Sales associates are busier and less able to interact with each and every customer, and lines at the cash wrap tend to be longer.
There doesn’t always have to be this tradeoff. Here are three ways that you can avoid the high traffic/low store conversion/low transaction size conundrum.
The retailers who can figure out how to succeed when the traffic opportunity is the highest will have increased revenue and happier customers – a win-win for all!