Traffic Matters—Conversion Rate Matters More!
04/12/2009 09:12:32 AM
By Bill Martin
Co-Founder of ShopperTrak
The Holiday Season has begun and ShopperTrak is in the news!
We are the only retail traffic measurement company with the depth and breadth of store coverage to accurately project retail traffic and sales both nationally and regionally. As a result, our phones are ringing with calls from the press, our website activity has tripled—it is all very gratifying for a company that started out 18 years ago advocating retail traffic measurement.
To quickly clarify, despite recently published reports stating retail foot traffic increased during the critical Black Friday shopping weekend, ShopperTrak’s objective data – gathered from tens of thousands of retailers throughout the country – in fact shows total U.S. foot traffic slightly declined for the period.
On Black Friday our Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) showed foot traffic slipped 2.5 percent versus 2008 although consumers spent a record $10.66 billion. Black Saturday traffic then declined 3.2 percent with a $6.11 billion spend, and Black Sunday rounded out the weekend with a flat traffic performance representing $3.73 billion. In all, our retail clients reported over 548.6 million people visited retail locations in the GAFO sector over the weekend. For a more detailed description of the various numbers being reported this season, this Associated Press article provides the simplest breakdown: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gUKZVwCpm9cuY6cXgb2PVAKp0gSwD9CBF1C00
But as I listened to question after question about retail traffic over Black Friday weekend, I wanted very much to remind the world that, “Traffic matters—conversion rate matters more!”
With the worst year in retail memory almost behind us, retailers are walking a fine line between traffic generation and traffic conversion. On the one hand, aggressive pricing and attractive offers are driving potential buyers to their stores. At the same time, most retailers have limited their inventory risk by stocking fewer items, which may result in lower conversion rates, if these potential buyers are unwilling to substitute for their first choice.
So, while every retailer will be watching retail traffic trends throughout the holiday season, ShopperTrak knows the savvy retailers will be paying even more attention to their store conversion rate.
