Average Number Of Customers

[vp1502]

Hi, I'm finalising my business plan for my retail shop and I was wondering how many customers people get on average an hour/a day? with both high number days & low number days! I'm starting a spiritual shop so any retail shop that sells similar things would be really helpful. I'm doing as much research as I can on numbers like this but it's a little difficult to find online. Thank you for any responses!

 

[fisicx]

The question is impossible to answer. It depends on your location, footfall, the neighbouring shops, your marketing plan, pricing, products, attitude of staff and so on.

Do you know how much you need to make each day to pay the bills? Start with that and how much an average sales would be. This will tell you how many customers you need each day.

 

[vp1502]

The question is impossible to answer. It depends on your location, footfall, the neighbouring shops, your marketing plan, pricing, products, attitude of staff and so on.

Do you know how much you need to make each day to pay the bills? Start with that and how much an average sales would be. This will tell you how many customers you need each day.

Hey, thank you for the response! Yes I have those numbers but I've been told I need data to back up my reasoning for putting those numbers so it doesn't look like I'm just guessing how many customers I'll get a day!

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'm guessing this is a Start Up Loan application.

In any case, you shouldn't be looking for data for yhem, you should be doing so for yourself- and as @fisicx has said, looking for meaningless averages won't get good information.

Assuming you are reliant on passing footfall, then you need to put time into assessing relevant footfall at your chosen location at various time of day.

You also need to watch their movements and work on how you will attract them into your shop and encourage them to part with cash

 

[vp1502]

I'm guessing this is a Start Up Loan application.

In any case, you shouldn't be looking for data for yhem, you should be doing so for yourself- and as @fisicx has said, looking for meaningless averages won't get good information.

Assuming you are reliant on passing footfall, then you need to put time into assessing relevant footfall at your chosen location at various time of day.

You also need to watch their movements and work on how you will attract them into your shop and encourage them to part with cash

thank you!

 

[Porky]

Location, location, location

Something like this imo is going to have a VERY low customer count and your work will certainly be cut out for you trying to make it viable.

You could try going to the location where the shop will be and monitor how many people actively shop there then try and estimate the percentage that might visit you v walk on by. Being positioned in busy mall is different from being positioned at the end of a dead high street.

Something like this might do better online especially when you take in the overheads of the shop premises, council rates, running costs....

Good luck anyhow

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Agreed that the only way to measure the footfall is to sit there for a few days and count.

This will not relate to your specific footfall, but is an indicator when applying averages.

If there is a potential demand, your presence, if marketed well, will positively affect things.

You could also speak to your councils ED team. They may subscribe to software/,databases that supplies footfall data across several areas.

 

[wayzgoose]

You need to do what we did before we opened a shop - sat in the car opposite on a Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday - for one morning shift and one afternoon shift.

 

[HFE Signs]

Far too many variables to compare with any other business, even a gut feeling could be totally out.

 

[jnc]

Hi, I'm finalising my business plan for my retail shop and I was wondering how many customers people get on average an hour/a day? with both high number days & low number days! I'm starting a spiritual shop so any retail shop that sells similar things would be really helpful. I'm doing as much research as I can on numbers like this but it's a little difficult to find online. Thank you for any responses!

You need to do what we did before we opened a shop - sat in the car opposite on a Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday - for one morning shift and one afternoon shift.

The legendary publican Sean Paterson from Nuneaton told me once stood outside the George Eliot hotel in Nuneaton with a clicker for 7 days and evenings counting the footfall past the hotel before he bought it and turned it into one of the most popular and successful pubs in the town. Reduce the unknowns as much as you can

 

[RandyMarsh]

A footfall count is not useful for your kind of business. You are planning to open a specialist shop that interests a small proportion of the population. Your customers will seek you out (if they know you exist) but you probably won't get much trade from passersby. You need to work out how many people there are within a reasonable travelling distance of your shop who would be interested in your products, discounting any who are closer to a rival business. Then estimate what proportion of those people are likely to actually shop with you. Then work out how much each person is likely to spend per year on average.
So, let's say you are in a town of 100,000 people offering a service that interests 5% of the population. That's 5,000 potential customers but 90% of them may not actually buy from you so you will have 500 customers. If they average a spend of £100pa each (some spending a lot more, most a lot less), you potentially turn over £50k pa. Work out your costs and see whether your projected income is enough to sustain your business.
Also consider how often people will return. If you run a lawnmower shop, you can't rely on repeat business as people only buy a few lawnmowers in their lifetime but if you run a bakery you will get the same customers coming several times a week to buy fresh bread.
As a specialist retailer, you will need to spend a lot of time marketing within the sub-community you serve. If there isn't a local Facebook group for people with that interest, you need to start one and recruit people to it.
A good way to get started in specialist retail is to start with a market stall and trade at general local markets and markets that cater specifically to your interest group. This has a much lower start-up cost and lower risk than opening a premises and gives you a chance to build up a customer base, find your suppliers, and judge how much interest there is before committing to your own premises. You can run a market stall at weekends while still having a 9-5 job so you aren't depending on the business for your income.

 

[Mark T Jones]

A footfall count is not useful for your kind of business. You are planning to open a specialist shop that interests a small proportion of the population. Your customers will seek you out (if they know you exist) but you probably won't get much trade from passersby. You need to work out how many people there are within a reasonable travelling distance of your shop who would be interested in your products, discounting any who are closer to a rival business. Then estimate what proportion of those people are likely to actually shop with you. Then work out how much each person is likely to spend per year on average.
So, let's say you are in a town of 100,000 people offering a service that interests 5% of the population. That's 5,000 potential customers but 90% of them may not actually buy from you so you will have 500 customers. If they average a spend of £100pa each (some spending a lot more, most a lot less), you potentially turn over £50k pa. Work out your costs and see whether your projected income is enough to sustain your business.
Also consider how often people will return. If you run a lawnmower shop, you can't rely on repeat business as people only buy a few lawnmowers in their lifetime but if you run a bakery you will get the same customers coming several times a week to buy fresh bread.
As a specialist retailer, you will need to spend a lot of time marketing within the sub-community you serve. If there isn't a local Facebook group for people with that interest, you need to start one and recruit people to it.
A good way to get started in specialist retail is to start with a market stall and trade at general local markets and markets that cater specifically to your interest group. This has a much lower start-up cost and lower risk than opening a premises and gives you a chance to build up a customer base, find your suppliers, and judge how much interest there is before committing to your own premises. You can run a market stall at weekends while still having a 9-5 job so you aren't depending on the business for your income.

Loads of good comment here.

One point though is that there are natural retail destinations for this type of business, an obvious one being Glastonbury, which does highlight the significance of location.

 

[MOIC]

Visit related craft fairs and exhibitions related to your products and spread the word, then open an e-commerce site.

Bricks & Mortar in your category of business will sink fast if it's not in a (very) prime location, in which case the expenses will be prohibitive.