Estimating Footfall

[Feldon]

I'm looking at the possibility of opening a new retail shop, i have had previous experience of owning and running shops including in this town but have been out of retail now for 6 years.

Town is a smallish market town with approx 7,000 residents but also has quite a few villages nearby who also use the town, although not a tourist town it has quite a few tourist area's nearby. The town itself has quite a good selection of shops, mainly Independent including 2 co-op supermarkets and 3 car parks 2 of which are free to park in and all foot traffic from the free car parks would pass near the shop i am considering.

Is it just a question of sitting outside for a day and counting people or is there an easier way.

 

[ethical PR]

I would speak to the town centre management company or Business Improvement District, they will be able to give you generic footfall figures for the town centre. The major retailers will have their own individual figures.

Best way to estimate footfall for a particular shop - employ a student to do the count for you or....stand outside

 

[emmylou74]

Personally I would not hire someone to do this or go by any figures from town centre management.

You want to sit outside the shop on different days, different times of the month. And not only look at footfall, but how many people are carrying bags of shopping etc.

 

[groovyjon]

Personally I would not hire someone to do this or go by any figures from town centre management.

You want to sit outside the shop on different days, different times of the month. And not only look at footfall, but how many people are carrying bags of shopping etc.

And see how many fall within your target market (age, gender, etc.)

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Talk to the other shop keepers around your location, tell them what you are thinking of doing and selling, they will give you so much information especially if they think your shop will possibly bring in new customers to them

 

[Mayor]

Is it just a question of sitting outside for a day and counting people

Yes. This is what I did. Tedious as anything, but if you do it yourself, you can get a proper feel for the locality. You can see the ebb and low of footfall, you can get an idea of your potential customers, from the bags they are carrying to the clothes they are wearing. You can also see how other shops are doing - whether everything is deserted in the morning, or late afternoon, which day the oldies all come flocking into town on the free local bus etc, loads of things.

It takes longer than a day, too. I did it off and on for 3 weeks, different times of the days, also monitored local car parks, and watched delivery trucks etc.

Carry a clipboard or something, or you might get picked up as a weiro stalker or something !

 

[Philip Hoyle]

Is it just a question of sitting outside for a day and counting people or is there an easier way.

You need to rewind. Is your shop going to be a "passing trade" shop or a "destination shop" in it's own right.

If it's passing trade, impulse, or relying on people coming to visit several shops at once, then the only way is to sit, watch and take tally of the number of people walking past at various times of the day, various days of the week, etc., and also split between those going into shops or just walking by, and then split those going into shops to those buying and those browsing.

Footfall figures provided by local councils, shopping centres, etc., aren't really much use as they'll include people who aren't shopping at all, and those who are shopping at other types of shop, not yours. They can only ever be a guide to the "population" of prospective shoppers, not actual shoppers. You can easily find that arcade A has footfall twice as high as arcade B, but those in B are actually shoppers whereas those in A are just passing through!

If it's a destination shop, i.e. people will cpme for a special visit to your shop then very little of the above is relevant and you need to concentrate on your catchment area, ease of parking/public transport, local advertising/marketing, etc. Footfall will only help highlight your existence in the long term if you're not looking for impulse buyers.

 

[MOIC]

Move with technology, use an ipad, or device to video the period and location you need.

You will be able to review it many times and get as much information that is required, footfall, age group, fast walkers, window shoppers, carrier bags held etc etc.

 

[Feldon]

Thanks for all the replies. I've since decided against my original choice of shop, nothing to do with footfall but due to its size. I was looking at one of two shops and my second choice is ticking all the boxes for me and although not in the prime location in the town it is in a very good secondary position. I know the town very well having previously being the sub-master in the town. Its a small market town with mainly local residents and people from the out lying villages who use the town so it relies very much on local trade rather than a constant passing trade who don't know the town. Going to have a second visit to my choice of shop tomorrow and will hopefully make my decision in the next few days.