Questions to answer about new Shopper Journeys and Behaviors
Its no secret that customer and visitor trends have changed over the previous few months.
Brought on by a number of economic and cultural changes, the number and regularity of people coming through your doors is different than it was last year. So when it comes to mapping or understanding new shopper journeys throughout your retail, grocery, or commercial space, there are a few questions you should start addressing again.
When are shoppers coming in?
Tracking entries into your store or location is the must-have metric when looking to better map or understand a shopper journey. It only makes sense to begin aligning your operations around when and how often visitors are coming through your doors. There are several technologies that can help you track this data from simple beam-counters to cameras.
Where are they going?
Once shoppers are inside your doors, are they turning left or right? Which areas of the store are they heading to? And which entrance did they come through? Tracking data on traffic flow in your space can be exceedingly useful in design planning and creating a more enjoyable experience for your shoppers - and a more profitable one for you. To capture data on movement, more advanced camera or smart floor sensor technology may be necessary depending on the layout of your space.
How many visitors are in your space?
While entries tell a story of traffic into your space, occupancy is a powerful metric that you should also be tracking and tying to your shopper journey maps. Separate from entries, changes in occupancy help you understand how busy your space is, and can help you better understand changes to how long your shoppers are spending in your space. With the “busy” metric in your pocket, changes to staffing, resources, and even hours can be implemented with confidence.
What are they looking at?
To create a shopper journey that provides a positive experience, its necessary to know which areas, displays, and products are capturing and holding the attention of your shoppers and visitors. Again, with the help of technology you can identify which areas of your space are bringing in the most traffic, how much time that traffic is spending there, and ultimately how those engagements are translating to your bottom-line.
How much are they spending?
As new traffic trends and behaviors emerge among shoppers, its vital to know how your bottom-line is being affected as well. Are average purchase totals higher while traffic is down? Is total revenue down but traffic is up? While purchase data is likely (and hopefully) already being collected, the combination of POS activity and traffic throughout your space can open insights into how shopper journeys have changed.
What changes these numbers?
With a firm grasp on your new shopper journeys and a suite of new data, its valuable to have an understanding of how different schedules and events are now affecting traffic. Aligning your operations with days of the week and holidays, human-driven events like sales or new marketing initiatives, or even dynamic events like the weather can not only benefit your bottom-line but open up new game-changing opportunities as well.
A strong understanding of your typical shopper journey is critical to the success of your space. And while changes have occurred, with the help of technology and a commitment to tracking and reporting on your foot traffic, you can adjust and thrive in the new normal.