Shopping Centre Marketing: Footfall v. Sales

Do you measure the success of your shopping centre marketing strategy by footfall… or by sales?

Footfall has traditionally been used as a key indicator of the effectiveness of shopping centre marketing strategy, however, advancements in the field of consumer market research shows that the measurement of footfall is actually a poor indicator when tracking the success of marketing strategy.

As any shopping centre marketing manager knows, footfall can drop whilst customer spend increases – and vice versa.  Our innovative new market research techniques enable us to closely monitor consumer spend to find out which marketing tactics have the most effect on increasing sales.

Higher spend with lower footfall can result from a highly targeted marketing campaign based on incredibly accurate consumer monitoring and insights.  This phenomenon can be explained because shopping centres can now specifically target consumers that spend more in-store and therefore have a higher conversion rate.

There are a number of reasons why some shoppers have a higher conversion rate than others. For example, some customers may be more focused on their shopping trips so perhaps less visits to a shopping centre are required whilst spending the same amount.

Our innovative new research methods and subsequent unique insights enable us to recommend specific marketing action to clients in order to target consumers that spend more in the shopping centre rather than marketing to individuals who tend to browse. Our shopping centre clients have found that footfall may increase or decrease.  However their increasingly effective marketing campaigns, which have been built on a solid base of CARD Group research, are yielding greater sales and subsequently increasing asset values.

Established in 2003, CARD Group specialises in consumer market research and insights for the shopping centre, retail and leisure sectors.  With clients ranging from local councils to large global organisations, we’re experienced at planning and executing effective research projects across the UK, Ireland and globally.

To find out more about the services we provide for organisations such as shopping centres, retail parks, town centres and retailers, please get in touch.