8 Ways To Increase Foot Traffic
Every business wants to increase foot traffic. With a growth in online purchasing and a slow, yet competitive economy, it is incredibly important to keep customers physically in your store. While there are many different ways to entice customers in, here are 8 different strategies you can use to lure customers in from the attraction of online shopping and showrooming.
Top 8 Strategies For Increasing Foot Traffic
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Add Entertainment
Is your storefront too quiet? Play music! Have a TV continuously playing the news or ESPN. Make your showroom interesting and entertaining.
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Host promotional events
Whether it’s a Holiday or you’re reopening your storefront, host an event to draw customers to the store! Recently at TMS, we had an open house before Christmas to celebrate the Holidays with a live band and our customers. It was a hit!
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Make your business newsworthy
Foot traffic on the day of an event is one thing. It’s important to leverage media whenever possible. For instance, donating a portion of the day’s take to charity can win a flattering article in your local newspaper.
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Use social media to interact with customers
Social media is crucial for new businesses today. America is addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Use it to your advantage. Offer deals for likes and follows.
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Use promotional pricing to your advantage
While the idea of a sale may seem a bit blasé to some, technological advances have made sales events more potent than ever before. For example, if you maintain a database of customers, contact them via an e-mail newsletter to let them know of upcoming sales events and other promotions. To further boost foot traffic, urge them to pass along your e-mail to others. That’s not only effective but exceedingly ccost-efficient as you’re not dropping money on mass mailings that only saturates the uninterested
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Host a seminar, workshop or demonstration
Boosting foot traffic doesn’t even have to involve a direct effort to sell a product or service. These days, education is very important and value-added, as consumers want to know how to get the most out of what they buy. And that makes in-house seminars and workshops powerful weapons to build foot traffic. This is a tactic that companies like Home Depot and Williams Sonoma uses.
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Follow up with your contacts/customers
Even the best-planned promotional event is of little importance if you fail to leverage the initial contact. Keep encouraging foot traffic by staying in touch with customers by different ways. Let them know about events that may otherwise attract little attention. Encourage them to pass along the news with friends and neighbors, and offer them some discounts.
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Strengthen customer service
There is nothing more important than the bond between customer and business owner. Be personable, make that connection and make the customer feel special.
These simple tips can be the difference between twiddling your thumbs in an empty store to a showroom filled to the brim. Entice your customers by keeping them satisfied with excellent customer service and deals. Personally, I have several stores I frequent because of how I am treated when I walk in the door and the promotional prices I receive there. Also, I can’t stress this enough. USE SOCIAL MEDIA! Social media is crucial to the development and growth of any business today. Use these tools, and you will see not only a growth in foot traffic but your business overall.
As always, we are here to help. Let us know if you have any questions.
Total Merchant Supply is a POS Dealer based in NC & SC.