For every 1% increase in time spent in-store there’s a 1.3% increase in sale. As the time spent in store increases, so does the number of people making purchases, their basket sizes, and the transaction value.
A report by First Insight compared online and offline sales and found 71% of all surveyed shoppers spent $50 or more when shopping in-store while only 54% spent the same online. Impulse buying and the experience of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores are some of the reasons for this.
Timothy Gilbride, associate marketing professor at the University of Notre Dame, says, “the unplanned selection may cue other forgotten needs,” suggesting impulse buying in brick-and-mortar stores opens the floodgates to other purchases that are not on the shopping list.
Physical stores have the ability to touch all the human senses, helping consumers make emotional purchases. Lighting, colours, scents, music etc can provide an enjoyable shopping experience, lift shoppers’ mood and increase time spent. And since consumers have positive associations with the brand, you are more likely to earn loyal customers.
Of course, at times, higher time spent may mean customers are not finding what they’re looking for and become frustrated. For instances like this, your trained sales staff will need to help consumers discover and locate products.
However, for the most part, time spent has a direct positive impact on consumer spendings. So, to maximise store revenue you need analytics on this important KPI.
The Technology:
The time spent feature of software solutions will reveal the average time your customers spend inside the store, which you can narrow down by specific times and days. It will help you predict peak times and optimise staff in fitting rooms, shop floor, and tills accordingly.
You can also spot trends on specific days such as weekends, where shoppers have more time to browse stores. Or perhaps your store is located in a busy office area such as Canary Wharf, London in which case weekday lunchtimes or between 5-6pm are when your customers spend the most time in-store.
Comparing your existing stores will also shed light on the popularity of each of your stores and the role they have in the purchasing journey.
You can layer time spent and zone analysis to work out which shelves and products shoppers interact with the most, which will help with store displays as well as future predictions for R&D.
Time spent is an important KPI and retailers must do all they can to increase it. In order to monitor it, invest in a good software solution which will help you keep your finger on the pulse.
For information on video analytics, please contact us directly or visit www.trackin.tech