With good business news in short supply these past 18 months, the fact that foot traffic is up 60% for small business retail shops is a huge sigh of relief. And according to Zenreach and its National Customer Foot Traffic Report, it is on the rise.
Foot Traffic on the Rise
The foot traffic report from Zenreach delivers a dependable snapshot of physical store traffic. And since January 2021, customer foot traffic across all industries has increased significantly. This amounts to a low of less than 10% in January to all the way up to almost 60% in July.
When it comes to industry-wide data some segments have seen traffic as high as 107% in late July. From January to July 2021, foot traffic has grown by 42.99% for bars/nightclubs, 73.33% for cafes/bakery/dessert businesses, and 44.34% for restaurants. Just in June 2021, Zenreach also reported foot traffic for pizzeria visits was up by 47% since January.
The goal of the report is to provide insights into the recovery of the U.S. economy as businesses re-open in the wake of the pandemic. And the data is from bars/nightclubs, cafes/bakeries/dessert, and restaurants, which it gets by evaluating different point-of-interest sources.
The sources include Zenreach Walk-in, foot traffic, and behavioral data from in-store sources such as WiFi and point-of-sale integrations. They are part of the Zenreach Network that spans 50 million contacts across thousands of locations throughout the United States. Zenreach updates the report monthly, usually on the first week of each month.
Increasing Foot Traffic
The data from Zenreach clearly shows this is part of the continuing trend as the pandemic dies down. But there is a growing concern COVID-19 is something we all must live with moving forward like the flu. And just like society has managed to live with the flu, so it will be the case with COVID-19. So, entrepreneurs will have to find new ways to increase foot traffic and keep it flowing into their business.
This will mean offering different forms of payment, in-store pick-up, deliveries, increasing curb appeal, and optimizing your digital presence to name a few. The key is to be flexible enough to make these changes so your business can continue to thrive.
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