The most powerful trick to increase footfall
For some of you this will sound terribly obvious – but I can tell you, what I’m about to explain here is one of the most common mistakes local store owners nowadays are making.
Note: If you’re happy with what you’re about to read, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE and help me to support local shopkeepers and save the high streets.
This mistake I noticed already 10 years ago, I saw it 20 years ago (back then I had just finished my marketing education 🙂 ) and I still see it today, whenever I go on a city trip and visit the local shops. It’s this:
Many shops don’t clearly show on the outside what people will see on the inside
Too many window front businesses do not clearly present on the exterior of their shop what they are actually selling on the inside of the shop.
I give you two distinct examples:
I used to frequent a biological foods and supplements shop when I was still living on a permanent basis in my home country Belgium.
A wonderful shop with a beautiful unique range of product categories matching an audience looking for ways to eat and live healthier.
A wonderful biological foods shop and a cramped shop window
The shop front was small. Only one door and a narrow cramped shop window. Way too small for browsing through a large collection of nutritional products. But good enough to see what this shop was selling. Good enough to know what to expect if one would enter the premises.
Once you stepped inside you realized that the interior was surprisingly spacious and, even more remarkable, that at the back of the shop there was an incredibly charming tea room. Some kind of romantic coffee shop where they served biological teas, coffees, home-made pastry and so on.
I visited this shop regularly and every time there was only one person or just no one enjoying the food and drinks there. What a pity. What a waste!
No one was enjoying the organic teas and home-made cakes
The owner complained about the lack of customers in the tea room and asked my opinion on whether to shut this area in the shop or not. What are you doing to show passers-by what cakes, pies and drinks are on the menu here, I asked.
Nothing special, he said. There’s a chalkboard welcome sign on the pavement that we use to promote the products and vitamin supplements on discount.
How do people know then that you have this lovely tea room at the back of your shop? I asked again. My shop is full of colour and all the things that I am passionate about, he explained. People will see the tea room when they enter the shop.
But if they don’t enter the shop because right now they are looking for a cute place to sit, have a cup of tea and a fresh piece of pie, then what, I asked in return.
I observed his face and saw that he started to realize what he was missing out on. I hope you get it too 🙂
He decided to get help to increase foot traffic
I was lucky by the way. We had several more talks like this after, the owner was grateful for making him aware of these things and he decided to get my help to increase his foot traffic.
Second example.
I know a multi-concept store that sells stylish clothing for men and offers in-store barber services. It also has a cool hang out space with specialty coffees and gourmet sandwiches.
To imagine what it looks like – the clothing area is in the front of the shop. Both the barber and coffee area are in the back. Passing by the window display everyone can see this is a men’s wear shop offering exclusive and hard-to-find brands. This part of the store’s range is clearly and concisely presented. The owner did a real good job here.
Concept store selling clothing, barber services and specialty coffees
It strikes me that I don’t see anything at all that refers to the barber service and the coffee shop though.
I’ve been here several times. At least 6 times. Each time there were men and women looking at the clothes on display. Not once I saw someone getting a trim or shave. Not once I saw someone sitting in the coffee area.
The last time I couldn’t keep myself from approaching the person who seemed to be in charge, I introduced myself, she was the owner, and we started talking about her business.
She told me she opened her store a year and a half ago – it was her dream. She invested a huge amount of money in it. Until that day she still wasn’t breaking even.
She spent a lot of money on her dream shop
We talked for a long time. I always love to listen to stories from passionate business owners. I gave her a bunch of practical tips to implement immediately. But here I just want to share this one thing with you:
I asked her, what’s the reason for putting the barber service and coffee space in the back of your shop? Because people walk in for the clothes and then they see we have this too, she said.
So you’ve never tried to get people through the door by displaying somewhere on the pavement or facade that there’s a coffee shop and barber inside?
No, I didn’t, she answered. I’m just waiting until the word gets out. I’m distributing leaflets in a wide area around the shop. And I’ve been paying for some ads online and in the papers. But there’s nothing really visible on the outside of the store to show everything that I offer on the inside of the store.
Waiting until the word gets out
To say it with plain simple words – before meeting me, this inspiring lady had never thought of the fact that people who just pass by her shop are the most important people in her target audience
– because they are literally only one step away from her shop – and in order to get noticed shops need to have a clean, attractive and striking storefront with clearly visible and easy-to-understand communication about the whole range of products or services on the inside. I repeat, your WHOLE range of products, product categories or services.
Passers-by are literally one step away from your shop
For many shopkeepers this is something they aren’t aware of. Because they are resided in their unconscious state of mind of a person who is always busy working in his shop trying to get more people through the door.
They know their shop and every product like the back of their hand. It’s all so obvious to them. What their shop is about, what they are selling, what makes their shop unique and different from other shops and so on.
But people who are just passing by, people who have never visited your shop, they have absolutely no clue.
But they have no clue about what you’re selling inside
- Maybe you have that one special candle they have been looking for for ages.
- Maybe you have that ginger lemonade on your menu this week, and a shopper passing by at this instant is just craving for it.
- Maybe you’re starting up flower workshops in a few months but today someone is looking inside just to see your flower bouquets and nothing about workshops.
- Does this make sense? 🙂
Quite a few of my clients had, before they met me, never taken a real step out of their daily shop business, observing it in a critical way and reflecting on it from above – from a distance I mean.
Looking at it in a rational way from a potential customer’s point of view. To be more specific: the perspective from someone who doesn’t know your shop at all.
Take time to step out of daily business to observe critically
I hope these two stories inspired you to think critically about your shop and find out what you can put into practice to increase walk-ins immediately, and to make passers-by turn around and pay attention to your shop!
If you’re happy with what you’ve read, I’d like to ask you to subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE and help me to support local shopkeepers and save the high streets!
If you’re ready to get more people through the door of your beautiful local shop then just send an email to mailto:yes@miekeclaerhout.com and we’ll get back to you asap 🙂