Blog
Time is Money
There is no doubt in my mind that it is becoming increasingly difficult for mall managers to increase their visitor numbers year on year. Why? Shopper behaviour is changing in the face of an improved offering from supermarkets, retail parks and online stores.
But - whilst shopper numbers may be stagnant or falling - in many cases dwell time (the length of time that shoppers stay) is increasing.
Shoppers may not go to the mall as often, but when they do go they are tending to stay longer.
When we first introduced FootPath to the market a number of customers asked me whether they should be increasing churn or increasing dwell time. Its a great question and until FootPath was created there was no way to answer it. With no information the industry - by default - focused on driving visitor numbers which in effect resulted in a strategy of driving churn (as our research shows that shoppers tend not to like feeling over-crowded and will leave a site that is 'too' busy).
With the introduction of FootPath we now have a way of continuously quantifying dwell time. Moreover, we now have the data to answer the question of whether or not shoppers spend more when they stay longer.
The answer is a resounding YES! In fact at Gunwharf Quays our research shows that for every 1% increase in dwell time, sales at Gunwharf Quays increased by 1.3%. Now thats something to dwell on.
Read the full research report here: