# Footfall Conversion



## BertVanGoo (Nov 20, 2015)

In the quest to find a suitable venue for a coffee house I believe I have found a place that ticks most of the boxes so am going back for a second viewing with a shop fitter for an idea of costs.

I popped to the area this morning to do a quick footfall count for one hour to see how busy it is between 8 and 9 just to get a rough idea of the area. I will be doing some longer counts and different days, but not going to do that until I'm happy that the shop is a goer.

Is there a percentage that other owners on here used as a gauge of customers coming in to the shops? One person I know who works in a head office for a retail shop said they use between 10-20%, but that seems quite high to me.

I found a post where someone says 3%, but then they weren't sure where they heard that figure from. I know footfall is only a rough figure, but I need to know that enough people walk by to at least make it possible to hit my daily sales.

Many thanks


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

3% is a lot more realistic than 20%

In some really high density areas even 1% is ambitious

Without knowing the area, what competition is nearby, the demographic etc then giving a figure is pretty meaningless.


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## BertVanGoo (Nov 20, 2015)

Hi Glenn, thanks for the response. It's a small town, but with one competitor. Looking at some of the people I saw this morning I wouldn't have thought they would be the type to come in, but then again you never know. There are a few professional offices right near it, and apparently lots of mothers doing school runs. I will continue to do a few more footfall counts, but I may have to look at stopping a few people in the street and get chatting to see if it's something they want?


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## Coffeejon (Oct 10, 2014)

My Cafe took about 6 months for 'the word' to get around. That was more useful than foot fall, as I survive on the regulars coming back because I have the best coffee around. Then they tell there mates etc. It does change season to season, but my advice is focus on your regulars to get the word out that your better than the comp. (Unless your starbucks or costa where footfall is all that counts


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## coffeebean (Jan 26, 2010)

Coffeejon said:


> My Cafe took about 6 months for 'the word' to get around. That was more useful than foot fall, as I survive on the regulars coming back because I have the best coffee around. Then they tell there mates etc. It does change season to season, but my advice is focus on your regulars to get the word out that your better than the comp. (Unless your starbucks or costa where footfall is all that counts


Plus one for what Coffeejon said! I run a coffee van from outside the Rugby Club in Aberdare. It is just outside the town centre so footfall is pretty rubbish BUT I see the same people day in day out because I serve good coffee and they come out of their way to get it. You will find that a lot of people factor getting a coffee into their daily routines and once they have come a few times you will see them most days.


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## BertVanGoo (Nov 20, 2015)

Thanks guys. Just got back from a second viewing and have a good feeling about the place. I will do a couple more footfall counts, but won't treat that as a guaranteed means of people coming in. The main focus will be on maintaining quality, as like most of your customers I often go out of my way if it means having a better cup of coffee and food!

Need to speak to the accountant for him to run over my general figures and see if I've missed anything obvious, then it'll be on to fine tuning it as best as possible!


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## onemobo (Nov 12, 2016)

footfall matters but not sure how many of the people will come in. as if your walking past and fancy a coffee you will pop in. but if your at home and fancy a coffee not many people will go out for one


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## Hal.E.Lujah (Aug 19, 2014)

For footfall, it's important to do some distinguishing between PASSERS BY and COFFEE DRINKERS.

So, when you're doing your own research, count the amount of people with a coffee in hand. What % of the footfall figures does that make up?

If you don't have competition in the area, use a similar area to gauge this.

I typically say 0.1%, but I'm usually saying that in C.London where that amounts to constantly busy.


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