Definition: New traffic for a retail business is shoppers who are new to the business. New traffic is traffic other than what you would receive simply by opening your doors.
Pursuing new traffic is the single most important business management activity for small business retailers today.
Why? because of the growth in online shopping, greater competition on the high street, consumer confidence challenges and growing business operational overheads. Oh, and because a more valuable business is easier to sell, when you decide to sell.
Please take a moment to think about that.
Pursuing new traffic is the single most important business management activity for you and your business.
Without wanting to sound weird or new-agey, I suggest this as a meditation point … new traffic, what it is, what it means and how you can attract it.
When you approach any management or strategic activity in your business, think about what this task or activity will do to attract new shoppers.
It is not enough to do something in your shop for that is only seen by people in your shop. What are you doing to promote this outside your shop? … because that is where new traffic is to be found.
This is not something for your suppliers to do. It is up to you. Only you and your actions can attract new traffic.
I’d say that less than a third of retail newsagents today are actively engaged in attracting genuine new traffic. While most will not adversely suffer in the short to medium term because of lack of engagement, they will at some point for sure. New shoppers are key to revenue, profit and upside for the business.
Pursuing new traffic is about far more than putting new products in your store. Indeed, stock is only one of several steps that are all connected in pursuing new traffic. However, stock is the start. Stocking new lines never offered in the business are the best first step to take too bring in people who do not shop with you today.
A New Traffic Strategy relies on you in actively reaching outside your four walls and deep into your catchment area, the area from which you can attract shoppers, to bring people to your business who other might not visit … to generate for you new traffic.
Footnote: this is the opening section of a broader paper on the opportunity of new traffic for newsagents.
Mark. Your post on new traffic give me a recall on one article in FT earlier this year, regarding the Fuji-Film’s transformation. The managing director of Fuji-Film, Kenji Sukeno, many years ago, notice the impact of digital technology to his business.
https://www.ft.com/content/c3bae264-fbb8-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521
He made some important decision:
1) the old core business:
focus into 2 new but related markets: life sciences and cosmetics which Fuji has related technology foundation and bright future
2) Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) of new business to get a new customer base
in the FT article, he considered that both measures, (1) repurpose its technologies and (2) create new markets, “could not accomplish FujiFilm’s turnround sufficiently rapidly. it must acquire a new customer base through M&A”.
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https://www.ft.com/content/c3bae264-fbb8-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521