The Analyst's Path

Glossary

Footfall

M5.05

Also called store footfall, customer traffic.

The number of people entering a store or mall, measured by door counters.

It is the top of the retail funnel, and it decomposes comparable sales growth into its parts: more visitors, a higher share of visitors buying, or a larger basket per buyer. Each has a different cause and a different fix.

Falling footfall with rising sales is usually a price increase or a mix shift, and it is a warning about volume that revenue growth conceals.

Ask which of the three moved.