How to increase foot traffic in physical retail: key measures

Increasing foot traffic means getting more people to walk into a shop. It works best with a reason to visit, targeted communication and good visibility, both in the area and online. It is widely believed that price promotions alone often bring in more visitors only for a short time. There is also an important distinction to make: foot traffic is not the same as revenue. This guide explains the term, shows current figures for city centres and retailers, describes ways to measure foot traffic and puts the most important measures into context.

What does foot traffic mean?

Foot traffic, also called customer frequency or footfall, is the number of people who enter a shop in a given period, for example per hour, day or week. Other common terms are visitor numbers and customer numbers. A short definition is in the glossary.

It is important to separate it from two related metrics, because they describe different stages on the way to a purchase:

• Pedestrian traffic: how many people pass a location or street, whether or not they enter a shop. Cities and location analyses often work with this figure.
• Foot traffic: how many people actually walk into the shop.
• Conversion rate: the share of visitors who actually buy something.

Passers-by therefore first become visitors and then buyers. The share of passers-by who come in is often called the entry rate. Revenue is, arithmetically, the number of visitors multiplied by the conversion rate and the average basket value. Anyone who works on only one of these steps leaves potential untapped.

What is happening to foot traffic in Germany?

At first glance, the figures contradict each other. According to Hystreet data, analysed by Markenartikel-Magazin in January 2026, pedestrian traffic in German city centres in 2025 was 0.6% below the previous year and 1.0% above 2023. The seven largest cities recorded slight declines, while in the cities ranked 8 to 30 traffic stayed stable or even rose.

Source: Markenartikel-Magazin (2026). Innenstädte 2025: Passantenfrequenzen bleiben stabil, analysis of Hystreet data, 20.01.2026.

Retailers see it differently. According to Handelsdaten.de, more than two thirds of retailers in the HDE business survey 2025 reported falling or sharply falling foot traffic.

Source: Handelsdaten.de (2025). Einschätzung der Händler zur Kundenfrequenz an deutschen Standorten, HDE-Konjunkturumfrage 2017 to 2025.

How does that fit together? Passers-by are not automatically visitors to a particular shop. Even if just as many people are out on the street as the year before, they do not necessarily walk into your shop. A finding from the Federal Statistical Office points the same way: it compared pedestrian traffic at Hystreet locations in 21 city centres (2018 to 2025) with developments in retail and hospitality and found, apart from the pandemic-related slumps, no very strong link. More passers-by therefore do not automatically mean more revenue.

Source: Statistisches Bundesamt (2025). Experimentelle Daten: Passantenfrequenzen, destatis.de.

Why do people come into city centres at all?

The study Vitale Innenstädte 2024 by IFH Köln is based on around 69,000 personal interviews in 107 cities, carried out from mid-September to mid-November 2024. Shopping (61%) and food and drink (40%) were named most often as reasons to visit. Generation Z, up to 25 years old, makes up 21% of visitors, and the average age is 46.1. As important measures for making city-centre visits more attractive, respondents name avoiding vacant units, improving infrastructure and creating a pleasant place to spend time.

Source: IFH Köln (2024). Vitale Innenstädte 2024, commissioned by KölnBusiness Wirtschaftsförderung and IHK zu Köln.

For an individual shop, the conclusion is this: a visit needs a reason. Retail and hospitality generate footfall together, and people are more likely to walk into a shop that offers a pleasant environment. Younger audiences are a smaller but important group. How to reach them is covered in the article How do you reach Gen Z in physical retail?

Measuring foot traffic: an overview of methods

Without a number, you cannot judge whether a measure works. There are several ways to measure, and they differ in effort and reliability:

• Manual counting: counted at set times with a tally sheet, for example one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon. It needs no technology, but is only a sample.
• Till receipts and transactions: they show only buyers, not all visitors. Combined with a visitor count, they give the conversion rate.
• People counters at the entrance: sensors count how many people enter the shop and provide the figures continuously or as a report.
• Camera and sensor systems: they can also record walking routes and dwell time, but are more demanding in terms of data protection.
• Wi-Fi or Bluetooth detection: it evaluates signals from mobile devices, so it captures only some of the visitors and raises data protection questions.

Useful metrics are visitors per opening hour, entry rate, conversion rate and revenue per visitor.

Data protection when measuring

Whether personal data is processed when measuring depends on the technology. A counter that stores only a number is less critical than a system that processes images or device identifiers. For video surveillance, the guidance of the German Data Protection Conference sets out the principle of data minimisation: it is only necessary if the purpose cannot be achieved just as well by another means that interferes less with the rights of the people concerned and is economically and organisationally reasonable. Whether and how this applies to pure counting should be clarified with the data protection officer before use. This is not legal advice.

Source: Datenschutzkonferenz (2020). Orientierungshilfe Videoüberwachung durch nicht-öffentliche Stellen, as of 17 July 2020, section 2.2.2 Erforderlichkeit.

How to increase foot traffic: the measures that help

No measure works the same everywhere. The following overview is an assessment from practice, not a measurement. Effort and impact depend on location, sector and target group.

Create occasions and experiences

People visit a shop when there is a reason to come right now: a demonstration, a workshop, a tasting, a themed week or something new. What matters is that the occasion is announced, in the shop window, by newsletter and on social media, and that it recurs, so that a rhythm develops. How occasions can also reach people who do not yet have a relationship with the brand is described in the glossary entry on customer activation.

Share footfall through partnerships

According to the IFH study, food and drink is the second most common reason for visiting a city centre. A shop that teams up with a café, a neighbour or a local club reaches people it would not reach alone. Joint activities share the effort and the attention.

Communicate in a targeted way instead of casting the net wide

Anyone who knows their existing customers can win them back with concrete occasions, such as an invitation to an event or a note about something new in their category. That is usually more effective than a broad discount for everyone. The basics of how customers are retained over the long term are explained in the article What does the term customer loyalty mean?

Improve visibility in the area and online

Many visitors decide before they arrive whether the trip is worthwhile. An up-to-date Google Business Profile with opening hours, photos and promotions, a coherent website and regular posts on social media help people find you. On the spot, an inviting shop window and clear signage raise the entry rate, meaning the share of passers-by who come in.

Take atmosphere and service seriously

Respondents in the IFH study explicitly name a pleasant place to spend time as an important measure for more attractive city-centre visits. In an individual shop, that means a clean and clear layout, advice that actually helps, short waits at the till and, where it fits, somewhere to sit. It does not immediately increase the number of visitors, but it raises the chance that they come back.

Create reasons to come back

Foot traffic also builds through repeat visits. Collecting and reward schemes and playful mechanics can give people a reason to return. They only work if they suit the target group: why classic loyalty apps often fail to reach younger customers is described in the article Why younger audiences don't use loyalty apps. An overview of playful approaches is given in Gamification in retail.

Retail Gaming Solution takes its own approach. The planned location-based platform connects physical retail with a digital ecosystem, and the visit to the shop itself is the occasion. Whether such an approach suits your shop can be tested in a limited pilot phase.

What only works in the short term

Discount promotions and advertising attract attention, but it is widely believed that they less and less often bring visitors into the shop for good. They can also reinforce expectations of price cuts and put pressure on margins. Why classic tools are reaching their limits is described in the article Foot traffic in retail: why classic measures work less and less well. The cost of winning new customers is put into context by Why new customer acquisition in retail keeps getting more expensive.

How do I know whether a measure is working?

Set a baseline before you start, ideally over several weeks, and afterwards compare the same weekdays and periods. Do not change several things at once, otherwise it stays unclear what worked. Watch for special effects: the Hystreet analysis shows that pedestrian traffic in June 2025 was below the previous year because the 2024 European Football Championship had brought extra visitors into city centres. Effects like this can also distort an otherwise good comparison.

Alongside visitor numbers, the entry rate, conversion rate, average basket value and the share of returning customers help to judge whether more foot traffic also means more revenue.

Conclusion

Foot traffic can be increased when a shop gives people a reason to come and to come back: through occasions, partnerships, targeted communication, visibility and a pleasant atmosphere. Price promotions alone often work only briefly. Foot traffic is only one part of the equation. Revenue comes from visitors, conversion rate and average basket value, and the pedestrian numbers of a city centre say little about how many people walk into your own shop. Anyone who measures what they change will see what really works.