How town centres can use visitor data to plan a successful Christmas

Red telephone box in british town centre at christmas

The ‘Golden Quarter’ for businesses and high streets across the country has arrived. This period between October and December is typically considered the peak shopping season in the run up to Christmas, providing ample opportunities to maximise sales. However, things are more uncertain now as many prepare to face a number of curveballs thrown from a challenging economy.

What issues do high streets face?

With the cost of living, interest rates and energy bills rising at an alarming rate, consumers are feeling the pinch, whereby 47% have made or expected to cut back on their spending, prioritising essential goods over more expensive discretionary items like electronics, clothing etc. and are searching for cheaper deals in a bid to save money. Naturally, there is growing concern that people will be less inclined to make the journey into town, with footfall predicted to be 18% lower for 2022 than 2019 levels in December. 

This is all having a huge knock-on effect on businesses, particularly within retail and hospitality, who are already struggling to maintain the balance between customer satisfaction and financial stability. But despite the current climate, it’s likely the festive celebrations will continue to draw people out into cities, towns and villages. Therefore, in order to be as prepared as possible for Christmas, it’s important to develop an in-depth knowledge of local demographics and to keep a track of changing visitor behaviour patterns.

How visitor data can help 

By understanding where visitors come from, what services they are utilising and which retail or leisure areas and green spaces attract them the most, will enable businesses and councils to make informed decisions about events, marketing campaigns and location hotspots.

Here are some ways that visitor data from Place Informatics can help you plan a successful Christmas:

Visitor origins – target specific postcodes with high affluence / low affluence according to your ideal consumer profile and determine which products or services are going to drive engagement and footfall. 

Isochrone maps – see which locations are accessible via different modes of transport within a certain time-frame and the type of visitors who travel using postcode data. Isochrones can also help identify catchment areas to create localised marketing campaigns.

Human movement patterns – analyse where else people go e.g car parks, green spaces, retail sites for further commercial and investment opportunities. This can also help with staff resourcing during peak shopping periods to better serve customer needs. 

Events – easily generate a PDF report to key stakeholders containing all KPIs for your Christmas event with robust visitor and data evidence. Measure what share of visitors are in attendance within the event’s location for each hour of the day and night. 

Density mapping – view the busiest access points and places of interest to set up Christmas displays and Father Christmas grottos in the right place. This will ensure they capture people’s attention and create a ‘holly, jolly’ atmosphere.

By using visitor data to plan their Christmas strategy, town centres, retailers, hospitality and other businesses can ensure they’re making the most of the festive season.

Call 0161 706 1343 for more information or book a webinar to see the visit data available for your location in Calendly here: 

https://calendly.com/clive-hall/diary-booking

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