New Report From Euclid Analytics Shows Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Combat Declining In-Store Traffic With Increased Engagement and Promotions

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 4, 2015) - Euclid Analytics, the leader in location analytics, today released its first half-annual US Retail Benchmark report with key findings about in-store traffic and customer behavior during the first half of 2015. This report measured data on hundreds of millions of domestic shopping sessions between January and June of this year to reveal that retailers are starting to turn the tide against declining store traffic. By executing aggressive promotional campaigns and re-tooling in-store experiences through omni-channel strategies, retailers have boosted their engagement rates. However, despite these positive results, retailers are still struggling to maintain loyalty.

Euclid's metrics suggest a moderately positive outlook for sales growth across all categories in the second half of the year due to increased economic gains from continued job growth, lower cost of living and disposable income growth. Euclid also expects consumers' willingness to spend to catch up with consumers' increased disposable income in the second half of the year.

Here are some of Euclid's top findings during the first half of the year around shopper behavior metrics:

• While traffic continued to decline, retailers were able to drive greater storefront conversions while bolstering duration rates -- average visit duration times in stores increased by over 4 minutes from the previous year.
• In the month of June, the bounce rate declined to a new 12-month low of 6.5 percent -- a strong indication that retailers are actively engaging shoppers as they enter the store through relevant, timely assistance or enticing store layouts.
• Storefront conversion, defined as the number of shoppers who enter a store as a percentage of the total foot traffic, over the last six months rose to 9 percent from 8.5 percent last year.
• In the first six months, loyalty from active repeat customers totaled 11.7 percent of total visits measured, a decline from 12.8 percent during the same time last year.
  
  

"The continued erosion of in-store traffic has been raising alarms among every brick-and-mortar retailer," said Brent Franson, CEO of Euclid Analytics. "We're seeing hopeful signs that retailers are starting to counter this declining trend and making every in-store visit count. That said, the unexpected poor showing in June also demonstrates that retailers are not yet out of the woods. Ultimately, retailers must boost their loyalty metrics and win the hearts and wallets of the mobile-savvy shopper."

The best shopping month of Q1 + Q2 2015 was April, with the best shopping day of Q1 + Q2 2015 being Monday, April 6th. Traffic rebounded significantly after a long, cold winter season, and April was the only month in 2015 where traffic grew YoY (7.6 percent). Storefront conversion also hit a high for 2015 (9.5 percent) as promotional activities successfully attracted value-conscious consumers.

To view the complete findings, download the full report on shopper activity for Q1 + Q2 here: http://info.euclidanalytics.com/WC15-07Midyear_Reg_RLP.html

About Euclid
Euclid Analytics is the world leader in location analytics. The company provides answers and insights for the physical world in the same way that web analytics does for e-commerce. By accurately analyzing visitor traffic, behavior and shopping patterns, Euclid helps the world's leading brands design the perfect customer experience for their brick-and-mortar locations and drive better business results.

Euclid's network captures billions of measurements per day, analyzing hundreds of millions of potential shopping sessions per year across tens of thousands of locations including retail stores, quick service restaurants, airports and shopping malls. Only non-personal data is collected and only aggregated trend data is shared for analysis.

Euclid is backed by leading venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and NEA. For more information, visit http://euclidanalytics.com.