Traffic Lift

A sales lift and a brand lift are both powerful outcomes of in-store advertising, but traffic lift is a more foundational metric. It measures the ad's ability to drive people to a specific location within the store—or even into the store itself.

Here’s what an advertiser can expect for a traffic lift and why in-store digital screens are so effective at generating it.

What is Traffic Lift?

Traffic lift, also known as footfall or store visitation lift, measures the increase in the number of people who visit a physical location as a direct result of being exposed to a specific ad. For a grocery store ad, this could mean two things:

Bringing Shoppers into the Store: An ad on a large digital screen in a prominent location (e.g., in a storefront window or at the entrance) can entice passersby to come inside. This is particularly relevant for new store launches or special events.
Driving Shoppers to a Specific Aisle or Product Display: Once a shopper is inside the store, an ad on a screen can guide them to a particular section. For example, a video showing a recipe using a specific brand of pasta could be played in the pasta aisle, directing shoppers to that brand's shelf.

Why In-Store Screens are Excellent for Traffic Lift

The "Head-Turning" Effect: Motion and dynamic content are proven to capture attention. A brightly lit screen with a looping video or an engaging animation is far more likely to get a shopper's attention than a static sign, especially in a visually cluttered environment like a grocery store. This is the first and most critical step in driving traffic.
Contextual Wayfinding: Digital screens can act as a modern form of wayfinding. A screen could display an ad for a new line of cheeses and, at the same time, show an animated arrow or a map pointing to the dairy section. This removes friction from the shopping journey and can direct shoppers who might not have otherwise visited that aisle.
Urgency and Novelty: Screens can be used to announce "today-only" deals, flash sales, or new arrivals with a sense of urgency. This encourages shoppers to make an immediate visit to a specific product display to avoid missing out.
Interactive and Gamified Experiences: A digital screen can use a QR code to launch a store-wide scavenger hunt or a contest, encouraging shoppers to visit multiple product displays to participate. This kind of gamification directly increases foot traffic to specific locations.
Real-Time Responsiveness: The content on a digital screen can be changed instantly. If a particular product is not moving, the store can put a time-sensitive ad for it on the screen to drive traffic to that specific shelf. This level of responsiveness is impossible with static signage.

How to Measure Traffic Lift

Measuring traffic lift is more complex than measuring a sales lift, but new technologies have made it more precise.

Footfall Analytics: Stores can use various technologies to measure foot traffic, including:
- In-store sensors: Sensors placed in aisles can track shopper movement and dwell time, showing whether the number of people visiting an aisle increased after an ad campaign.
- Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Tracking: Anonymized data from mobile devices can be used to track the path shoppers take through a store, providing data on whether the ad influenced their movement.
- Computer Vision: Cameras with AI-powered analytics can count people, measure dwell time, and analyze their behavior in front of a screen or product display.
Control vs. Exposed Group Analysis: The most reliable way to measure traffic lift is with a controlled study. An advertiser would run the campaign in a set of test stores and compare the foot traffic in those stores to a similar group of control stores that didn't have the ad. The difference in traffic is the lift attributable to the campaign.

While specific traffic lift percentages can vary widely, successful campaigns using in-store digital signage have been shown to significantly increase foot traffic to specific store areas, often by double-digit percentages, directly translating into more opportunities for sales.