WHSmith Travel has improved the conversion rate from browsers into buyers by 15 per cent in two of its London stores.
The subsidiary of the ubiquitous newsagent, which manages 252 stores in 143 train stations and airports across the country, achieved the conversion by using a till management solution from Torex Retail, which compares footfall with sales data in real-time every half an hour.
According to WHSmith Travel central operations manager Mick Follett, the improved conversion rate could mean an increase in sales receipts by 2 per cent.
Follett explained that the variation in footfall within the shops is much more volatile than in the parent's high street shops.
Approximately 1.3 million people visit a WHSmith Travel store every week.
'Every day is a Saturday with us, so we wanted to have an understanding of how many people entered and left without making a purchase,' he said.
The system allows store managers to predict when spikes in footfall are likely to occur, so that they can open up enough tills to cope. It also tells them when quiet periods are likely to be, so that they can profile times for replenishment correctly.
The store in Liverpool Street train station in London has already seen increase in sales of up to£10,000 a week as a result.
One other store, in Kings Cross, has also been trialling the system, with 13 more slated for the end of the month. Depending on how well the system performs, up to 12 others will also be installed.
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