As April rolls on we take a moment to see how March metrics compared to months past.
 
March metrics reveals a turning point for retail and e-commerce as lockdowns began throughout the world.
 
From March and on, we saw 10 years of e-commerce growth in just a few months.

WHAT’S IN THIS WEEKS EDITION, YOU ASK?

  • See how the furniture  metrics have changed since last March
  • How the mattress industry has adapted to the ever-changing world of e-commerce
  • How consumer behavior has changed -and is not going back
  • Turn your foot traffic into more sales with a 90-day free trial of Doorcounts 3.0.

FOOT TRAFFIC INDEX

Here’s a look at last week’s foot traffic compared to the same time last year.

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DC FEATURE OF THE WEEK

This is where each week we highlight a feature within Doorcounts. This week’s feature is:

Quick Entry
 
When your store gets busy, it can be hard for salespeople to enter all the information they gathered when they are pressed for time.
 
When QUICK ENTRY is enabled, Doorcounts will only ask a salesperson one question: Did the interaction with the customer end in a sale, no-sale, or potential sale?
 
Within less than 10 seconds of your salesperson’s time, Doorcounts calculates sales conversion, time with customers, and the breakdown of sale/no-sale/potential sales.

FOOT TRAFFIC TRENDS

Industry insights so you can convert your foot traffic into more sales.

March furniture metrics

As we’ve said before, from March and on, we saw nearly 10 years of e-commerce growth in just a few months.
 
There was almost a night and day flip of the switch where people went from shopping in stores, to exclusively shopping online.
 
While many retailers had placeholder websites just to have a presence online, the pandemic forced the hands of many retailers to quickly adapt.
 
Thankfully, thanks to the new “norms of retails”, such as BOPIS and BUY NOW PAY LATER, retailers are beginning to see new life in their stores.

Conversion rate down 4%: Although some metrics are returning to normal, conversion rate is down 4% from March 2020, and also down 4% from last month.

Average Ticket up 18%: Average ticket has stayed strong with an 18% increase year-over-year, while seeing a small decrease of 4% compared to February 2021.

Daily Revenue up 103%: Compared to March 2020, which only saw around $7,600 in daily revenue, March 2021 brought in $15,485 in daily revenue with an increase of 103%.

Daily Opportunities up 79%: Daily opportunities are the total shoppers who visit your store. Although sales conversion was down 4%, a 79% increase in foot traffic helped keep daily revenue and average ticket up.

New Prospects up 341%: As we’ve said in the past, new prospects are people who left the store without buying.  At one point in the pandemic, people only went to a store unless they were 100% going to buy something. Now, we are back to seeing people leave the store without buying as 341% more people left stores without buying compared to March 2020.

March mattress key metrics

Similar to the furniture industry, the mattress industry had a breath of fresh air as March showed signs of normal.
 
No matter the e-commerce trend we are seeing, mattresses are one of those items that cannot be fully experienced without brick-and-mortar locations.
 
Customers are slowly beginning to normalize going back to stores and we have started to see more and more traffic in the mattress industry.

Conversion rate up 1%: Weirdly enough, the mattress industry saw a 0.35% increase since last March, and a 0.37% increase since last month (February 2021). Regardless of all the craziness of the last year, conversion rate hasn’t seen much movement at all.

Average Ticket up 38%: Although average ticket increased 38% compared to March 2020, when compared to last month, which had the highest average ticket in over a year, there was an 8% decrease in average ticket.

Daily Revenue up 182%: March 2020 was a dark time for retail. Thankfully, a year later daily revenue is up 182% and is up 7% from February 2021. It’s amazing the difference a year can make.

Daily Opportunities up 63%:  Almost a year to this day, March 20th to be exact, lockdowns were enacted and people physically could not enter a retail store. In March of 2021, we see foot traffic up 63% year-over-year and also up 15% from February 2021.

New Prospects up 203%: As we’ve said, new prospects are customers who left the store without buying.  To put the 205% into perspective, new prospects went from one customer to three customers in the last year. Thankfully, new prospects only saw an increase of 19% increase since February 2020. 

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Consumer habits: How has the pandemic changed buying habits -and why it will become the new normal.
 
Ghost bed goes brick-and-mortar: The infamous online bed company is entering the world of brick-and-mortar.
 
Anti-dump: The DOC antidumping decision polarizes the bedding industry.
 
Creature comfort: Malouf Introduces Creature Comfort Line as consumers continue to spend more money on their pets.

RANDOM IRRELEVANCE

Golden game: After sitting in a drawer for 34 years, a video game sells for $660,000.
 
Voltswagon: Volkswagen apologizes after an April-fools joke gone wrong.
 
ET-rex: Scientists discover a monstrous new cousin of the T. Rex in Argentina.
 
Space copter: NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter survives first night alone on Mars.