Handbag Traffic Project Overview

Welcome to the Handbag Traffic counting project! This project is super easy, but there are key details you want to make sure not to miss.

For this project, you will be asked to sit outside a specified store for 30 minutes counting the number of customers exiting the store.  You will be asked to watch either a retail store (typically inside a mall) or an outlet location (typically outside locations).

Project Specific Details

WHEN:

1. All traffic counting must occur on SATURDAY or SUNDAY (refer to your VMS Dashboard for your schedule)
2. All traffic counts must occur BETWEEN 12-4 pm on your assigned day 
3. Traffic will be counted for 30-minutes at each location
4. If more than one location is assigned, all traffic counting must occur within 2 hours of beginning your assignment at the first store. (These are generally located in the same venue, you will not need to drive across town to complete this in this timeframe.)
5. Traffic counts need to be COMPLETED by 4pm, meaning the latest the final count can be started is 3:30 PM 
6. If traffic is collected outside of the assigned time frame, it will be considered incomplete data and the invoice will not be paid. 

WHERE:

1. You must count traffic at the stores assigned to you in your VMS dashboard. You cannot choose or alter locations. 
2. All traffic counts will occur outside of the stores. You do not need to / should not enter the stores in order to complete these counts.
3. The goal is an inconspicuous count of traffic from outside of the main door. 
4. Find a position outside of each store where you are able to easily view the main (or busiest) door(s) of your assigned store(s). ​

Deciding which door is the "main" entrance:

Most stores only have one door but in the instances that a store may have two doors, the following will help you decide on which is the "main" (aka the best) door from which to get your counts.  

• Quickly walk or drive around the store to find the largest, most prominent entrance.
• Look for the door nearest the main checkout area.
• If there are multiple entrances on multiple floors of a mall, use your best judgment as to which is the "main" entrance; it will likely be on the ground floor.
• Avoid small side entrances and doors that people seem to be using to take a shortcut through​ the store rather than shop at it.

If you can find a vantage point from where you can accurately collect data from two entrances simultaneously, that is great. But please be sure you are able to collect all of the data from the main entrance and will not be too distracted trying to collect data from multiple doors.

Please make note of which entrance you collected data at and report this when you submit your data. This will allow us to keep the data collection point consistent for all subsequent visits.

WHO:

1. All shoppers EXITING the stores who appear to be age 18+
2. We assume that children are not making expensive handbag purchases
3. If a group of shoppers exits, count all shoppers age 18+  
4. If a family of shoppers exits, only count all shoppers age 18+, do not include the children 

WHAT: 

We are using the size of the bags as a proxy for how "big" of a purchase aka how expensive of a purchase the shopper has made. To help us achieve this, you will record each shopper into one of the following categories: 

1. No Shopping Bags - The number of shoppers that exit the store without making a purchase at that store. 
2. Small Shopping Bag - The number of shoppers that exit the store with 1-2 small bags. 
3. Large Shopping Bag - Large Shoppers may include a few different options:
   • Shoppers that exit with one Medium bag 
   • Shoppers that exit with one Large bag 
   • Shoppers that exist with multiple (3+) small bags 
   • Shoppers that exit with multiple bags of any size 

NOTE: It's important that you pay close attention to the bags that shoppers are exiting with so we do not include purchases made from the stores. Photos of typical bags from these stores are at the bottom of this page for reference.  

• For more information on SMALL and LARGE shopper determination, go here.
• For information on a free traffic counting app you can use, go here Traffic Counting App Information

Examples: 

1. You see a group of 4 adults exiting and 1 is carrying a small bag. 
   • You'd record: 
   • 3 No Bags 
   • 1 Small Bag Shopping bag 
2. You see a family of 5 exiting, 2 adults, 3 children, 1 adult is carrying 3 bags.  
   • You'd record: 
   • 1 No Nog
   • 1 Large Shopping bag 
3. You see a group of 3 adults exiting, nobody appears to have made a purchase 
   • 3 No bags 
4. You see a group of 4 adults exiting, 2 shoppers have small bags, 1 shopper has multiple bags, and 1 shopper did not make a purchase 
   • You'd record: 
   • 1 No Bag
   • 2 Small Shopping bags 
   • 1 Large Shopping bag 

Typical Shopping Bags 

Michael KORS - All Kors bags look exactly the same (and they never change!). The only thing that will vary is the size of the bag. 

Coach - Coach shopping bags will generally be black with a Coach logo (top photo).

Occasionally the Outlets will use brown paper bags with the Coach logo and sometimes around the Holidays, they will use Red or Green bags. But in general, the bags will be Black. 

Kate Spade - Kate shopping are usually bright green. Occasionally you will see pink bags, but the green is the go-to!

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