Dive Brief:

• Traffic to physical retail stores fell 17% this September compared to last year and nearly 17% compared to the month before because of the drop-off from back-to-school shopping. 

• Store conversion — the number of shoppers who enter a store expressed as a percentage of the total foot traffic —rose to 9.1% from 8.7% last year, and fell from 9.9% in August, again an adjustment due to the ending of the back-to-school rush. That number also improved because last year there was a government shutdown.

• Stores’ bounce rate — people who enter a store but leave within 5 minutes — was 8.9% this September, down from 11.11% last year and 9% this past August. Visit duration also improved, increasing 20% from last September. The mean time from entry to exit was 26.3 minutes compared to 21.9 minutes last year, and flat compared to August. 

Dive Insight:

These numbers paint that ongoing mixed picture in retail, but with some strong fundamentals coming into view. The improvements were due in part to the fact that last year at this time there was a government shutdown that didn’t occur this year, according to the report. 

But the music to retailers’ ears? The numbers are reflecting “more intent to buy,” according to Euclid. The analytics firm also projected a “cautious outlook” of .4% year-over-year growth in general merchandise sales and a 1% decline in apparel sales, for a .5% year-over-year growth overall.