Driving In-Store Visits for a National Furniture Retailer During Black Friday

With Black Friday being a high-stakes sales period, this national furniture retailer needed to drive in-store traffic efficiently while managing rising media costs and tracking limitations. A recent update to their booking engine disrupted conversion tracking, making it difficult to measure the impact of digital media on store visits.

Challenge

Beyond tracking challenges, the retailer also faced:

  • Increased competition and rising holiday media costs—requiring precision in audience targeting and budget allocation to maintain efficiency.

  • Regional performance variability—with some locations historically underperforming, requiring a strategic approach to optimize store traffic.

Solution

To counteract tracking disruptions and maximize media investment, I worked closely with a cross-functional media team to develop a data-driven paid media strategy focused on:

🔹 Strategic Market Selection

  • Identified key areas with strong growth potential based on historical data, competitive landscape, and incremental opportunity.

🔹 Optimized Channel Mix

  • Search, Social, and Programmatic Display—spend was dynamically adjusted based on real-time performance insights.

🔹 Enhanced Tracking & Attribution

  • Foot Traffic Attribution to measure media-driven store visits.

  • Call Tracking to gauge high-intent customer engagement.

  • Directional Lift Studies to estimate store visit impact, overcoming tracking disruptions.

🔹 Live Performance Optimization

  • Budgets were shifted dynamically based on CPL trends, foot traffic patterns, and media efficiency to maximize return on investment.

Result

✅ Exceeded In-Store Visit Goals

  • Significant lift in store visits compared to forecasted projections

✅ Surpassed Efficiency Targets

  • CPL: 22% below forecasted cost

  • CTR: 18% above benchmark

  • CPM: 12% lower than projected

  • CPC: 16% lower than industry average

✅ Validated Attribution Despite Tracking Challenges
Through a multi-pronged measurement approach, we successfully proved media-driven foot traffic impact, securing stakeholder confidence and future investment in digital campaigns.

This data-backed strategy not only drove incremental in-store visits but also established a scalable approach for future peak sales periods.