750 out of every 1,000 leave without buying: look at conversion by time of day

A store gets 1,000 people in one day. 750 leave without buying.

And in the meeting someone says: "we need to bring in more people."

More people? They already came in. The hardest part, getting someone through the door, already happened.

Break that conversion down by time of day and the story changes:
→ Morning: 30 out of every 100 buy.
→ Afternoon: 33.
→ 6 to 9 p.m., with the store packed: 15.

In that window, about 340 people left without buying. Right when you have the most people. (With the same staffing as the morning? I have my suspicions.)

And watch out, because this is where half of retail gets it wrong: you count the person when they walk in, and the receipt prints when they pay. In between, they browse, try something on, wait in line. If you match visits and receipts from the same hour, you're gifting purchases to the next hour. (And that lag isn't the same in a pharmacy as in a furniture store.)

The people who leave without buying have a schedule. Go find it.

What time are yours walking out?