Zansa › Answers › Forecasting and data science
How do I forecast foot traffic or customer arrivals for staffing?
Use counts of arrivals by hour or shift over at least a year, and model day of week, time of day, season, holidays, weather and events. Start with a seasonal average by weekday and hour, then refine. Convert the result to staffing using how many customers one person can serve in an hour.
Sources can be till transactions, door counters, bookings or call logs. Be aware that transactions undercount when queues cause walk-outs.
Helpful details:
- Forecast at 15-minute to hourly grain depending on how flexible your rosters are.
- Include marketing activity and nearby events.
- Check forecast error at peak times specifically, as that is where service suffers.
- Review with managers who know local quirks.
Roster rules and employee preferences are separate constraints from the forecast itself.
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