Bournemouth Town Centre BID
Bournemouth Town Centre BID has increased footfall in the town centre by 32% since 2012.
The approach
Bournemouth Town Centre BID started in 2012 and are currently in its second five-year term. One of two BIDs in the Bournemouth area, it focused on Bournemouth town centre.
Focus on the four main priorities chosen by the town centre businesses has contributed to a positive increase in footfall since 2012, with a 32% increase since Bournemouth Town Centre BID was formed.
The four main priorities are: ‘Marketing and Promotion’ to local and sub-regional communities; Events, both created and commissioned in the town centre; a ‘Clean and Green’ initiative focusing on making the town a cleaner place; and ‘Safe and Secure’ which includes a team of eight ambassadorial Town Rangers who assist visitors and help to deter low level anti-social behaviour.
Bournemouth is one of the first towns MRI Software worked with, and so is able to offer the BID unrivalled intelligence on how the town centre is used. MRI’s services not only enable the BID to understand the performance of the town centre and its success in attracting visitors, but through our national and regional benchmarks we are also able to provide the BID with the wider context in terms of how high streets are performing in the midst of what is regarded as the third industrial revolution.
Diane Wehrle
Marketing and Insights Director, MRI Software
Bournemouth’s Local Authority commissioned the Bournemouth town centre counters to measure trends both day and night relating to footfall and popularity of the town. Using the data that is captured hourly each day, the BID can clearly demonstrate effects of events on footfall and this affords them the opportunity to work with retailers on areas such as opening hours and more focussed marketing.
The future focus is on capture rate and retention for retailers, and Bournemouth have included Wi-Fi tracking to the services MRI provides. Wi-Fi tracking tracks the flow and dwell of visitors in a location and indicates if they’re a repeat visitor – meaning Bournemouth Town Centre BID can monitor not only footfall, but flow and dwell time in a location too.
MRI will be working closely with Bournemouth Town Centre BID through its counters to provide insights and data to give retailers the information they need to help them succeed.
See the business plan: towncentrebid.co.uk