Physical stores convert up to 70% of store traffic. Online converts under 3%. *Mark Ryski,* CEO of *HeadCount Corporation,* explains retail's most misunderstood metric: *in-store conversion.*
Mark has analyzed store traffic longer than almost anyone alive, and his data shows a store can get MORE traffic and sell LESS. In one exit survey outside a 60,000 sq ft big box store, 77% of shoppers leaving without a bag said they came in to buy. This conversation covers what separates super converting stores from the rest of the chain, why staffing to sales instead of store traffic is backwards, what BOPIS and Amazon returns do to your numbers, and why in-store conversion data is the foundation AI actually needs.
Hosts *Ricardo Belmar* and *Casey Golden* cut through the clutter on The Retail Razor Show, part of the Retail Razor Podcast Network. If you run stores and want a higher in-store conversion rate, start at 20:55.
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*Retail Razor Show S6:E8*
*Released on June 13, 2026*
*Guest info*
*Mark Ryski* https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-ryski-8826601/
*CEO,* *HeadCount Corporation* https://headcount.com
*Author,* *Store Traffic Is A Gift* https://a.co/d/00VI3Uuj
Mark Ryski is the founder and CEO of HeadCount Corporation and one of the retail industry's leading authorities on store traffic and shopper conversion. For more than 20 years, he has helped retailers—from independent stores to large national chains in over 20 countries—convert more store visits into sales and make better operating decisions. He is the author of three books on retail performance, including *Store Traffic Is a Gift: The Retailer's Guide to Converting Visits into Sales*, *Conversion: The Last Great Retail Metric*, and *When Retail Customers Count*, the first book dedicated to the study of store traffic. Mark is a longtime BrainTrust contributor on RetailWire and has been recognized as a Rethink Retail Top Retail Expert in 2025 and 2026.
*Chapters*
00:00 Teaser
00:32 Show Intro
05:06 Welcome, Mark Ryski!
10:28 Traffic Is a Gift
13:09 Origin Story - Counting Traffic
16:45 Conversion Numbers and Fast Wins
23:16 Exit Surveys Reveal Missed Sales
26:22 Proving Payroll Pays Back
28:08 Inside Super Converting Stores
31:57 BOPIS And Amazon Traffic Trap
38:23 AI Needs Clean Traffic Data
44:52 Optimism For Physical Retail
48:03 Show Close
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