What is footfall at a trade show?

Footfall is the number of visitors to a show. It is the number every organiser leads with, and on its own it tells an exhibitor almost nothing.

Why the headline number misleads

A "50,000 footfall" claim may count every badge scan at every entrance, so one visitor attending three days counts three times. It may include exhibitor staff, contractors, students and press. It rarely distinguishes a procurement head from someone collecting free pens.

Two shows with identical footfall can deliver wildly different results.

What to ask for instead

• Unique verified visitors, not entry scans
• Breakdown by job function — how many were buyers or specifiers
• Breakdown by industry and company size
• Repeat vs first-time visitors
• How visitors were verified — self-declared on a form, or checked
• Exhibitor retention — the share of last year's exhibitors who rebooked

That last one is the most honest signal available. Exhibitors who got value come back; the rebooking rate is harder to dress up than a footfall figure.

What people get wrong

Comparing shows on footfall alone. A focused show with 3,000 verified buyers can be worth more than a general one with 50,000 visitors.

Not asking how the number is measured. Organisers who measure carefully are happy to explain. The ones who cannot are telling you something.

Ignoring the quality of the visitor registration. If anyone can register with an unverified email, the audience is whoever showed up.

On Bidancer

Attendees hold passes tied to a verified identity and check in by QR, so attendance is a count of known participants rather than an estimate — and exhibitors can see who they actually met.