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How to Measure Whether Roadwork Is Affecting Your Business Sales

A practical method for comparing revenue, transactions and visits before, during and after roadworks—while accounting for access changes and other influences.
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Track sales, transaction counts and customer visits before, during and after construction, then compare equivalent trading days while logging changes to access, parking, visibility and deliveries. This can show whether roadwork coincides with a change in your business; it cannot, by itself, prove construction caused every change.

What to measure

Use several measures together. Revenue shows the money coming in, transactions show how many purchases customers make, and footfall estimates how many people reach or enter the premises. A change in one measure can mean something different from a change in another.

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  • Gross sales or revenue: Use the same accounting definition throughout the comparison.
  • Transaction count: Count completed sales for the same period as revenue.
  • Average sale: Divide sales by transactions. This helps distinguish fewer purchases from a change in typical purchase size.
  • Footfall: Count visits consistently. This is a visit measure, not a substitute for sales or transactions.

Toronto’s Construction Mitigation guidance advises retailers to monitor sales, revenue and traffic. The Association of Convenience Stores’ roadworks guidance describes keeping financial records and footfall counts before, during and after works.

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Set up a usable baseline

Export daily or weekly sales and transaction records from your point-of-sale or accounting system. Use as much pre-construction history as is readily available, prioritizing comparable weekdays and seasons. If construction has already started, use historical records to reconstruct a baseline and make clear that it is retrospective.

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Record factors that can distort a comparison, including opening hours, temporary closures, promotions, unusual events and changes in staffing or product availability. Business Queensland’s guidance on reducing disruption from major infrastructure work recommends maintaining business records and monitoring performance during construction.

Log what is happening at the site

Make a dated entry for each work phase or significant change. Focus on what customers and suppliers encounter, rather than simply noting that construction is underway:

  • Road closures, diversions or changed traffic patterns
  • Footpath restrictions and the condition of the route to your entrance
  • Parking spaces removed or relocated
  • Changes to storefront visibility, signs or lighting
  • Public transport changes or interruptions
  • Delivery access problems or utility interruptions
  • Noise or dust when materially disruptive

Where useful, take dated photos from consistent locations. Small Business Commission South Australia identifies access, parking, transport and visibility as potential disruption factors in its roadworks disruption guidance. ACS also describes photographing restricted access.

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Count visits consistently

If you can, count customer entries during the same hours on comparable days. Use an existing door-counting or point-of-sale system, or tally visits manually. A handheld tally counter is optional; it records visits, not purchases or revenue. Note the method and the hours covered, and do not compare a few peak-hour counts with full-day sales.

Compare like with like

Build a dated comparison that includes the business outcomes, exposure to construction and relevant context. One practical layout is:

Period or date Sales Transactions Average sale Footfall Work and access conditions Hours and unusual events
Before works Record value Record count Sales ÷ transactions Record count and method Describe normal access Record hours and exceptions
During works Record value Record count Sales ÷ transactions Record count and method Describe disruption by date or phase Record hours and exceptions
After works Record value Record count Sales ÷ transactions Record count and method Describe restored or remaining changes Record hours and exceptions

Compare the same weekdays and, where records permit, the same season in an earlier year. Show the actual values alongside percentage changes, and identify the comparison period. A percentage without its starting value or date range can mislead.

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If you have figures from a similar location not affected by the works, or a broader local trend, use them as context—not as a perfect control. The Wyoming Department of Transportation’s 2004 Phase I report on highway-construction-related business impacts describes analysis involving sales estimates, traffic, business surveys and general economic trends. The Federal Highway Administration’s PlanWorks economic-development guidance frames business impacts around access, travel costs, competitiveness, growth and sales or income.

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Interpret the pattern without overstating it

A decline in visits and transactions during a period when access is restricted is consistent with roadworks contributing to lost sales. It is not proof that roadworks were the only cause. Check for other changes during the same period, such as seasonality, weather, prices, staffing, product availability, competition, marketing or local economic shifts. Note those factors in the comparison rather than explaining them away.

Look at timing as well as totals: did measures change when access changed, and did they move again when access improved? This can make the relationship more informative, but it still does not isolate construction from every other influence. Results may also differ by business type and exposure; a project-wide average can conceal effects on particular businesses.

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The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s 2023 study of highway improvement projects and nearby business activity found largely null overall results across several outcomes, while reporting negative construction sales effects in a subgroup of single-establishment businesses affected by infrastructure replacement. That variation is a reason to measure your own business rather than apply a general loss rate.

What the records can—and cannot—show

Dated financial records, footfall counts, photos and a disruption log create a practical record of what changed and when. They can support a clear before-and-during comparison and help explain the business’s experience. They do not, on their own, rule out other causes or establish a definitive causal estimate.

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ACS reports that customer numbers and profits fell by around 10% in its account of one retailer, Duffy’s Budgens in Ash Vale. That is a single case study, not a representative statistic or a forecast for other businesses. The case also describes contacting the council and circulating vouchers; its reported figure should not be treated as a general roadworks loss rate.

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