Are People Walking Straight Past Your Business?

A new national walking route is creating predictable footfall in locations most businesses are not set up to capture.

A new coastal path now stretches around the entire coastline of England, creating a continuous 2,600+ mile walking route. As reported by the BBC, it connects beaches, cliffs, towns and previously inaccessible land into a single, walkable journey. It is being framed as a tourism and access story, but underneath that it represents something more structural. It creates a large-scale, predictable movement of people through specific locations, often directly past small, independent businesses.

The problem being described

Footfall is usually treated as something uncertain, shaped by weather, seasonality and local events. In most cases, that assumption holds, which is why businesses default to broad visibility rather than precise positioning. However, a long-distance walking route introduces a different type of demand pattern, one that is structured rather than random.

People are not just arriving in a place; they are passing through it in a consistent and repeatable way, often within metres of businesses that rely on visibility and convenience. The opportunity is therefore not theoretical. It is physically present, measurable, and already happening.

The obvious response (and its limitation)

The default response is to rely on visibility through location and presence. This typically takes the form of signage, physical positioning, and occasional inclusion in local maps or directories. That approach works reasonably well when people are browsing or exploring without a fixed plan.

It works far less effectively when people are moving with intent. When someone is following a defined route, they are not making decisions in real time at every point along the path. Instead, they are following a sequence they have already committed to, which means businesses that are not part of that decision process are effectively invisible.

What is actually happening

Most walkers are not discovering businesses as they pass them. Instead, they are making decisions earlier, often before they begin the day’s route or while planning stops in advance. This behaviour is shaped by how people use maps, search tools and quick signals of relevance to reduce uncertainty.

By the time someone is physically nearby, the decision has often already been made. The constraint is therefore not awareness in the moment, but inclusion in the earlier decision-making process.

Where most setups fall short

Most local businesses are set up for presence rather than interception. They exist in the physical environment, but their digital layer is either incomplete or passive, which creates a disconnect between location and decision-making.

That typically shows up as:

• Incomplete or outdated local listings
• No clear signal of relevance to a specific audience
• No mechanism to appear at the moment of intent
• No connection between location and communication

The outcome is straightforward. People pass by without engaging, not because the offer is weak, but because it is not visible at the point where decisions are actually made.

A more reliable approach

A more reliable approach starts by treating movement as a signal rather than a by-product. If people are following known routes, at known times, through known locations, then demand is no longer unpredictable. It becomes something that can be observed, interpreted and responded to in a structured way.

This does not require complex systems. It requires alignment between where people are, when they are there, and what they are likely to need at that point in their journey. Once those elements are connected, visibility becomes significantly more precise and relevant.

The practical shift

The shift is not towards more marketing activity, but towards better timing and positioning. This means ensuring that a business appears clearly in local search when someone nearby looks for a stop, and that key information is accessible when someone checks a map mid-route.

It may also involve simple, location-aware prompts that surface at the right moment. None of these elements are individually complex, but most setups are not designed to deliver them consistently.

A broader pattern

This pattern is not unique to coastal paths. It appears anywhere movement becomes structured, including commuter routes, tourist trails, event flows and even high streets at specific times of day. In each case, the underlying issue is the same.

Businesses exist in one place, but decisions are made somewhere else. The gap between those two points is where opportunity is either captured or lost.

What this looks like in practice

In practice, this is less about campaigns and more about coverage. It involves ensuring that a business shows up clearly in the tools people already use, matches how people describe what they need, and reduces friction between discovery and action.

Individually, each of these steps is relatively small. Together, they determine whether someone stops or continues moving.

Closing

The coastal path will rightly be seen as a success in terms of access, tourism and landscape. However, for many businesses, the more relevant question is not whether people are nearby, but whether they are visible at the moment it matters.

If people are walking past without stopping, the issue is rarely footfall itself. It is usually where, and when, the business appears in the decision process.