Free tool · Robert × Dor
Extended opening hours
calculator.
Weigh the staff and running cost of extra opening hours against the traffic, conversion and margin you expect, and see the visitors per hour you need to break even.
Extended store hours calculator
Profit from the extra hours, per week
+$72
Pays its way: about $72 a week ($3,744 a year) after staff and running costs.
- Break-even visitors per extra hour
- 16
- +4 vs your estimate
- Cost per extra hour
- $42
- $252 a week
- New gross profit per hour
- $54
- $2.70 per visitor
- New sales per week
- $648
- Of $864 rung through
Visitors per hour is the guess that decides this. Count the door for the first and last open hour now; late-hour traffic usually looks like the edges of your day, not the middle.
Show your work
Cost per hour = staff × hourly pay + running cost2 × $18.00 + $6.00 = $42.00New gross profit per visitor = conversion × avg transaction × margin × (1 − already-happening share)18.0% × $40.00 × 50% × 75% = $2.70Weekly profit = (visitors per hour × GP per visitor − cost per hour) × extra hours(20 × $2.70 − $42.00) × 6.0 = $72.00Break-even visitors per hour = cost per hour ÷ GP per visitor$42.00 ÷ $2.70 = 15.6
Worked example.
A homeware store considers staying open until 8pm on Thursdays and Fridays: 6 extra hours a week with 2 staff at $18 an hour and about $6 an hour in lighting and heating.
- Cost per extra hour: 2 × $18 + $6 = $42.
- Each visitor brings 18% × $40 × 50% = $3.60 of gross profit, but a quarter of those sales would have happened earlier anyway, so $2.70 is new.
- At 20 visitors an hour: 20 × $2.70 − $42 = $12 an hour, or $72 a week ($3,744 a year).
- Break-even: $42 ÷ $2.70 = about 16 visitors an hour.
The margin of error is four people an hour. If the late hours bring 14 visitors instead of 20, the same decision loses money. That’s why counting before committing matters more than any other input.
How to test longer opening hours.
- Trial, don’t announce. Run the new hours for 6–8 weeks so regulars learn them, then judge on the later weeks.
- Count every hour, not just the new ones. If earlier hours drop as late ones rise, you’ve moved sales, not added them. That’s the “would have happened anyway” share.
- Watch conversion, not only sales. Evening shoppers are often browsers. A low late-hour conversion rate with decent traffic points to staffing or stock, not to the hours themselves.
- Mind the edges. Opening later and closing later can beat simply adding hours. Your hourly traffic curve tells you which end of the day is busier.
Questions retailers ask.
Is it worth staying open later?
It is if the extra hours bring enough new gross profit to cover the staff and running costs. Divide your cost per extra hour by the new gross profit each visitor brings to get the break-even visitors per hour, then count your door to see if you get there.
How do I estimate traffic for hours I’m not open yet?
Look at your first and last open hours today and at what neighbouring stores do. Traffic in new hours usually looks like your current edges, not your midday peak. A short trial with a door counter replaces the guess.
What does ‘sales that would have happened anyway’ mean?
Some customers who shop late would otherwise have come earlier. Their spend just moves to the new hours. Only the rest is new revenue, so this share reduces the benefit.
Should I include my own time?
If you would work the hours yourself, put in a value for your time. Unpaid owner hours make almost any extension look profitable on paper.
Why use gross margin rather than sales?
Because you still have to pay for the goods you sell. Covering $42 of hourly cost takes $42 of gross profit, which at a 50% margin is $84 of sales.
Know your traffic by the hour.
Dor counts visitors at the door every hour you’re open and pairs them with POS sales, so changing your hours is a measured decision.
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