What location mix tells you
Location mix is the breakdown of scans by where each code is placed. It shows which rooms, shelves, streets, or pages earn their keep and which placements are decoration.A quiet location can still be valuable if its scanners convert at a much higher rate, so read location mix beside conversion rate.
How to compute location mix
Location share = scans from one location divided by total scans, multiplied by 100.Illustrative example numbers, not real-world data: 180 of 400 scans came from the front entrance, giving 180 / 400 x 100 = 45% for that location. The remaining scans split across three other spots, which makes the entrance the clear winner in this example.
How to collect the data
Give every location its own destination or UTM tag. Without per-location tagging, you cannot attribute a single shared link to the place that produced the scan.Keep the raw counts, not just the final percentage. Raw counts let you recompute the metric if you later fix the definition, and they make it possible to spot a denominator problem, such as a week where exposures were estimated instead of counted. Store the counts in one place with the date range, the placements included, and the name of the person who pulled them. That small discipline turns a spreadsheet into an audit trail.
Reading the result
Never judge location mix as a single number. Break it down by store, floor, shelf, poster position, and city. A campaign that looks average overall may be strong in one segment and weak in another, and the fix is completely different in each case. Compare the same placement against its own past, and compare different placements only when their audiences and contexts are genuinely similar. A short trend over four or more comparable periods is worth far more than a single snapshot, because it separates a real shift from weekly noise.Also check the relationship between location mix and the metrics around it. If scans rise while conversions fall, the new scanners may be less interested visitors, or the landing page may have changed. If cost rises while location mix stays flat, you are paying more for the same outcome. Metrics make sense in groups, not in isolation, and the habit of reading two or three together prevents most misreadings.