Retail Brick&Mortar Foot/Car Traffic

Maybe some of you that have had brick and mortar stores or did marketing for them could answer this-- is foot traffic important in a stand alone or strip mall (not mall) setting? I was researching last night and found a study saying that in these types of cases location and traffic/foot traffic did not matter when it came to how much a store sold, and even went so far as to say being near bigger stores lowered sales.

I can't even find a random ballpark statistic on how many people are likely to enter a business when they pass it or come near it while visiting a neighboring store. I would think being in a busier area would be better?

I am considering a retail store and have among my location choices places right on the busiest road in town that are near bigger landmark stores or places that are less than half price that are back from the road a bit and I'm not sure what to look for...

The question is what do you sell? Is it something someone hunts for, or something that they will buy on impulse?

If what you do or sell is searched out, you location is less relevant. If not, and the local stores do not undercut your pricing or compete head to head with you, the more you benefit from the traffic of bigger stores.

If you are going to rely on people out shopping to wander into your store, get the busier location.