Euclid: December in-store sales mostly increase year-over-year

San Francisco – In-store sales mostly showed small improvements in December 2014 compared to the prior year. According to the latest U.S. Retail Benchmarks report from in-store analytics provider Euclid, there was 0.6% year-over-year growth in general merchandise, apparel, furniture and other retail sales and a 1.2% increase in clothing and apparel sales, but a 1.5% decline in general merchandise sales.



Here are some of Euclid’s other top findings in its December report around shopper behavior metrics:



• Shopper traffic declined 5% compared to the same month the prior year, as online and mobile shopping continued to cannibalize store visits.



• Storefront conversion was up 2% year-over-year, benefitting from highly targeted shopping driven by attractive promotions.



• Duration increased 12% from December 2013 as improving consumer sentiment, declining gasoline prices, and multi-year lows in unemployment boosted consumer desire to spend.



The best shopping day of December was Friday, Dec. 26, the day after Christmas. Dec. 26 saw significantly more traffic, higher storefront conversion, and higher levels of engagement compared to last year. The results were driven by heavily advertised post-Christmas promotions and robust holiday gift card spending. On the other hand, Cyber Monday, on Dec. 1,, was the worst shopping day of the month. Traffic and repeat ratio suffered from a Black Friday weekend hangover, while shoppers turned their attention to e-commerce deals.



Looking at the November-December holiday season, Euclid data shows that traffic was slightly weaker than expected, declining more than 10% year-over-year. However, storefront conversion increased 2% compared to the previous year as each trip to the mall became more focused. Bounce rates continued to decline and average visit durations increased 12% as shoppers showed a strong willingness to spend discretionary income amidst a favorable economic environment.



It appears that retailers’ investments in revitalized in-store experiences paid off during the month. Euclid believes that the benefit from engaged shopping visits outweighed the lack of bodies in the store, and expect holiday sales to have increased year-over-year.