ShopperTrak: February 2013

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for February 2013

An unexpected decrease in shopper traffic around Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day led to an overall slower retail performance for the month of February.

Retail foot traffic for February decreased 5.4% compared with January 2013, departing from the positive year-over-year retail traffic trends seen in recent months. Foot traffic for February 2013 decreased 6.4% compared with the same month last year.

The traffic decrease in 2013 is due in part to shifts in the calendar. Valentine’s Day – which fell on a Thursday this year – did not draw as much shopper traffic during the weekend leading up to the holiday compared to the year before, when it fell on a Tuesday. Shoppers simply may not have found time to visit retail stores during the work week, opting instead to celebrate the holiday in alternative ways. While shopper traffic increased considerably on Feb. 13 and Valentine’s Day itself, this did not compensate for lower traffic the previous weekend.

In addition, shopper traffic for Presidents Day weekend – which fell on Feb. 15-18 this year – decreased 0.8% from 2012. During the last two weeks of February, frequent snowstorms in northern states limited travel and caused shopper traffic to decrease in these areas.

“Although many areas appear to have at least one more winter storm on the way, we expect shopper activity to increase in the coming weeks as the weather becomes warmer and shoppers look to spend more time outside,” said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder.

ShopperTrak's data and analyses in this article are based on counting billions of shoppers in more than 60,000 locations across 75 countries. ShopperTrak is a leading retail technology company that anonymously counts people, analyzes data and identifies opportunities to increase revenue for retailers, mall developers and entertainment venues. Find out more at http://www.shoppertrak.com.