ShopperTrak: May 2013

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



Shopper activity had a healthy gain last month. Retail foot traffic increased 9% in May compared to April 2013, consistent with generally positive month-over-month retail traffic trends. Foot traffic for May 2013 increased 6.9% compared to the same month in 2012.



Mother’s Day, graduations and Memorial Day lured consumers to stores and malls to shop for mom, grads and summer. In areas east of the Rocky Mountains, the early spring was unseasonably cold. However, temperatures returned to normal during May. This warming pattern released pent-up demand for spring and summer merchandise thus increasing May shopper activity.



The month’s increase in year-over-year foot traffic reflects the U.S. economy’s slow, but steady gains. While consumer sentiment does not impact retail sales immediately, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index in May reached its highest level since the beginning of the recession. The last time consumer sentiment was this high was in September 2007.



“We saw an increase in shopper activity in May due to shopping for Mother’s Day and Memorial Day,” said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder. “In June, shopper traffic will be driven by shopping for Father’s Day and for summer vacation items.”

ShopperTrak's data and analyses in this article are based on counting billions of shoppers in more than 60,000 locations across 90 countries. ShopperTrak counts more retail foot traffic than any other company in the world. The retail technology company collects and analyzes anonymous foot traffic, queue times and shopper demographics to identify revenue opportunities. Find out more at http://www.shoppertrak.com.