ShopperTrak: Retail sales, traffic increased week-over-week

Chicago -- A report issued Thursday by ShopperTrak found that last-minute shopping activity drove large increases in both retail sales and foot traffic last week.

ShopperTrak reported that for the week ending Dec. 22, sales increased 39.1% and traffic increased 32% compared to the previous week.



Compared to the same week last year, however, retail sales declined 2.5% and foot traffic declined 3.3%.



"This final week of shopping before Christmas finished strong," said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin. "Procrastinators finally headed to the stores and helped several days of this past week secure places as the best-performing retail days of the year."



"Super Saturday," Dec. 22, was the second-busiest retail sales and foot traffic day of the year, behind Black Friday (Nov. 23). Additionally, Friday, Dec. 21, was the fourth-busiest sales and traffic day.



ShopperTrak forecasts that Wednesday, Dec. 26, will be the fifth-best retail foot traffic day and the seventh-best sales day of the year.



"Shopping on the day after Christmas won't be as strong this year," said Martin. "Last year, Dec. 26 fell on a Monday. Many people had the day off, which they spent shopping. This year, the day after Christmas was a Wednesday - many people were back at work, not out in stores."



ShopperTrak will release its retail sales and foot traffic numbers for the week ending Dec. 29 as part of its holiday wrap-up news on Jan. 8.