Study: March shopping activity springs up from February

San Francisco - Shopping activity in March 2015 was relatively flat compared to the same month the prior year, yet rebounded from a lethargic and wintery February. According to new monthly benchmark data from Euclid Analytics, traffic declined less than expected year-over-year due to holiday shopping for an early-April Easter.



In-store engagement improved significantly year-over-year, as consumers’ desire to spend re-emerged after a subdued winter. Euclid estimates sales growth in the following retail verticals of:



• 0.8% growth year-over-year in general merchandise, apparel, furniture and other (GAFO) retail sales.



• 1.1% decline year-over-year in clothing and apparel sales.



• 2.9% growth year-over-year in general merchandise sales.



Other monthly findings include:



• Shopper traffic declined 1% compared to the same month the prior year due to the secular trends driving shopping activity toward other channels. However, warm weather and an early Easter mitigated the year-over-year decline and generated a rebound from February.



• Storefront conversion increased slightly year-over-year as more targeted shopping trips were seen from Easter gift shopping.



• Duration increased 33% year-over-year as the favorable macroeconomic environment began translating into increased spending.



• Repeat visits decreased 2% year-over-year due to a lack of need to return to the physical location. More March purchases were accomplished in fewer trips.



The best shopping day of March was Tuesday. March 10, which experienced significantly higher storefront conversion than the prior year and very strong average duration. Shoppers were much more engaged than expected during these middle-of-the-week shopping visits.



On the other hand, Thursday, March 5 was the worst shopping day of the month, with lower-than-expected traffic and abnormally high bounce rates.