Verizon: December weekends drive e-commerce activity

A mixed bag of activity for the second week of December indicates that weekends — and perfectly timed promotions — will make or break the remainder of holiday e-commerce sales.



This observation was made in Verizon’s “Holiday Retail Index,” for Dec. 13. Verizon monitors daily traffic volume to the top 25 U.S.-based online retailers throughout the holiday shopping season, as well as during signature events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The report also tracks mobile traffic across Verizon’s wireless network to provide ‘m-commerce snapshots’ of the season.



For the second week of December, e-commerce traffic volume was up by 4% on Saturday (Dec. 10) and 11% on Sunday (Dec. 11) compared to these same days last year, nearly mirroring last weekend. Peak e-commerce volume was also higher – up by 28% on Saturday and 35% on Sunday, also reflecting a similar pattern from last weekend, Verizon reported.



When looking at the first weekend in December, e-commerce traffic volume was up by 4% on Saturday (Dec. 3) and 10% on Sunday (Dec. 4) from these same days last year. Peak e-commerce volume was also higher – up by 26% on Saturday and 27% on Sunday – capping off a pattern of increasing peaks during the weekend, Verizon reported.



“Lower overall e-commerce volume during the weekdays suggests other channels may be taking wallet share, or deal fatigue is setting in,” said Michele Dupré, group VP of retail, hospitality and distribution, Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “The week ahead will be critical for driving sales as shipping deadlines loom and bad weather comes into play.”