ShopperTrak: December store traffic falls

The shortened holiday shopping calendar likely put a dent into in-store shopping traffic in December. 

Sensormatic Controls, part of Johnson Controls, released the annual ShopperTrak traffic and trends recap for the 2019 holiday season (encompassing the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, through Saturday, Dec. 28.) The data revealed that the busiest shopping days of 2019 accounted for 46.5% of the total season’s brick-and-mortar traffic. It also showed that Sensormatic’s early prediction of the top 10 busiest shopping days aligned with the actual busiest in-store shopping days (see end of article), with Black Friday and Dec. 21 topping the list. 

In other findings, total in-store traffic in December (Dec. 1 - Dec. 29), was down 6.1% in the U.S. and down 5% in Canada year-over-year.

Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting for ShopperTrak, noted that with Black Friday landing during the final days of November this year, the 2019 holiday shopping calendar was compressed, which meant fewer shopping days this season.

“Additionally, there were only three Saturdays in December before the Christmas holiday, while there were four in 2018,” he said. “The calendars align more closely between 2019 and 2020, except that Christmas Day will be on a Friday in 2020.” 

Here is ShopperTrak’s list of the actual busiest shopping days in the U.S. during the holiday season. 

1.    Friday, Nov. 29 – Black Friday
2.    Saturday, Dec. 21 – Saturday before Christmas, also known as Super Saturday
3.    Monday, Dec. 23 – Monday before Christmas
4.    Sunday, Dec. 22 – Sunday before Christmas
5.    Saturday, Dec. 14 – Two Saturdays before Christmas
6.    Saturday, Nov. 30 – Saturday after Black Friday
7.    Thursday, Dec. 26 – Day after Christmas, also known as Boxing Day
8.    Saturday, Dec. 28 – Saturday after Christmas
9.    Friday, Dec. 27 – Friday after Christmas
10.    Saturday, Dec. 7 – First Saturday in December