Verizon: Holidays don’t last forever for e-retailers

What goes up must come down, including online retail traffic.

According to the Verizon Holiday Retail Index, post-New Year’s Day e-commerce traffic slid from the peak reached during the holiday season. For Jan. 2-5, 2020, e-commerce traffic showed an average increase of 6%, following solid post-holiday engagement and double-digit increases daily from Dec. 26-31, 2019 (all growth figures compared to Nov. 1-27, 2019).

“Post-New Year’s Day, we saw a return to normalcy as e-commerce traffic slowed to pre-holiday levels,” said Michele Dupré, Verizon’s leader for retail, hospitality and distribution. “For the season, consistency is the keyword. Retailers started with Black Friday promotions as early as Nov. 1, looking to balance the shortened shopping season. While e-commerce traffic didn’t show heavy spikes during key moments, there was consistent traffic and engagement from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.”

Now in its sixth year, the Holiday Retail Index tracks digital commerce traffic across Verizon’s networks to the top 25 U.S.-based online retailers and their subsidiaries. The Holiday Retail Index monitors network traffic throughout the holiday shopping season, including during major online sales events such as Black Friday and Super Saturday.