Verizon: Online holiday traffic isn’t breaking any records yet

Early holiday digital commerce traffic trends are more ho-hum than ho ho ho.

According to the Verizon Holiday Retail Index, e-commerce traffic was down 9.3% for the seven-day period of Nov. 11-17, 2019, compared to comparable seven-day period in 2018. This is lower than previously expected.

“Consumers aren’t quite in the holiday spirit yet,” said Michele Dupre, Verizon’s leader for retail, hospitality and distribution. “Although many retailers started Black Friday promotions on Nov. 1, we’re seeing that digital traffic is off to a slower start this year. The holiday season starts later this year, so we expect that traffic will increase toward the end of this week and continue through the week of Thanksgiving. We are still seeing that consumers are more engaged on weekends, but the real fun will start when we are closer to Thanksgiving.”

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.