What are the busiest shopping days at stores in the US?
December is traditionally a bumper month for retailers, but with inflationary pressures and more willingness to shop online will that still be the case?
The festive period is usually a lucrative time for retailers with sales seeing significant uptick from November through to the January sales.
However that trend has been turned on its head in recent years with covid-19, pandemic restrictions and the economic upheaval that has followed. Throughout much of 2022 Americans have been battling against sustained high inflation, which has devalued wages and pushed up prices.
A report from the US Census Bureau found that retail sales slowed in November, down by 0.6% in comparison to October.
What does this mean for the festive shopping rush? Back in September retail analysts Sensormatic Solutions predicted the busiest shopping days of 2022, and they were as follows:
Friday, November 25 – Black Friday
Friday, December 23 – Friday before Christmas
Monday, December 26 –Boxing Day
Saturday, December 17 – Super Saturday
Saturday, November 26 – Saturday after Black Friday
Saturday, December 10 – Second Saturday in December
Thursday, December 22 – Thursday before Christmas
Saturday, December 3 – First Saturday in December
Sunday, December 18 – Sunday before Christmas
Wednesday, December 21 – Wednesday before Christmas
“We expect a busy holiday season at home and abroad,” said Sensormatic president Kevin Viravec. “Keeping up with demand, staffing appropriately, and having a complete view of operations will be crucial to delivering satisfying customer experiences as shopping peaks.”
Will shops be busy over Christmas?
The Sensormatic report claims that those ten days will account for around 40% of the total holiday retail traffic. Shoppers may decide to make fewer shopping trips this year due to inflationary pressures, meaning that those busy days could be even more pronounced.
This means that anyone looking to steer clear of the crowds should avoid the peak days listed above. However there is also an element of randomness that makes it difficult to predict.
Brian Field, global leader of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic, explains: “Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, so the last Saturday before Christmas is technically Christmas Eve, shifting the landscape somewhat from the norm.”
“As most stores close earlier on the 24th and potential shoppers begin their holiday festivities, the 17th is likely to be the busiest Saturday in December.”