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Retailers, mark your calendars. These are the days one retail analytics firm thinks will be tops in terms of foot traffic and sales this holiday season.
The majority of this holiday season’s busiest and most lucrative shopping days will fall in the month of December, foot traffic tracking firm ShopperTrak said.
Chicago--Though “Super Saturday” topped it last year, Black Friday is expected to be both the top sales and busiest day this holiday season thanks to price-conscious consumers, who exhibit a growing tendency to shop earlier.
That is according to ShopperTrak, which released its annual list of the busiest shopping days of the year this week. ShopperTrak is Chicago-based retail analytics firm that has devices installed in stores worldwide that count and track the number of shoppers.
This year, the firm gave predictions for the top 10 busiest traffic days and the top 10 sales days as well as the top 5 slowest shopping days of the holiday shopping season. Its rankings are as follows, with the busiest and top days listed first.
Top 10 busiest traffic days (greatest number of shopper visits)
1. Black Friday (Nov. 27)
2. Super Saturday (Dec. 19)
3. Day after Christmas (Dec. 26)
4. Second Saturday before Christmas (Dec. 12)
5. Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28)
6. Sunday before Christmas (Dec. 20)
7. Saturday after Cyber Monday/first Saturday in December (Dec. 5)
8. Monday before Christmas (Dec. 21)
9. Second Sunday before Christmas (Dec. 13)
10. Sunday after Black Friday (Nov. 29)
Top 10 sales days (greatest number of sales dollars)
1. Black Friday
2. Super Saturday
3. Second Saturday before Christmas
4. Saturday after Thanksgiving
5. Saturday after Cyber Monday/first Saturday in December
6. Sunday before Christmas
7. Second Sunday before Christmas
8. Monday before Christmas
9. Saturday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21)
10. Day after Christmas
Kevin Kearns, chief revenue officer at ShopperTrak, said the number of retailers choosing to remain closed on Thanksgiving Day, along with other current trends, will place Black Friday back in the top spot for being the busiest and most lucrative shopping day of the season.
Still, he said, “It’s important that retailers don’t lose sight of the other days. As we saw in 2014, a significant portion of sales are generated throughout the entire holiday season, and it’s vital that retailers optimize operations and marketing in order to make the most out of each and every day.”
ShopperTrak also predicts a 2.4 percent increase in sales for the holiday season, slightly lower than estimates delivered by Emarketer (which estimates a 5.7 percent increase) and the National Retailer Federation (a 4 percent increase.)
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In addition to the
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top shopping days, ShopperTrak also identified the days of the season that will not be so merry for retailers, developed from an analysis of data that takes into account calendar shifting and current trends, the company said.
Top 5 slowest shopping days
1. Mon., Nov. 16
2. Wed., Nov. 11
3. Tues., Nov. 17
4. Wed., Nov. 18
5. Mon., Nov. 2
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