Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has shared its first look into in-store shopper traffic for Black Friday 2024.
The brand’s ShopperTrak Analytics insights platform, which captures 40 billion store visits globally each year, indicates that footfall rose +4.8% year-on-year on Black Friday (29 Nov 2024), while store visits also rose +17% rise during the week of Black Friday (16 – 22 Nov 2024 vs 23 – 29 Nov 2024). Retail parks were the top performing shopping destination where footfall jumped +8.3% compared to 2023 yesterday, while shopping centres also saw a +6.3% boost.
Original research of over 1,000 UK consumers by Sensormatic in its latest report showed that half (49%) planned to make purchases in-store on Black Friday, rising to eight in ten (82%) of Gen Z and three quarters (73%) of Millennials. Meanwhile, with Black Friday landing after payday this year, falling a week later in 2024 compared to 2023 (week 48 2024 vs week 47 2023), the discounting event delivered a welcome boost to kick start retailers’ Christmas trading campaigns.
“What this data shows is that bricks-and-mortar retail continues to be resilient,” said Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA Retail Consultant. “The industry’s continued recovery is testament to the hard work that retail leaders have done to remind shoppers what’s special about in-store shopping. They’ve embraced technology, improved their operations and delivered exceptional experiences, and that’s what’s driving in-store performance.”
What’s to come
While retailers experienced a boost in footfall on Black Friday, the Saturday of the Black Friday weekend was expected to be even busier, with Sensormatic predicting that Saturday, November 30, 2024, would rank as the fifth busiest in-store shopping day of the entire Peak Trading season this year.
Once again, Super Saturday (21 Dec 2024) is predicted to be the busiest in-store shopping day for UK retailers, having also ranked top in 2023 when last-minute Christmas shoppers swarmed into store, prompting footfall to jump +35% year-on-year.
“With less time between Black Friday and Christmas this year, we expect peak trading to be much more condensed in 2024 – and while this won’t have much effect on total visits or overall sales for the season, the calendar will play a role in when people show up in stores,” Sumpter added. “With just 25 days to complete their holiday shopping – as opposed to the 31 they had in 2023 – shoppers will likely show up in bigger crowds on any given day than they otherwise would. Retailers will need to make sure they’ve factored the potential for higher-than-average peak periods into their labour, logistics and merchandising plans.”
To learn more about how Sensormatic Solutions can help retailers make the most of the Christmas shopping season, visit www.sensormatic.com.
