Retail traffic on Super Saturday saw only modest growth this year as the special shopping day took place earlier than normal.
The number of consumers visiting physical retail stores increased 0.2% year on year, data provider Sensormatic Solutions reported Monday. That compares with a 19% rise in 2021.
The special shopping day generally occurs on the last Saturday before Christmas. However, because the holiday will be on Sunday this year, Super Saturday was observed on December 17, eight days before Christmas.
“Although December 17 made the top five days this year, Super Saturday is usually second to only Black Friday,” said Brian Field, global leader of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic. “We don’t expect that to be the case this year due to the timing of the holidays.”
Super Saturday still saw higher footfall than the previous two weeks, Sensormatic noted. Traffic was up 17% from December 10 and 36% from December 3. The retail tracker predicted Friday, December 23, would see the second-highest total after Black Friday.
However, weather conditions could affect sales in the final stretch, Sensormatic cautioned.
“As we continue to track against our initial predictions for the busiest shopping days of the 2022 holiday season, we’re monitoring the winter storm that’s anticipated to hit the midwest later this week,” Field added. “We believe there’s plenty more traffic to come, weather dependent.”
Image: People at the shopping mall during holiday sales. (Shutterstock)
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