Black Friday 2024: A Strong Week for Retail
Sensormatic Solutions, a leading global portfolio of retail solutions, has released its first view of in-store shopper traffic for Black Friday 2024. The data, captured by the ShopperTrak Analytics platform, indicates that footfall remained relatively flat compared to 2023, with a decrease of 2.8% on Black Friday. However, the week of Black Friday saw a significant increase in traffic, with a 40.5% rise compared to the same season last year.
Key Insights from Black Friday 2024
According to Ezequiel Durán, General Manager, Traffic Insights Iberia at Sensormatic Solutions, the data reveals two key insights. Firstly, consumers are increasingly focused on the entire week of Black Friday, rather than just the single day. Secondly, Black Friday has evolved to span a much longer period, with companies now offering deals and promotions that can last the entire week or even the entire month of November.
Busiest Days of the Week
The data shows that Sunday, December 1, was the busiest day of the week, with a 7.7% increase in store traffic compared to the same Sunday of the previous year. Friday, November 29, was the busiest day of the month, with a 105.9% increase in traffic compared to all Fridays of the month.
Consumer Behavior
A survey conducted by Sensormatic found that over 68% of Spanish buyers planned to make their purchases in-store during Black Friday, with 90% of Generation Z consumers preferring to shop in-store. The survey also found that 20% of consumers planned to wait until Black Friday weekend to purchase Christmas gifts, while 31% planned to buy both in-store and online.
Christmas Spending 2024: Trends and Insights
While retailers experienced an increase in footfall on Black Friday, the busiest day of commercial activity in Spain is expected to be Saturday, January 4, the Saturday before Three Kings’ Day. The average budget of Spanish households for Christmas gifts is 499.70 euros, an increase of 38.30 euros from the previous year.
Consumer Priorities
The survey found that 45.5% of consumers plan to spend less on Christmas in 2024, while 54.5% prefer to choose fewer gifts, but more thoughtful ones. Another 38% plan to cut expenses in other areas to ensure their Christmas plans are not affected.
Retailer Preparation
According to Ezequiel Durán, retailers need to ensure they are prepared for the condensed business peaks in 2024, with a focus on labor, logistics, and merchandising plans. With only 25 days to do Christmas shopping, down from 31 in 2023, retailers can expect higher than average footfall peaks.