Dive Brief:
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Foot traffic to brick-and-mortar retailers was up somewhat in October, but then fell 20% in November compared to November 2013, according to Euclid's monthly retail benchmarks report. RetailNext found an 11.4% fall in store traffic for the month.
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The best November shopping day, based on an increase in foot traffic and conversions over last year and longer time spent in stores, was Friday, Nov. 21—a week before Black Friday. Black Friday remained the busiest with more shoppers in store, but traffic declined 6.6% compared to last year, according to Euclid.
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Thanksgiving retail and promotions well before Black Friday contributed to decreased traffic and sales, according to both reports. But RetailNext also says that mobile and web sales contributed to falling brick-and-mortar traffic throughout November. And a study by KPMG found that consumers’ wariness of cybersecurity problems at retail point-of-sales systems helped stymie foot traffic to physical retailers around Black Friday.
Dive Insight:
As more research on Black Friday comes out, brick-and-mortar retailers are getting a sense of how things went; the big picture is one of fundamental change. Looks like mobile is making shopping much easier for consumers, who, as a result, are less inclined to brave iffy weather or other inconveniences to hit a physical store. It's true, though, that when they do go the store, they’re more likely to linger, thanks to a little more security about the economy.
The winners in this scenario once again seem to be the brick-and-mortar retailers with significant mobile and web abilities. But lurking in the shadows are the specters of cyber thieves, which customers are afraid of. And retailers should be afraid of that.
