No one knew what to expect this Black Friday, but the data shows that shoppers came in flocks with their checkbooks ready.

Compared to 2020, both the furniture and mattress industries saw an average ticket increase of over 10%, with daily revenue also seeing a notable increase.

This week we take a look at Black Friday metrics and see how shopping trends have evolved since the beginning of the pandemic.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

  • Black Friday by the metrics: What can be learned from the changing shopping trends.
  • Holiday marketing: Why catalogs are still winning holiday marketing.
  • Foot traffic analysis: How has foot traffic changed on Black Friday over the past 3 years?

FOOT TRAFFIC INDEX

Here’s a look at last week’s foot traffic compared to the same time last year.

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FOOT TRAFFIC TRENDS

Industry insights so you can convert your foot traffic into more sales.

Black Friday foot traffic

While we can always expect an increase in traffic on Black Friday, the last few years have proven it’s harder than usual to predict how much traffic will truly increase.

On average across all the industries, foot traffic was only down 2.69% since 2019, before the pandemic had started.  All things considered, we would consider that pretty impressive.

For the mattress and footwear industries, they saw an increase in foot traffic compared to pre-pandemic numbers. Compared to last year, every industry saw an increase in foot traffic.

The star of foot traffic this year was the footwear industry, which saw a 37% increase compared to 2109, and a 67% increase compared to 2020.

Overall, we are starting to see old shopping behaviors come back into fruition.

Black Friday in the furniture industry

Despite the furniture industry seeing a 15% drop in foot traffic in relation to Black Friday before the pandemic in 2019, key performance metrics saw a major boost in performance.

Daily revenue was up 6% over last year, which was up 11% over 2019. An increase like this would usually point to an increase in conversion rate, but this year the increase was mostly in part due to the average ticket seeing a substantial increase.

Although we’ve seen fewer opportunities convert into sales over the last two years, those who do convert are spending more than they did in previous years.

In 2020, the average ticket was up 44% year-over-year, and this year it increased by 15%.

Mattress industry sees Black Friday gains

Similar to the furniture industry, the mattress industry saw an increase in nearly every metric except conversion rate.

The furniture industry had a daily revenue of $10,404, a 6% increase over Black Friday 2020, and a 16% increase over 2019.

Average ticket in 2019 was $1,635.48, which decreased by 2.30% to $1,597.90 in 2020, then increased by 13% in 2021 to $1,811. As it turns out, the less consistently people shop, the more they spend when they do make their way to a store.

Although a conversion rate of 79% is almost 10% higher than the yearly average for the mattress industry, it is not at the same level we usually see on Black Friday for the furniture industry.

All in all, this year’s Black Friday gives the retail industry a glimmer of hope for what is to come for the rest of the holiday season.

Retail Snippets

Holiday marketing: Why catalogs are still winning holiday marketing.

The grinch: Organized retail thefts continue over Thanksgiving weekend.

Resale retailers Why shoppers are buying from resale retailers more than ever.

Customer-first: Top five trends retailers need to embrace in 2022 to transform into shopper-first organizations.

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