Over the last few years, foot traffic and retail trends have been changing rapidly from week to week.

 

After a nearly 2-year period of people working from home, downtowns are slowly starting to reach pre-pandemic levels of foot traffic, and analysts predict to see new waves of consumers beginning their holiday shopping earlier than ever this year.

 

From downtown trends to holiday shopping patterns, this week is all about predictions for the future of the retail industry.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

  • Downtown revival: Cities and the rise to normality.

  • Holiday shopping predictions: Why consumers are shopping earlier than ever this year.

  • Q1 Benchmark Report: Click HERE to download the report.

FOOT TRAFFIC INDEX

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

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Daily Foot Traffic Index

Week 28 Retail Foot traffic 2022

FOOT TRAFFIC TRENDS

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

Predictions for the 2022 Holiday Shopping Season

As the heat waves continue to hit across the country, analysts are hard at work predicting how consumers will shop during the winter holidays.

 

A recent report by PracticalEcomerce predicts that inflation will reach 6% worldwide by Christmas this year. And with that, analysts are predicting that holiday sales will increase less than inflation this year.

 

Similar to last year’s predictions, consumers are expected to start their holiday shopping even earlier this year. With increased prices, nearly everyone will be looking to snag deals as soon as they see them, whether that be 1 week or 3 months before Christmas.

 

Click HERE to read more about predictions for the holiday season.

Downtown foot traffic on the rise

After a nearly 2-year period of people working from home, downtowns are slowly starting to reach pre-pandemic levels of foot traffic.

 

With many companies switching to a full-time office or hybrid work schedules, the gap from 2019 has now narrowed by nearly a half from January 2022 when traffic was -42.9% below the 2019 level. For June, it was -26.3% below 2019 from -27.8% in May.

 

Despite traffic still being down compared to 2019, the positive trend gives up hope for the months to come for retail stores located in urban areas. As I think we can all relate, the newly revived energy in downtown areas is a much-needed change-up.

 

Click HERE to learn more about downtown foot traffic trends.

Retail Snippets

The return: Toys R Us looking to make brick and mortar retail comeback in time for the holidays.

 

Uncertain numbers: Confused about sell-by dates? you are not alone.

 

Returning customers: cautious shoppers pay more but get less.

RANDOM IRRELEVANCE

First look: Quidditch rebrands as Quadball and further distances itself from Harry Potter.

 

Long awaited: NASA sets launch dates for its return to the moon.

 

Thursday light show: Google pulls malware-infected apps in its Store, with over 3 million users at risk.