Ethan Chernofsky: Black Friday Sees Significant Increase in Retail Visits
According to data from Placer.ai, the traditional shopping holiday of Black Friday has not lost its significance for retailers. In fact, comparing 2022 and 2023 data, there was a significant increase in visits across brick-and-mortar retail spaces during this time.
Placer.ai’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Ethan Chernofsky stated that this spike in visits is evidence that Black Friday continues to draw customers despite economic challenges faced by many segments. The most notable increases were seen among electronics retailers (538.1%), beauty and self-care (375.0%), department stores (338.1%), recreational and sporting goods (322.9%), malls (270/4%) and apparel stores(200/1%).
While some may attribute these spikes to bargain-seeking behavior during the holiday season, it is difficult to determine the exact role it played on visits according to Chernofsky.
However, he did note that understanding each retailer’s performance throughout different parts of the holiday season is important as certain segments experience higher visit numbers at different times – such as Walmart and Target leading up to Christmas while post-Christmas sees more traffic for apparel and consumer electronics due gift card usage or returns.
Overall though, there is reason for optimism based on these increased visit numbers but understanding each segment’s “seasonality” within the holiday season will be crucial moving forward.
