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U.S. Retailers Maximize Week of Black Friday, Leading to Softer Day-Of Traffic

By: Sensormatic Solutions via Business Wire

November 30, 2024 at 13:28 PM EST

Week-long Black Friday promotions extended in-store shopper traffic Sunday through Wednesday as retailers prioritized shopper convenience and in-store experience
In-store traffic from Sunday, Nov. 24 - Friday, Nov. 29, was in line with 2024 performance year-to-date, down 3.9% year-over-year, according to Sensormatic Solutions ShopperTrak Analytics

Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), today shared its first look into in-store shopper traffic for the 2024 holiday season. The brand’s ShopperTrak Analytics insights indicate that U.S. shopper visits were down 3.9% from Nov. 24 through Nov. 29, in line with the in-store traffic trends seen year-to-date (down 3.0% year-over-year).

Preliminary analysis showed shopper traffic on Black Friday was down 8.2% compared to 2023. Full Black Friday weekend results will be published on Dec. 3. On Black Friday, Sensormatic Solutions data showed that early afternoon is still the most popular time for in-store browsing. As in 2023, shopper traffic peaked between 2 and 3 p.m.

“Retailers are changing their approach to meet shopper expectations, extending their deals and promotions beyond Black Friday itself to support a more convenient shopping experience. This led to a softer day-of turnout than expected as shoppers were able to spread out their purchases and spend time with their families,” said Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions. “The industry’s evolution over the past few years is a testament to the hard work that retail leaders have done to meet consumers where and when they want to shop. They’ve embraced technology, improved their operations, and delivered exceptional experiences which has allowed them to better serve in-store shoppers throughout the entire holiday season.”

What’s to Come

Though Black Friday is predicted to, again, be the busiest day for retailers in the U.S. this winter, the holiday shopping season has only just begun in earnest. This year, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is nearly a week shorter than it was last year. As such, retailers can expect a condensed holiday rush and a strong showing for brick-and-mortar throughout December.

“There is a lot of the holiday season left. Today, Saturday, November 30^th stands as the sixth predicted busiest shopping day of the season,” said Gustafson. “Following this weekend, eight of our top ten predicted shopping days remain. To support a shortened period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailers will need to make sure they’ve factored the potential for higher-than-average peak periods into their labor, logistics, and merchandising plans.”

To learn more about how Sensormatic Solutions can help retailers make the most of the holiday season, visit www.sensormatic.com. For more Sensormatic Solutions holiday insights, use #SensormaticHolidays to follow along on LinkedIn and X.

About Johnson Controls

At Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn, and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.

Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering.

Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry.

Visit www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnson Controls on social platforms.

About Sensormatic Solutions

Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, powers safe, secure, and seamless retail experiences. For more than 50 years, the brand has been at the forefront of the industry’s fast-moving technology adoption, redefining retail operations on a global scale and turning insights into actions. Sensormatic Solutions delivers an interconnected ecosystem of loss prevention, inventory intelligence, and traffic insight solutions, along with our services and partners to enable retailers worldwide to innovate and elevate with precision, connecting data-driven outcomes that shape retail’s future. Please visit Sensormatic Solutions or follow us on LinkedIn, X, and our YouTube channel.