Super Saturday saw a rise in retail footfall as early Boxing Day discounting helped drive last-minute Christmas shoppers into store, the latest data from Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, reveals.
According to Sensormatic’s ShopperTrak Analytics insights platform, which captures 40 billion store visits globally each year, footfall on Super Saturday (21 Dec 2024) increased +4.1 week-on-week, as shoppers scrambled to pick up last-minute gifts, Christmas essentials and festive fayre.
Tipped as the busiest in-store shopping day of Peak Trading 2024, Super Saturday saw shopper counts improve 0.8% year-on-year, with UK consumer spending set to top £13.3 billion in the nine days leading up to 25 Dec according to Vouchercodes.
Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA retail consultant, commented: “One of the highest-stakes shopping days of Christmas, Super Saturday delivered a frenzy of festive footfall to retailers. However, while welcome, the jury’s still out as to whether the final flurries of Christmas trade will be enough to reverse this month’s footfall deficit – currently tracking at -3.6% compared to the same point in 2023 – after a sluggish start to December. This may be why we’ve seen a growing number of retailers bringing forward discounts that would have traditionally been reserved for Boxing Day in a bid to boost demand and drive sales pre-Christmas.”
Store traffic over the weekend is expected to be further boosted by these early Boxing Day discounts as the prospect of bargains luring customers in-store. As early as last week, New Look, The Range and Debenhams were among the retailers launching early Boxing Day discounts pre-Christmas, while Next also announced it would offer pre-Christmas access to its VIP Sale, which usually begins on 27 Dec, to its most loyal customers.
Footfall is also expected to continue to climb into next week, with ‘Manic Monday’ (23 Dec 2024), the last full shopping day before Christmas, set to be the second busiest footfall day for physical retailers as consumers finalise festive gifting and last-minute purchases.
