ShopperTrak: Second-Biggest Shopping Day Was Dec. 26

ShopperTrak: Second-Biggest Shopping Day Was Dec. 26
December 31, 2009

According to ShopperTrak, Dec. 26 was the second-biggest shopping day of the U.S. holiday season this year, Reuters.com reported. Although it raked in $7.9 billion, Dec. 26 also saw in-store traffic decline 6.6 percent from a year ago. Sales during the full week ended Saturday, Dec. 26 increased by about 8.8 percent, while traffic at U.S. stores fell 1 percent, ShopperTrak reported, adding that four of the top seven traffic days in the holiday season came last week. Last week's busy shopping days were expected, following the snowstorm that halted shopping for East coast consumers the weekend before Christmas."Although traffic was slightly off for the week compared to last year, consumers purchased more with fewer trips, driving sales and assuredly pushing retailers into the black this holiday season," said ShopperTrak Co-founder Bill Martin. "Based on last week's performance we believe our prediction of a 1.6 percent retail sales increase with a 4.2 percent total U.S. foot traffic decline is accurate." Black Friday, which drew $10.66 billion this year, was the busiest shopping day, ShopperTrak said.