Member Article

21 December is Panic Monday

Christmas shoppers will switch from buying gifts online to making Christmas purchases in-store on Panic Monday (21st December), according to retail intelligence specialist, FootFall.

Whilst early festive promotional events, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, saw high levels of online buying, with £1.1bn spent on ecommerce sites over the Black Friday weekend*, Panic Monday marks the shift from online to in-store shopping.

Fuelled by fears of Christmas deliveries not arriving in time for the big day and consumers worrying about missing out on gifts, shopper traffic on Panic Monday is set to rise 2.5% year-on-year.

Steve Richardson, UK Regional Director at FootFall, commented: “We expect the Panic Monday shift – when consumers abandon online shopping and take to the streets, in a bid to ensure they tick off all the final gifts on their Christmas lists – to be even more pronounced this year.”

“As Christmas falls on a Friday, there have only been three Mondays in December 2015, whereas the past three years (2012 – 2014) had four Mondays, making the shift to in-store shopping even more marked. What’s more, as consumers might choose to take off a few days ahead of Christmas, this could also mean we see more shopper traffic on the High Street and in shopping centres, as consumers feel they aren’t reliant on online shopping alone.”

“Based on trends from the last six years, and with this year’s footfall set to follow the same pattern as 2009, when Christmas Day also fell on a Friday, we expect Tuesday 22 December to be the busiest day in terms of shopper traffic, up 54% on the daily average and 2.2% year-on-year.”

After a disappointing Black Friday, where footfall fell 4.5% year-on-year, causing retailers to offer extended periods of discounting, 22 December shopper traffic will be up 2.2% year-on-year

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chelsea Reay .