Insight: xAd reveal high street winners this Christmas
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As retailers share their Christmas trading updates, footfall analysis from location intelligence company xAd reveals which locations received the most footfall and had the biggest uplifts in visitors over the festive period.
Customer footfall to specific grocery brands, department stores and shopping centres were measured between 9th December and 2nd January.
The top 5 grocery stores based on footfall were as follows:
- Tesco
- Asda
- Sainsbury’s
- Morrison’s
- Waitrose
It should come as no surprise that Tesco and Asda saw the highest number of visitors over these two dates. Overall, 23rd December saw the highest average number of visitors across all grocery brands, at 40% higher than the average December footfall. Although it came fifth, Waitrose on Christmas Eve actually saw a 16% higher uplift in foot traffic compared to other supermarkets, as shoppers picked up their last minute luxury items. Looking at specific timings, foot traffic peaks in supermarket at 1pm. However, Morrison’s on average was most popular in the morning between 8am and 11am as consumers pick up food before work, while ASDA saw the highest peak in the evening between 6pm and 9pm. The 23rd December recorded the highest footfall for grocery stores, 40% more than the December average.
Other high street winners included Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and John Lewis, which were the department stores visited by most people between 23rd December and 2nd January. The busiest time at Selfridges on London’s Oxford Street each day was between 1pm-4pm and department stores overall saw the highest foot traffic on the 23rd December, 29% higher than the average December traffic.
Higher than average footfall was recorded overall across shopping centres, department and grocery stores in the five days leading up to Christmas compared to the rest of December. In fact, shopping centres saw a 24% increase in foot traffic during this time, compared to the December average.
A recent consumer survey carried out by xAd, revealed that the majority of shoppers will visit the high street or shopping centre for their Christmas purchases (67%) due in part to the convenience of purchasing all of the gifts they need at once (37%).This reflects data from BDO which revealed that in the week leading up to Christmas Day sales increased by 11.7 percent year on year – the largest weekly growth figure for the whole of 2016.
Commenting on the results, Theo Theodorou, GM of EMEA at xAd said: “The data points to the importance of our high streets and shopping centres during December as people need to make last minute purchases. Competition at Christmas is fierce so retailers must differentiate themselves by communicating with existing and potential customers in a smarter way. Being able to understand whether someone is in the market for specific items through visitation history enables relevant communications for retailers, and is far more likely to result in a store visit.”
“Accurate location targeting, and the data derived from location intelligence, allows retailers to break down the barriers between online and offline by delivering experiences based on specific moments. This means that every brand experience is contextual and consistent.”
