Sensormatic Solutions Predicts the 2020 Top Busiest Holiday Shopping Days

COVID-19 impacts shopping behaviors, but top 10 days expected to account for over a third of holiday traffic

NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Johnson Controls, the global leader for smart and sustainable buildings, today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, released the annual ShopperTrak list of the top busiest shopper traffic days for the 2020 holiday season. In the U.S., Black Friday (November 27), Super Saturday (December 19) and the day after Christmas (December 26) are expected to be the first, second and third busiest shopping days, respectively.

The full list of predicted busiest shopping days in the U.S. is as follows:

1. Friday, November 27 – Black Friday
2. Saturday, December 19 – Super Saturday
3. Saturday, December 26 – Day after Christmas, aka “Boxing Day,” in some global regions
4. Wednesday, December 23 – Wednesday before Christmas
5. Saturday, December 12 – Second Saturday in December
6. Monday, December 21 – Monday before Christmas
7. Saturday, November 28 – Saturday after Thanksgiving
8. Tuesday, December 22 – Tuesday before Christmas
9. Saturday, December 5 – First Saturday in December
10. Sunday, December 20 – Sunday before Christmas

The predicted top busiest shopping days in Canada include:

1. Saturday, December 26 – Boxing Day
2. Friday, November 27 – Black Friday
3. Saturday, November 28 – Saturday after Thanksgiving
4. Saturday, December 19 – Super Saturday
5. Wednesday, December 23 – Wednesday before Christmas

“While COVID-19 is reshaping the way U.S. consumers are currently shopping and will shop for the 2020 holiday season, retailers should remain optimistic,” said Bjoern Petersen, president at Sensormatic Solutions. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve noticed a shift toward weekday shopping as consumers take advantage of the new remote work reality while also consciously avoiding the historically-large weekend crowds. We expect this trend to continue into the holiday season. U.S. consumers continue to be more purposeful in their shopping journeys, so retailers need to make sure they capitalize on every in-store visit.”

Sensormatic Solutions expects in-store traffic for the six weeks of the season to be down between -22% and -25% year-over-year. The 10 busiest days in 2020, will account for 34.2% of all holiday traffic as compared to 46.5% in 2019. As a result, the typical holiday traffic peaks will flatten, with more days sharing importance throughout the season.

“The outlook for this year’s holiday season remains positive, considering traffic was down as low as -82% in April and has since improved to -25.7% for week ending September 19,” said Petersen. “Now is the time for retailers to strengthen their buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup services, which are expected to grow in popularity this year. It’s also crucial to provide a safe in-store environment where shoppers feel comfortable through offerings such as contactless checkout and real-time occupancy monitoring to adhere with social distancing guidelines.”

To learn how Sensormatic Solutions is supporting the retail industry’s COVID-19 needs this holiday season, click here. For more Sensormatic Solutions’ holiday insights, follow along on Twitter, using #SensormaticHolidays2020.

About Johnson Controls

At Johnson Controls, we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, we drive the outcomes that matter most. We deliver our promise in industries such as healthcare, education, data centers and manufacturing. With a global team of 105,000 experts in more than 150 countries and over 130 years of innovation, we are the power behind our customers’ mission. Our leading portfolio of building technology and solutions includes some of the most trusted names in the industry, such as Tyco^®, YORK^®, Metasys^®, Ruskin^®, Titus^®, Frick^®, Penn^®, Sabroe^®, Simplex^®, Ansul^® and Grinnell^®. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

About Sensormatic Solutions

Sensormatic Solutions is the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls enabling smart and connected shopper engagement. By combining critical insights into retail inventory, shopper traffic and loss prevention, Sensormatic Solutions powers operational excellence at scale and helps create unique shopping experiences. Our solutions deliver real-time visibility and predictive analytics for accurate decision-making across the enterprise, enabling retailers to confidently move into the future. With more than 1.5 million data collection devices in the retail marketplace, we capture 40 billion shopper visits and track and protect billions of items each year. Our retail portfolio features the premier Sensormatic, ShopperTrak and TrueVUE brands. Please visit Sensormatic Solutions or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and our YouTube channel.