US consumer traffic up 20% in Nov – Euclid survey

Average visit durations were shorter than a year ago for the fourth month in a row as the increasingly omni-channel marketplace continued to drive more focused shopping trips. Although, calendar shifts will be a headwind to comps, we believe these metrics bode well for retailers’ sales in November.

Euclid Traffic Index

INCREASED 20% YEAR-OVER-YEAR

Traffic in November, defined as the number of devices detected by Euclid sensors at retail locations, increased 32.2% compared to the previous month and 20.0% compared to the same month last year. Shopping visits rebounded significantly after a depressed October, driven by heavy promotions that started earlier than usual and a strong Black Friday weekend with deals spread out across multiple days.

Window Conversion

INCREASED 190 BASIS POINTS TO 8.8%

Window conversion in November, defined as the number of shoppers who enter a store as a percentage of the total foot traffic, rose to 8.8% from 6.9% last year and 8.3% in October 2013. Retailers’ early and widespread promotions during the month were successful at compelling value-conscious shoppers to make the trip to brick-and-mortar locations, with window conversion reaching a high for the year.

Bounce Rate

INCREASED 280 BASIS POINTS YEAR-OVER-YEAR

The percentage of shoppers who entered a store but left within five minutes ("bounce rate") was 11.7% in November 2013, up from 9.0% in November 2012 and 10.5% last month. Shoppers continued to be less inclined to wait in long lines or browse through additional merchandise when not finding their product/style of choice during the shortened holiday season. 

Visit Duration

DOWN 370 BASIS POINTS YEAR-OVER-YEAR

Shopping session duration, defined as the mean time from store entry to store exit, was 21.9 minutes in November, a decline from 22.7 minutes last year, but an improvement from 21.5 minutes in October 2013.

Despite the incremental improvement in November, durations are shorter than last year for yet another month as shoppers remain very deliberate with their trips to the store. Many shoppers are researching products extensively online before leaving the house for their visit to the mall.

Active Repeat Customers

DECREASED 310 BASIS POINTS FROM LAST YEAR

In November, active repeat customers, defined as individuals returning to a store location more than once in 30 days, totaled 12.0% of total visits measured, up 30 basis points from the previous month, but meaningfully less than the 15.1% seen last November. Consumers opted to accomplish more shopping with each trip, likely targeting the launches of new discounts, as opposed to spreading their shopping over a greater number of trips during the month.