The 10 Days Predicted to be the Busiest This Holiday Season

New York--There is an extra Saturday in this year’s December calendar, which has given new significance to certain dates for the holiday shopping season, according to ShopperTrak.

The Chicago-based company, which has devices in stores to monitor foot traffic in order to give retailers insight into consumer behavior, has released its annual list of the days it expects to be busiest for in-store shopping this holiday season.

They are as follows.
1. Friday, Nov. 24 (Black Friday)
2. Saturday, Dec. 23 (“Super Saturday”)
3. Saturday, Dec. 16
4. Tuesday, Dec. 26
5. Saturday, Nov. 25
6. Friday, Dec. 22
7. Saturday, Dec. 9
8. Saturday, Dec. 2
9. Saturday, Dec. 30
10. Thursday, Dec. 21

These 10 days are estimated to account for 40 to 45 percent of total shopping visits made during the entire 2017 holiday season, ShopperTrak said.

And, for the first time since 2012, there will be four Saturdays in December prior to Christmas, which is expected to have a big impact on consumer behavior--the change in calendar also likely will change consumer shopping visits for the holidays.

This year, Dec. 23, the Saturday before Christmas that is also known as “Super Saturday,” and Dec. 16 will be even more important, according to ShopperTrak.

With the exception of Black Friday, the holiday patterns typically are such that Saturdays increase in importance as Christmas Day gets closer, Brian Field, senior director of advisory services at ShopperTrak, told National Jeweler.

Last year was different because Super Saturday was Christmas Eve, and most stores closed early (at about 6 p.m. local times), impacting overall traffic by taking away about four hours of shopping that day. (This is also the reason why Christmas Eve doesn’t usually land in the top 10 for retail overall, though that might not be the case for many jewelers.)

This year, Super Saturday, falling on Dec. 23, will play a major role, as will Dec. 16 as the second-closest Saturday to the holiday.

Additionally, the last Saturday of December 2016 wasn’t significant because it was New Year’s Eve, while this year it will be, because it (Dec. 30) falls just prior to the holiday and provides an extra full day of shopping.