As more offices reopen, they are reopening with one important change from pre-pandemic workstyles – fewer days on site. Many companies have shifted from a Monday through Friday in-office week to more common work from home Fridays or even Fridays and Mondays. This shift has left many downtown businesses dependent on commuter dollars empty and overstaffed on Fridays. In today’s Insight Flash, we take advantage of our unique ability to track the exact transaction date and isolate day of week to dig into which businesses have been the most affected by the switch and which are most likely to continue to see changes in customer traffic.
So far this summer, back-to-work trends have led to Tuesday-Thursday spend growth outpacing work from home Friday spend growth. Tuesday-Thursday have seen about 1.5% higher growth most weeks than Friday has, with the exception of the Friday before the Fourth of July holiday and the week ending July 18.
Daily Trends
Pre-pandemic, Friday nights were for staying in and relaxing. In 2019, Friday made up the biggest share of spend for Wine & Liquor, Quick Service Pizza, and Quick Service Chicken. Conversely, Grocery and Ride-Sharing were among the subindustries where Friday made up the lowest share of spend. Friday was also a popular day for Event Ticket Sales as shoppers planned their weekends.
Subindustry Skew Towards Friday Spend
As Americans go back into the office Tuesday through Thursday, it is interesting to compare where those days are showing different trends in spend growth versus Friday when they are more likely to be working from home. One interesting finding is that without the hours of commuting tiring them out that day, many consumers are using work from home Fridays to start their weekends earlier. Amusement Parks had the biggest delta in spend growth for Friday versus other days, while Other Leisure & Recreation also saw a significant outperformance on Fridays. Perhaps due to Friday often being payday or perhaps due to extra time to shop, Multibrand Luxury and Luxury Jewelry have also been experiencing outsized growth on Fridays versus other days. Finally, self-care seems to be an important theme with Telehealth and Online Education both seeing more spend growth on Friday than during the week.
Additionally, Event Ticket Sales have seen less Friday growth than on other days of the week, given other trends this may be because more shoppers are buying tickets on Thursday or earlier in the week for Friday entertainment.
Friday Change in Spend
To learn more about the data behind this article and what Consumer Edge Research has to offer, visit www.consumer-edge.com.
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