The workplace recovery has stalled over the past few months, with employees and employers settling into the new normal of widespread hybrid and remote work. Now, with 2022 almost behind us, we dove into office foot traffic data for the past six months to understand where the workplace recovery stands nationwide and in select cities and what may impact the recovery in 2023.
Social media is playing an ever-larger role in consumer shopping habits and marketing strategies. Consumers increasingly seek a more authentic approach to marketing and social media trends that seem spontaneous, viral, and of the minute to resonate with potential shoppers. And while social media trends can help with brand engagement and recognition, they can also impact brick-and-mortar retail performance. Offline engagement, in turn, can promote greater brand awareness and loyalty.
Brick-and-mortar retail has had a tumultuous few years, from the lockdowns of 2020 to the high gas prices and inflation of 2022. Yet, consumer demand for in-person retail and services has remained strong, with key categories bouncing back after each new challenge. Our latest white paper dives into some of the key trends likely to shape the retail landscape in 2023. We examined foot traffic data, migration trends, and office recovery patterns to better understand what the coming year may have in store.
Our recent look at digitally native brands highlighted the unique experiences that can be found in retail corridors – outdoor and pedestrian-friendly clusters of stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues. But indoor malls also house a number of different retail, dining, and entertainment options in close proximity – and yet foot traffic data indicates that visitors treat these two types of hubs quite differently. Here, we take a closer look at the foot traffic trends and consumer behavior data for nine major retail corridors to understand what separates these hubs from indoor malls.
This Placer Bytes takes a look at three very different companies – Nike, lululemon, and GameStop – to see how they fared over the holidays and what lies ahead. Nike has undergone quite a few shifts in recent years, including its pivot away from wholesale to focus on its own retail ecosystem, including standalone Nike stores, Converse, Hurley, and Nike Factory Store. The company’s investments in owned distribution channels include leaning into experimental and experiential retail with its new Nike Rise, House of Innovation, and small-format Nike Live concepts.
When we last looked at malls, there was an expectation that declines compared to 2021 in October could actually signal potential strength in November and on Black Friday. Yet, that potential failed to materialize, with Black Friday and the corresponding weekend seeing visit declines compared to a pre-pandemic 2019 and even 2021. But there’s more to the mall story in 2022, and this could have very interesting implications for retail strategies moving forward.
College towns are bustling once again. After two years during which COVID significantly impacted student routines, most campuses are back to business as usual. And with classes winding down and winter break just around the corner, many students are availing themselves of the various amenities their cities have to offer – both on and off campus.
Tight budgets and a smaller emphasis on extending the holiday shopping season early meant all eyes were on Black Friday 2022 for an indication of what lies ahead for holiday retail. And despite the fact that Black Friday 2021 was limited by rising COVID cases and a concerted effort from retailers to shift focus away from the retail holiday, Black Friday 2022 still fell short for most sectors. Still, the retail holiday continues to attract consumers to brick-and-mortar stores, and comparing Black Friday visits to pre-Thanksgiving foot traffic revealed significant visit spikes almost across the board.
Digitally native brands (DNBs) – or brands that first launch online – take a unique approach to omnichannel business. More than simply drumming up in-store sales, a DNB’s physical presence connects brand and consumers in a way that benefits both offline and online traffic. These stores are well-known for being experiential in nature, and given this past year’s shift in consumer demand from physical goods to experiences, DNBs have the potential to bridge the gap and capitalize during the holiday retail season.
The past few years have been good to the discount and dollar sector. The segment saw heightened visits and store fleet growth in a period marked by a global pandemic and economic uncertainty. Now, we dive into the performance of four major discount chains – Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar (owned by Dollar Tree), and Five Below – to see how the upcoming holiday season might affect visits.
Over the past few years, Ulta has established itself as one of the nation’s leading retailers. Despite the significant challenges facing discretionary retailers in the wake of COVID and ongoing inflation, the beauty chain continues to experience remarkable growth, with second-quarter net sales increasing 16.8% percent compared to last year. In May, the company launched its own retail media network – utilizing its diverse and expanding customer base to offer partners targeted advertising opportunities, both on and off its website.
The holiday season is an important time not just for retailers but for coffee chains as well, as these brands get a boost in foot traffic from thirsty consumers going about their holiday shopping. As Black Friday draws nearer – and with the official kickoff of holiday shopping – we dove into the foot traffic data for department stores and Starbucks to take a closer look at the status of holiday retail thus far.
With COVID concerns fading, many consumers are now ready to enjoy life’s simpler pleasures, from decorating their lawns for Halloween to going to the movies. So while inflation continues to dominate many of the retail headlines, diving into foot traffic trends in key discretionary categories provides plenty of reasons for optimism as 2022’s holiday season picks up steam.
Our latest white paper takes a closer look at the growing trend of retailers adding small-format stores to their fleets. We dove into the foot traffic data of four leading chains to see how retailers can use small-format stores to increase visit density, cater to niche audiences, and foster brand loyalty. Below is a taste of our findings.
We dove into the foot traffic data to the off-price apparel sector and took a closer look at two leading sports retailers, Hibbett Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods to see what visits can tell us about the upcoming holiday season. There are four chains that dominate the off-price apparel category – T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, which are owned by the same parent company, Ross Dress For Less, and Burlington. These retailers performed remarkably well during the pandemic, consistently outperforming the overall apparel sector – a trend that has persisted in recent months.
Wholesale clubs, which experienced significant foot traffic gains in 2021, continued to outperform pre-pandemic visits for much of 2022. And with inflation still impacting budgets going into the holiday season, consumers are as meticulous about choosing where they shop as they are about finding the perfect gift. We dove into the data for the three leaders in the space – Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale Club – to take a closer look at the foot traffic trends driving visits as we approach the biggest retail months of the year.
Retail foot traffic picked up again in October ahead of a much anticipated holiday season. We dove into the visit data to find out which categories are making the biggest comeback and how this year’s extended holiday season stacks up against 2021. September was difficult for much of the retail landscape, as inflation took a toll on consumer spending. But the tide has turned in recently, with weekly visits since mid-October up relative to pre-pandemic 2019. Early holiday shoppers stocking up on gifts and consumers making peace with the current prices drove an October retail rebound ahead of a critical holiday season.
With the peak of the retail holiday season kicking into high gear, we dove into the visit performance for two of retail’s giants. In 2021, both Target and Walmart saw uniquely strong performances during Back-to-School season and again in October as retailers pushed to extend the holiday shopping period earlier. Last year’s visit peaks set a critical context for understanding the traffic to both retailers in recent months. Target saw year-over-year (YoY) declines of 0.9% and 2.1% in August and October – relatively minimal considering the heights hit during those months in 2021.
The office recovery has plateaued over the past couple of months as many workers settle into a hybrid working model, and the pattern largely continued in October. New York City and Chicago saw the smallest year-over-year (YoY) increase in monthly office visits since the start of the workplace recovery in April 2021, with October visits up by only 6.8% and 10.9%, respectively. In Houston and Miami, where the office recovery started earlier and picked up steam faster than in the rest of the country, visits were actually slightly lower this October when compared to last year – a clear sign that the return to office rates are leveling off in some regions – at least temporarily.
The end of the pandemic was supposed to trigger an extended period of retail success, with brands finally seeing the wider constraints of COVID removed. Yet, with the decline of the pandemic came the rise of significant economic headwinds like rising inflation and gas prices. And so the challenges have continued with the retail sector pushing to cope with a seemingly endless period of volatility. But how would malls cope in October following challenging summer months ahead of a critical holiday shopping season?
