Black Friday may be the biggest in-store shopping day of the year in the U.S., but what can we expect beyond Black Friday? After all, Christmas shopping isn't just one day — but which days will be busiest?

To help retailers plan ahead, Sensormatic Solutions continues its annual tradition of predicting the busiest days of the holiday shopping season.

“Our predicted busiest days mark the peaks of in-store traffic, but we expect that, similar to last year, consumers will start their shopping earlier to offset inventory limitations, shipping delays, and ongoing concerns about social distancing,” said Brian Field, senior director, Sensormatic Solutions, Global Retail Consulting Practice, whose team predicts the busiest days of the holiday season.

Get your copy of North America's Busiest Holiday Shopping Days of 2021 now or keep reading for more.

We don't have a crystal ball — but we do have a variety of ways to predict Christmas shopping traffic. We start by accounting for historical shopping patterns, like how early (or late) customers start their shopping. From there, we examine data points like:

• how and when shoppers respond to sales and promotions
• what days of the week holidays fall on
• weather predictions and how similar weather impacted shopping in the past
• changing shopper behaviours and preferences

Taken together, these insights enable us to make data-driven predictions about when retailers will be busiest during the upcoming peak season.

Retailers expect all their Christmas shopping days to be busy, and rightfully so — but the busiest among them represent their highest-earning days of the year. When equipped with the data-driven points in our report, retailers can:

• Ensure their stores are appropriately staffed — not just with the right number of associates, but with associates trained for key areas (inventory, (BOPIS) buy online, pick up in-store/buy online, pick up at curbside (BOPAC), customer service, etc.)
• Distribute best-selling inventory items to the stores that need them most
• Tag inventory in advance, either in-store or — ideally — via a source tagging partner
• Optimize their BOPIS/BOPAC offerings for maximum efficiency

Each of these steps helps retailers prepare their stores, inventories, and associates for a Christmas shopping season that delivers exceptional customer experiences — and boosts their bottom line.

It's no surprise that Black Friday will continue to dominate Christmas shopping in the U.S. and Canada, but some interesting changes are expected to take place this holiday season.

“With Christmas Day on a Saturday for the first time since 2010 and with stores closed that day to observe the holiday, we expect more holiday shopper traffic than usual will occur in the days leading up to Christmas and on December 26,” Field said.

Interestingly, while December 26 — also known as "Boxing Day" or "Returns Day" in some regions — fell several spots from its position as the third-busiest day in 2020. It was replaced by the Thursday before Christmas. That’s likely, as Field noted, because of the holiday falling on a Saturday for the first time in 11 years. Our predictions also factored in the rise of remote work, which may enable some shoppers to slip away from their desks and get in some last-minute shopping before Christmas Eve festivities begin.

United States

1. Black Friday – Friday, November 26
2. Super Saturday – Saturday, December 18
3. Thursday before Christmas – Thursday, December 23

Canada

1. Black Friday – Friday, November 26
2. Boxing Day – Sunday, December 26
3. Saturday after Black Friday – Saturday, November 27

To see all of the 15 busiest shopping days for the U.S. and Canada this holiday season, download your copy of North America's Busiest Holiday Shopping Days of 2021 today. It's your resource for preparing your staff and stores for the rush of Christmas shopping that's just around the corner.