The top 10 busiest days of the 2022 holiday season will be ….
Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, which will affect holiday shopping patterns.
That’s according to Sensormatic Solutions’ predictions for the top busiest shopping days of the 2022 holiday season. With the holiday occurring on a Sunday and most stores closing early the day before, Saturday, Dec. 17 is likely to be the busiest shopping day in all of December.
“The last time this happened was in 2016, and if that’s any indication of what will happen this year, retailers can expect bigger crowds and higher-than-normal demand on this day than they might have in other years,” said Brian Field, global leader of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions. “They’ll need to plan their approach accordingly.”
Black Friday (Nov. 25) once again tops the list of the 10 busiest holiday shopping days, which, on average, account for approximately 40% of all holiday retail traffic. It’s followed this year by Friday, Dec. 23, and Monday, Dec. 26. (The complete list is near end of article.) Retailers, however, could see even larger numbers this year as high gas prices are expected to create more shopping intensity on the busiest days as shoppers make fewer individual trips, advised Sensormatic.
“Keeping up with demand, staffing appropriately, and having a complete view of operations will be crucial to delivering satisfying customer experiences as shopping peaks. said Kevin Viravec, president at Sensormatic Solutions. "The rise of truly unified commerce has boosted consumer expectations to new highs, and those expectations are likely to be even higher during the holidays. Now is the time for retailers to reflect on the experiences they’ve been delivering online and in-store so they can take steps to enhance their operations before the rush begins.”
The full list of predicted busiest shopping days in the U.S. is as follows:
- Friday, November 25 – Black Friday
- Friday, December 23 – Friday before Christmas
- Monday, December 26 – Day after Christmas, aka “Boxing Day”
- Saturday, December 17 – Super Saturday
- Saturday, November 26 – Saturday after Black Friday
- Saturday, December 10 – Second Saturday in December
- Thursday, December 22 – Thursday before Christmas
- Saturday, December 3 – First Saturday in December
- Sunday, December 18 – Sunday before Christmas
- Wednesday, December 21 – Wednesday before Christmas