Brick-and-mortar shopping conversion remained relatively stable for the week ending December 26, with 67.9% of shoppers engaged in the shopping experience and making a purchase, representing a slight decrease from 68.1% the previous week, but a marginal increase over the week ending December 12 (67.3%) and the week ending December 5 (66.9%), according to figures from the NPD Group. 69% of US consumers went shopping at brick-and-mortar retail in the week ending December 26, a small increase from 68% the previous week. Overall brick-and-mortar shopping visits increased by 6.5% for the week, while the average amount spent per buying visit was up 4.7%.
Specialty Beauty Visits Jump
Visits to specialty beauty stores grew by 31% from the prior week, leading all general merchandise retail channels. Specialty apparel stores followed, up 26%, while the book store (22%) and specialty footwear (21%) channels also experienced significant growth in shopping visits. Department stores rounded out the top 5 fastest-growing channels list, increasing 19% from the week ending December 19.
Book Store, Sporting Goods Conversions Up
Along with their increases in shopping visits, the book store and sporting goods channels also fared well in shopping conversions, both experiencing 16% growth from the prior week. Electronic stores followed with an 11% increase in conversions, with greeting card stores (7%) and specialty beauty stores (7%) also posting increases.
Online Shopping Share Drops
Despite holiday season online spending being consistently above last year’s levels, online share of buying visits continued a 2-week decline, according to NPD’s “Shopping Activity Weekly Holiday Trends Report.” For the week ending December 26, online share of buying visits dropped to 13.9%, down from 16.4% the prior week and 17.4% the week ending December 12.
Other Findings:
- The online share of buying visits for specialty beauty stores was only 7% for the week ending December 26, compared to 17% a week earlier and 24% for the week ending December 12.
- Similarly, the online share of buying visits for specialty apparel stores dropped to 16.4% from 25.6% a week earlier.
- The channels with the highest brick-and-mortar conversion rates were mass merchants (73.8%), specialty beauty (69%), off price (57.5%), and national chain (54%).
About the Data: The NPD Group’s Shopping Activity Services is a study fielded to 4,750 US consumers daily to capture brick-and-mortar shopping behavior and online purchase behavior in a variety of categories.
