Feb 23 2012
See also these 2011 updates…
- Best 2011 New Years Eve Deals and Store Hours
- New Year's Day Store Hours and Deals
- Best After Christmas Sales and Deals
This is a complete and comprehensive roundup of the 2011 Christmas shopping holiday season data, statistics, numbers, results and year-over-year comparisons. This list is arranged chronologically, according to the most recent post-Christmas holiday shopping milestones, and working backwards to the biggest shopping event of the year, Black Friday 2011.
Overall Sales Results for the Entire Holiday Shopping Season 2011:
- Between November 1, 2011 and December 26, 2011, Consumers spent $35.3 billion online, according to market research organization ComScore. This is 15% more than consumers spent online in the same time period in 2010.
- There were nine days in 2011 in which online sales were more than $1 billion, according to ComScore.
- Clothing chain discounts were an average of 7% higher than they were during the 2010 Christmas shopping season, according to an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
- According to an ICSC-Goldman Sachs survey, 18% of gift purchases were gift cards, which is 3.4% higher than 2010.
- Between December 1st and December 24th, consumer retail spending rose 4.7% over the same time period in 2010, according to ShopperTrak research.
- Consumer Confidence rose to 64.5 in December 2011, which is 10 points higher than November's consumer confidence level according to the Conference Board.
- In November spending rose 4.1%, according to the research organization, ShopperTrak
Sales on the Day After Christmas, December 26, 2011
- December 26th sales were $7.1 billion, a 25.5% increase over the day after Christmas 2010.
- 70% of all consumers shopped at brick-and-mortar stores between December 20 and December 26th, according to the NPD Group Inc.
- 11.3% of day after Christmas sales were from mobile devices in 2011, compared to the 4.3% of sales from mobile devices on December 26, 2010
- According to IBM Coremetrics Benchmark 6% of all December 26 traffic came from iPads, 5.8% came from iPhones, and 4.6% came from Androids
Gift Return Data and Statistics for the 2011 Christmas Holiday Shopping Season from the National Retail Federation (NRF):
- Shoppers are expected to return 9.9% of their Christmas purchases, which would be the highest return rate since the recession.
- $46 billion of merchandise is predicted to be returned, which would be a 4% increase when compared to holiday gift returns in 2010. About 33% of shoppers said they return gifts in the NRF 2011 Holiday Returns Survey.
- 65% of holiday shoppers said they didn't return a single gift after Christmas 2010.
- Retail companies absorb as much as 12% of clothing returned and as much as 50% of the cost of returned consumer electronic merchandise.
- 60% of retailers reported to the NRF that they have been the victim of "wardrobing," which is the use of high-end clothing and electronics which are then returned for full price after they are used for a short period of time.
- It is extimated that the U.S. retail industry will lose $3.48 billion due to return fraud in the 2011 holiday season, which is less than the $3.73 billion lost to return fraud in 2010.
- Online shopping sales for the week ending December 25, 2011 were $2.8 billion, compared to $2.45 billion during the same time period in 2010, according to ComScore.
- In the week before Christmas, same store sales were up 4.5% compared to the same week in 2010, according to the International Coucil of shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, which estimates sales at 24 major chain stores.
- Sales revenue for the week ending December 24th was $44 billion, 14.8% higher than the same time period in 2010, according to ShopperTrak.
- Based on the e-mail activity of 100 retail companies, retailers sent 34% more promotional e-mails between December 18th to December 22nd, compared to the same time period last year, according to Responsys.
