Holiday shopping is in full swing now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us… sort of. Overall, visits to the Retail 500 were down on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday as compared to last year. Visits declined by 15% on Thanksgiving and by 9% on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday as compared to the same days in 2008.


Web-only retailers experienced the smallest decline in visits on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, with a small increase of 3% on Cyber Monday. Visits to the Retail Chain 100 (aka brick and mortar retailers) were essentially flat on Black Friday, aided by shoppers turning to their websites before and after hitting the stores to find sale & out of stock products. The Catalog/Call Center 100 experienced the largest decline in visits, although their traffic peaks tended to take place later during the holiday season last year.

Although traffic is down overall so far this year, this is not the case for every online retailer. On Cyber Monday, the share of visits to Amazon increased the most as compared to last year, followed by Wal-Mart and Target.

Are holiday shoppers waiting it out for another round of markdowns this year? The super budget conscious might be trying to drive more bargains again this year.