There was a spike in ecommerce traffic during the last full weekend before Christmas, according to Verizon’s Holiday Retail Index, which tracks digital commerce traffic across the company’s networks to the top 25 U.S.-based online retailers and subsidiaries.
Verizon’s Michele Dupré said, “Consumers were enticed both by promotions on Super Saturday and incentives for expedited shipping. Retailers on their game and confident in their distribution channel are even guaranteeing delivery by Christmas Eve, drawing in the last-minute shoppers.”
(But whether retailers can meet delivery expectations is another story.)
The report compared weekend traffic with the month of December (November 1 – 27) and found an increase of 15% on Friday, December 20; an increase of 21% on Saturday, December 21; and an increase of 14% on Sunday, December 22.
More data from the Holiday Report Index can be found on the Verizon.com website.
This report is exactly why you have to be careful when looking at statistics. Why are they comparing Dec to Nov? Two completely different animals. One is a pre-Thanksgiving period, the other the heat of battle just before Christmas. If it WASN’T substantially higher in Dec, something is wrong with the retail world. So no surprise there. Verizon would also like to announce that December is busier than February (another no-brainer).
These statistics mean NOTHING. In fact, also in the report, it said that the period of Dec 14-15 was 26.6% higher than Nov, making the supposed “spike” period look like a LULL in sales. AGAIN, why are we comparing Dec to Nov? The best test would be comparing year over year, Dec to Dec, same weekend days, Fri-Sun, not dates. Useless information. Who makes up this dog cr@p?
Don’t forget the holy trinity of key ingredients in a report – lies, damn lies, and statistics!