RetailNext Inc., a leader in applied retail analytics for physical stores, released its monthly Retail Performance Pulse, showing a 6.5 percent year-over-year decrease in sales on a 7.1 percent decline in traffic at brick-and-mortar stores for the retail month of December (November 30 through January 3 on the retail 4-5-4 calendar).

“December started slowly, but ended with a strong surge at the end of the month,” said Shelley E. Kohan, RetailNext's vice president of retail consulting. “The fourth week – the week inclusive of the post-shipping cut off for most retailers and the days after Christmas – was a strong performer for brick-and-mortar retailers. In fact, the after-Christmas selling days of December 26 and 27 boasted a 7.9 percent increase year-over-year in sales, on a 3.2 percent increase in traffic. Average Transaction Value (ATV) for those two post-Christmas days was also up 11.1 percent, a positive sign from a margin perspective for retailers.”

It previously reported an 11 percent decrease in U.S. store sales
on a 11.4 percent decline in store traffic for November.

“Overall, the holiday period for physical retail can be summed up with strong 'bookend' performance,” Kohan added. “Early-November and late-December had the most positive results for retail stores. While digital stole the show in between and captivated shoppers with aggressive promotional strategies, retailers who were able to effectively converge digital and physical channels to encapsulate the entire period will show the most positive results for the Holiday season.”

The complete Retail Performance Pulse can be downloaded at retailnext.net/resources/downloads/.