Co Op Saylent Find Dramatic Increase In Thanksgiving Day Shopping
CO-OP, SAYLENT FIND DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THANKSGIVING DAY SHOPPING
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., and FRANKLIN, Mass. (November 29, 2012) - "Black Friday" shoppers couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving Day to hit the malls or the Internet this year.
"It appears that shoppers in growing numbers are taking advantage of the trend by stores to open during the evening of Thanksgiving Day, rather than waiting until early the next morning," said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services. "The resulting activity increase over both days compared to last year should be encouraging to retailers heading into the holiday season."
Shoppers who belong to credit unions recorded roughly the same buying activity on Black Friday in 2012 as they did in 2011. However, they dramatically increased their transaction and spending levels on Thanksgiving Day 2012 compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of debit card transactions by CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies.
The analysis found that Black Friday transactions by credit union debit card holders actually decreased by 0.2%, and total dollars spent decreased 3.5%, in 2012 compared to 2011. In a similar survey conducted last year, CO-OP and Saylent found that shoppers made 10.1% more transactions and spent 8.1% more during Black Friday in 2011 than in 2010.
It was a much different story on Thanksgiving Day. Transactions increased 18.8%, and dollars spent increased by an even greater amount, 30.7%, in 2012 compared to the year prior.
For the entire two day period of Nov. 22-23, 2012, total transactions and dollars spent rose modestly year over year - a 6.25% rise in transactions, and a 6.5% rise in dollars spent.
This unique analysis of sales is not an estimate, but is based on more than 5.1 million actual transactions made on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Drawn from debit card transactions across credit unions processed by CO-OP Financial Services, the year-over-year comparison was performed through an advanced analytics solution, CO-OP Total Revelation, powered by Saylent Technologies, and was conducted by Saylent's Insight360 consulting team.
This sampling of consumer activity represented both brick-and-mortar establishments and Internet transactions. Some additional key findings include:
- Thanksgiving Day spending may have increased significantly, but there is no danger of Black Friday being overtaken as the busiest shopping day of the year. Black Friday transactions exceeded that of Thanksgiving Day by 95.1%, while 140.3% more dollars were spent on Black Friday compared to Thanksgiving Day.
- The CO-OP and Saylent analysis broke down transaction and spending activity in 20 different types of retail outlets. For Black Friday, the category seeing the highest level of growth was record shops, which included iTunes, Amazon Online Services and Amazon Kindle purchases. Record shops showed a 36.5% increase in transactions, and a robust 25.25% increase in dollars spent.
- Discount stores led all retail outlets on Black Friday in terms of transactions and spending, as they did last year. However, transactions were down 13.2% and spending was down 9.7% compared to 2011, suggesting a renewed consumer interest in specialty retailers. One such example is Women's Ready-to-Wear Stores, which showed increases of 12.5% and 13.2% in transactions and sales, respectively, year over year.
"As this year's 'Black Friday' survey demonstrates, CO-OP Total Revelation is a comprehensive tool for understanding debit card usage," said Tyson Nargassans, President and CEO of Saylent Technologies. "Partnering with CO-OP, we can help participating credit unions gain greater insights on their members, so they can better market to and serve them."
For more information on CO-OP Total Revelation, visit www.co-opfs.org.
About Saylent Technologies, Inc.
Saylent Technologies, based in Franklin, Mass., develops payment intelligence solutions that help organizations understand and capitalize on payment behaviors. Employing innovative analytics and segmentation techniques, Saylent's Card360 solution identifies card usage patterns by cardholder, targets underperforming or at-risk segments, and enables corresponding marketing programs and metrics. Saylent's Account360 solution provides a holistic perspective on customers across all payment types, enabling financial institutions to understand and shift customer behaviors and increase share-of-wallet. Saylent's Insight360 consulting services help clients speed time to value with expert analysis and customized marketing services. For more information, please visit www.saylent.com or call (508) 570-2161.
About CO-OP Financial Services
Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. and founded in 1981, CO-OP
Financial Services is the industry leader in access and convenience
products for credit unions. CO-OP connects credit union members to
their accounts through network, payment processing, e-commerce,
shared branching and call center services. With more than 3,500
credit union members, 30 million cardholders, 30,000 surcharge-free
ATMs, 5,000 shared branching locations (plus 2,200
Vcom® kiosks) and more than two billion annual
transactions, CO-OP Financial Services offers the tools, counsel
and leadership to help credit unions prosper. To learn more,
visit www.co-opfs.org.
