Holidays & Seasonal Trends

We take a closer look at the discretionary retail categories that outperformed during 2024's holiday season - home furnishings, beauty, and apparel.

The end of the year is a time of bustling activity as many visit family and friends, go on vacation, and more. Using the latest location analytics for transportation hubs, hotels, museums, and aquariums, we uncover key trends in consumer behavior during the holiday season.

This year's holiday season had one fewer week between Thanksgiving and Christmas, leading retailers to consolidate promotions and encourage repeat visits. We took a look at the visitation trends to see how well this strategy played out.

The Placer 100 Index for Retail and Dining is a dynamic list of leading retailers, providing insight into the wider trends impacting the retail and dining space. And while December had fewer shopping days in 2024 than in 2023, visits remained close to last year's.

Malls continued to display their resilience once again in 2024, with traffic to indoor malls, outlet malls, and open-air shopping centers remaining essentially on par with 2023 levels, suggesting a strong positioning ahead of 2025.

With 2024 firmly in the rearview mirror, we look back on the year’s retail foot traffic trends and what they may signal for 2025. Read on for a closer analysis of the retail categories and states that excelled at driving growth.

Super Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, sees stores bustling with last-minute shoppers searching for gifts and holiday essentials. But how did this year's event measure up – and what trends and surprises emerged? We analyzed the data to find out. 

The Placer.ai Mall Index for November 2024 shows a strong start to the holiday season thanks to the YoY visit growth during the month of November in general and over Black Friday in particular.