The storm that walloped the East Coast this past weekend produced a lot of snow, as well as a lot of conflicting stories as to how much the weather really hurt retailers. As you recall, there was a snowfall in some markets for Super Saturday 2008, and certainly December 2008 had more snow nationally than December 2009 will. This story, coupled with optimistic reporting due to time of year (no business reports negative news during the Holiday shopping period), has led to some unusual conclusions. But the issues for Store-Traffic-Limiting events are not just THAT it snows, but also WHERE (Scranton, PA vs Washington, DC) and therefore ON HOW MANY it snows…

Below are some additional statistics on the impact on Retail for the weekend:

• In summary, we estimate that at least $2B was lost because of this storm. That is a significant portion of Super Saturday sales that will not be recovered. Recovery will be seen most at retailers with “must have” items (e.g. Toys R Us, Best Buy) and destinations (e.g. Walmart), but the industry as a whole will not be able to completely “make up” for so many lost shopping hours in so many heavily-populated centers.
• Pre-and post-storm, consumers were shopping “to lists” and focused on getting in and out of stores as quickly as possible.
• Super Saturday Sales typically account for $15B, one of the top shopping days of the year. Source: Mastercard Spending Pulse
• Reports indicate the mall traffic was down 10% on Super Saturday across the country. Some malls closed early on Super Saturday while many individual stores & restaurants closed earlier than planned.
  • Some traffic moved up to Friday (up 65% vs. 2008) evening and/or shifted to post-storm on Sunday
  • While traffic outside of the northeast was reportedly up compared to last year, approximately 1/3 of all super Saturday sales typically come from the Northeast
    Sources: Associated Press, Fox Business.
  • While significant amounts of snow fell in December 2008, these typically occurred in less populated areas than the Super Saturday Snowstorm of 2009.
• While reports show that online sales were up 14% on Super Saturday due to the snowstorm (source: NBC Universal), one must keep this in perspective. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), online sales only represent 5% of the total industry sales. While it remains high focus and represents a growing channel, it is a small percentage of the total business.
• How are retailers coping in the wake of the storm?
  • Additional hours via earlier opening and later closing times.
  • Additional promotions to drive traffic into stores and online

Conclusion: Some Super Saturday Sales — but not all — will be made up in time for Christmas. In light of a difficult economy and original projections for a negative -1% projection in holiday sales by the National Retail Federation, the Super Saturday Snowstorm of 2009 will go down as a net-negative to the retail industry. Above information provided by Planalytics - Business Weather Intelligence.

SHARE WITH US… How were your last minute Christmas sales and did the weather effect your business?