San Jose, California, USA (Sept. 12, 2023) - According to RetailNext, the leading in-store traffic analytics provider used by 400+ of the world’s most loved brands, retail footfall increased in several U.S. cities during the days Taylor Swift was in town for The Eras Tour. The Eras Tour, which took place multiple nights in some cities, gave retail businesses a much-needed boost, and on average, footfall increased by 7% across the tour cities analysed by RetailNext.
Year over Year Percentage Change in Footfall for the 3 Weekends Leading Up to the Concert
Nashville: 1%
Santa Clara: 6%
Atlanta: -8%
Minneapolis: -6%
Pittsburgh: -12%
Percentage Change for the Concert Days
Nashville: 15%
Santa Clara: 8%
Atlanta: -4%
Minneapolis: -3%
Pittsburgh: -2%
Net Change in YoY Trend for Concert vs. 3 Weekends Leading Up to Concert
Nashville: +14%
Santa Clara: +2%
Atlanta: +4%
Minneapolis: +3%
Pittsburgh: +10%
Shoppers came out in full force in Nashville and Pittsburgh to support Taylor who was born in Pennsylvania and started her career in Tennessee. In Nashville, footfall jumped 15% and Pittsburgh saw a 10 percentage point (ppt) jump compared to this time last year. This footfall boost is on trend with other industries like hospitality and transportation, which experienced record-breaking sales during her concert dates according to the Federal Reserve.
While footfall was down 6% in Minneapolis leading up to the concert compared to the prior year, the city’s retailers still saw a rise in footfall by 3 ppt during the concert dates, and in Atlanta, the traffic trend improved 4 ppt for the concert weekend went up 4% for the concert weekend itself from -8% YOY in the weeks leading up to the event.
Out of the retailers that use the RetailNext platform in each city, data shows a boost in traffic across apparel stores with shoppers going out in full force, particularly in Nashville, which saw a 37% increase in traffic, Santa Clara with a 29% increase, Atlanta with a 11% increase, and Pittsburgh with a 10% increase.
“Taylor Swift is a force and the impact her concerts had on retail businesses does not go unnoticed,” says Joe Shasteen, Global Manager, Advanced Analytics at RetailNext. “We anticipate that the pop in retail footfall will continue as her tour expands overseas, and we’ll be monitoring those traffic trends.”
RetailNext analysed millions of data points from its platform beginning February 2022 through August 2023 in Nashville, Santa Clara, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. The company assessed footfall in those cities for the three weekends leading up to The Eras Tour, the concert dates themselves and compared those figures year over year.
The first retail vertical IoT platform to bring e-commerce style shopper analytics to bricks-and-mortar stores, brands and malls, RetailNext is a pioneer in focusing entirely on optimising the shopper experience. Through its centralised SaaS platform, RetailNext automatically collects and analyses shopper behaviour data, providing retailers with insight to improve the shopper experience in real time.
More than 400 retailers in over 75 countries have adopted RetailNext's analytics software and retail expertise to better understand the shopper journey in order to increase same-store sales, reduce theft and eliminate unnecessary costs. RetailNext is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
Learn more at retailnext.net.
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