How far are shoppers willing to travel during the festive period?

Per the 2018 Holiday Retail Report by Foursquare, data shows a 14% lift in the overall number of visits in brick-and-mortar retailers over the holidays*.

Thought to be one of the busiest shopping days in the festive calendar, this Saturday (the third Saturday in December) will see an estimated 49% rise in foot traffic. But, how far are consumers willing to travel during the festive period?

Interested in the behaviour of consumers, particularly during the holidays, British marketplace OnBuy.com analysed Foursquare’s report in detail to discover the average shopping distance travelled from home at Christmastime compared to rest of year.

OnBuy found consumers will travel furthest to reach sporting goods shops (11 miles) during the holidays – a percentage difference of -5.50% on the 11.6 miles they would typically travel.

This is followed by shopping centres, where consumers travel 9.9 miles at Christmastime, compared to 11.6 miles rest of year. This presents a difference of -14.90%.

Comparably, shoppers would be less inclined to travel to find leather goods stores (8.3 miles) during the holidays. Typically for this service consumers would travel nine miles, which shows a percentage difference of -8.60%.

At the very least, consumers travel just 7.3 miles to reach grocery stores, preferring to stay close to home during the festive period. This distance rises to 9.4 miles rest of year, presenting a percentage difference of -21.90%; the largest change recorded.

*The holidays are defined as Black Friday to Christmas Day. Distance travelled predictions measured from home location to a retailer and measured against other baseline periods.

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