Super Saturday Forecast
December 16, 2025
Green Light! Retailers to Expect a Lift in Store Traffic Over Super Saturday with Drier and Milder Conditions for Most Super Saturday is a significant shopping event as it represents the last weekend before Christmas. This year, the National Retail Federation expects a record 159 million consumers to shop for the final gifts on their …
Retail WeatherSpend℠: November 2025
December 10, 2025
Eastern markets benefited from soaring seasonal demand due to colder temperatures, while milder conditions slowed sales in the West. The following WeatherSpend℠ metrics quantify the impact of weather on topline sales in different markets and retail sectors compared to November 2024. Most of the East had colder-than-LY comps in the first half of the month. …
Put a Bow on Cyber Monday and the Holiday Weekend
December 3, 2025
Per our friends at the National Retail Federation, there was a record 203 million shoppers over the holiday weekend, topping original estimates. While in-store shopper growth rose by 3%, the number of consumers shopping online rose by 9%. Check out Planalytics recap on the weekend. According to our partners at Facteus, e-commerce sales rose significantly …
Black Friday Recap 2025
November 30, 2025
Brisk Business! A Cold Holiday Weekend Had Shoppers Stuffing Their Baskets With Seasonal Goods Drier than Normal Conditions Supported Foot Traffic; ‘Fowl’ Weather Focused in Interior Regions The Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend (November 27 – November 30) was colder than normal for most of the US, helping lift demand for seasonal categories. For many, …
Cold Front to Meet Hot Deals over the Black Friday Weekend
November 19, 2025
Mother Nature Cooks up a Batch of Precipitation Throughout the Week It’s almost Turkey Time! Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend represent the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season. According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation, consumers plan to spend an average of $890.49 per person this year on holiday gifts, food, …
Retail WeatherSpend℠: October 2025
November 7, 2025
Weather-driven sales opportunities shifted significantly during the month, but overall, many retail sectors benefited from a more favorable weather backdrop in October 2025 than a year ago. Favorable weather, compared to LY, generally supported spending at sporting goods chains, shoe retailers, and department stores in the U.S. in October. Conversely, a negative “weather comp” dampened …
Retail WeatherSpend℠: September 2025
October 14, 2025
Overall, the U.S. saw cooler temperatures in September, an environment that would generally benefit early-autumn demand for apparel and other seasonal categories, though, as is often the case, regional differences were significant. Weather-driven gains vs. September 2024 for cold-weather merchandise were strong across the Southwest, Southeast, Plains, and parts of the Midwest. However, these gains …
Retail WeatherSpend℠: August 2025
September 17, 2025
The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau reported that August 2025 retail sales increased by +0.6% from July, and from a year-over-year perspective (vs August 2024), the jump was +5.0%. Inflation certainly needs to be factored into the gains, as the report’s numbers are unadjusted. The weather must also be considered. For the U.S. overall, August 2025 …
Impacts of Extreme Weather in Retail
September 4, 2025
Excessive heat waves, deep freezes, severe floods, frequent hailstorms, widespread tornadoes, stronger tropical cyclones, and other extreme weather events, although typically short in duration, often have significant effects on communities and commercial activity. Planalytics, in partnership with the National Retail Federation, published Climate-Proofing Retail: Proactively Managing the Opportunities and Risks of Weather Volatility, a report …
Cooler Air Sparks Early Demand for Fall Products Ahead of Labor Day
August 25, 2025
Autumn in August = High Volume, Full-Price Sales Labor Day falls on Monday, September 1st, and represents the unofficial end to the summer season. As consumers enjoy the final days of summer, many retailers have shifted their focus from clearing warm-weather categories to capturing early fall season sales. The weather will certainly help kickstart this …