In a slightly backwards attempt to fend off holiday crowds during the pandemic, big box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy shut their doors on Thanksgiving, and promptly reopened them for Black Friday. Store closures somewhat stalled foot traffic, which dropped 52.1% compared with last year, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions. On Thanksgiving Day, retail foot traffic fell by 94.9% year-over-year, Sensormatic Solutions reports. Week-to-date, traffic is down 45.2% across the US.
Even still, the stores that closed on Thanksgiving are the same ones that saw the most activity the following morning. These ten retailers had the highest Facebook 'Were Here' counts on Black Friday this year. Facebook's Were Here count measures how many check-ins, mobile device shares, status updates, comments, and photo location tags have been created at a business.
10. Best Buy ($BBY)
Facebook Were Here Count: 1.28 Million
Facebook Mentions: 44,426
Safety Precautions: Masks required inside the store, limited capacity, curbside pickup, digital queue system, new "Customer Experience Host" position for managing any lines outside
Related: New data shows Best Buy may focus on high-end in order to survive
9. Barnes and Noble ($BKS)
Facebook Were Here Count: 1.54 Million
Facebook Mentions: 3,063
Safety Precautions: Masks required inside the store, limited capacity, curbside and in-store pickup, social distancing measures, protective barriers at registers
Related: America is reading more in quarantine, but indie booksellers are missing out
8. PetSmart ($PRIVATE:PETSMART)
Facebook Were Here Count: 1.65 Million
Facebook Mentions: 3,434
Safety Precautions: Masks required inside the store, curbside pickup, social distancing measures, protective barriers at registers
Related: Pandemic pet adoption is on the rise, PetSmart data shows
7. Walgreens ($WBA)
Facebook Were Here Count: 2.09 Million
Facebook Mentions: 9,136
Safety Precautions: Masks required inside the store, curbside pickup, social distancing measures, protective barriers at registers
Related: Battle of the Drones: How CVS and Walgreens' upcoming drone delivery coverage compares
6. Sam's Club ($WMT)
Facebook Were Here Count: 3.39 Million
Facebook Mentions: 35,205
Safety Precautions: Masks required inside the store, curbside pickup, social distancing measures, modified hours, protective barriers at registers, Black Friday deals extended to last nine days
5. Bass Pro Shops ($PRIVATE:BASSPROSHOPS)
Facebook Were Here Count: 4.21 Million
Facebook Mentions: 32,713
Safety Precautions: Extended sales period, social distancing measures, "contactless" Santa photos, limited store capacity, curbside pickup
4. Costco ($COST)
Facebook Were Here Count: 4.29 Million
Facebook Mentions: 33,817
Safety Precautions: Extended sales period, masks required, social distancing measures, limited menu at Costco Food Courts, Special Operating Hours for customers ages 60 and older and those with disabilities or who are immunocompromised, reduced service in some departments
Related: Grocery Delivery Wars: Can traditional chains beat Instacart at its own game?
3. Home Depot ($HD)
Facebook Were Here Count: 4.90 Million
Facebook Mentions: 85,094
Safety Precautions: Extended sales period, masks required, social distancing measures, "online only" deals, curbside pickup
2. Target ($TGT)
Facebook Were Here Count: 5.17 Million
Facebook Mentions: 123,977
Safety Precautions: Extended sales period, masks required, social distancing measures, curbside pickup, limited store capacity, contactless payment via the Target app, customers can reserve spots in line ahead of time
1. Walmart ($WMT)
Facebook Were Here Count: 22.86 Million
Facebook Mentions: 430,573
Safety Precautions: Extended sales period, masks required, social distancing measures, curbside pickup, limited store capacity, sanitized shopping carts. “Health Ambassadors” stationed at entrances
Related: Here's how much foot traffic spiked at Walmart, Target, and Costco at the start of the pandemic
Meanwhile, e-commerce spending jumped 21.6% on Black Friday, a new record, according to data from Adobe Analytics. Black Friday 2020 marks the second-largest online spending day in US history (after Cyber Monday last year) with online shoppers racking up $9 billion worth of purchases.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online, jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings, and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
