Last year on Black Friday, millions of Facebook ($FB) users were at stores snatching up deals. At the same time, Facebook tracked their check-ins, mobile device shares, and photo location tags made at those stores, aggregating them all into a "were here" count that acts as a foot traffic metric.
Like all Facebook metrics in our database, the were here count updates at midnight of that day. Therefore, looking at the difference between the were here count on Black Friday and the day after gives us an idea of the businesses that were booming on one of the busiest shopping day of the year.
Here were the businesses that saw the biggest percentage increase in foot traffic on Black Friday last year.
| Facebook Username | Were Here Count (Black Friday) | Were Here Count (Day After) | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| victoriassecret | 22,809 | 24,386 | 1,577 | 6.47% |
| CasasBahia | 39,967 | 40,867 | 900 | 2.20% |
| joescrabshack | 41,109 | 41,820 | 711 | 1.70% |
| carters | 23,914 | 24,294 | 380 | 1.56% |
| achotels | 22,091 | 22,360 | 269 | 1.20% |
| familiaextra | 96,473 | 97,558 | 1,085 | 1.11% |
| fridaysesp | 36,766 | 37,176 | 410 | 1.10% |
| CrownCenter | 184,742 | 186,602 | 1,860 | 1.00% |
| GreyhoundBus | 49,243 | 49,693 | 450 | 0.91% |
| IdealImage | 11,524 | 11,623 | 99 | 0.85% |
Victoria's Secret ($LB) saw the most dramatic change in foot traffic last year on Black Friday, seeing an increase of 6.47% between November 24 and November 25, 2017. Usually, the lingerie outfitter throws in free products or gift cards with select purchases on this day, which is decent, but not as attractive to more frugal shoppers who wait for the company's huge semi-annual sales.
Given Victoria's Secret's current state of affairs — sliding sales, backlash over CMO Ed Razek's plus size and transgender model comments, Jan Singer resigning from its CEO position, and a recent cut to their annual dividend— Victoria's Secret may be far from a winner this year.
Other retailers that saw large foot traffic increases were Brazilian furniture store Casas Bahia ($OTCBB:GBXPY), children and baby clothier Carter's ($CRI), and the Crown Center mall in Kansas City. Greyhound Bus ($LON:FGP) also saw a foot traffic increase, most likely due to people trying to find their way back home after visiting with family for the holiday.
And for some reason, people who didn't have enough turkey on Thanksgiving went to Joe's Crab Shack the day after to munch on as many crab legs as they could eat.
Black Friday means plenty of green for the silver screen
| Facebook Username | Were Here Count (Black Friday) | Were Here Count (Day After) | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RegalMovies | 37,584,278 | 37,621,901 | 37,623 | 0.10% |
| cinemark | 21,650,236 | 21,678,607 | 28,371 | 0.13% |
| premiumoutlets | 6,570,589 | 6,598,676 | 28,087 | 0.43% |
| hilton | 20,321,193 | 20,335,258 | 14,065 | 0.07% |
| walmart | 18,769,888 | 18,783,494 | 13,606 | 0.07% |
| McDonalds | 29,417,671 | 29,430,446 | 12,775 | 0.04% |
| McDonaldsUS | 29,417,671 | 29,430,446 | 12,775 | 0.04% |
| IHOP | 5,427,626 | 5,439,944 | 12,318 | 0.23% |
| planetfitness | 10,189,821 | 10,201,929 | 12,108 | 0.12% |
| Starbucks | 35,565,928 |
35,576,842 |
10,914 |
0.03% |
In terms of raw posts, Regal Cinemas ($LON:CINE) and Cinemark ($CNK) theaters saw the biggest change in foot traffic on Black Friday. With many workers taking the day off after Thanksgiving, they apparently had time to take their kids to see Coco, the Disney ($DIS) movie that dropped the day before Thanksgiving, or other big fall releases Wonder and Justice League.
Outside of movie theaters, the Simon Premium Outlets ($SPG) saw over 28,000 people check-in to Facebook while shopping, and had the biggest percentage change in foot traffic among the top-ten businesses. At a place where deep discounts only get deeper on Black Friday, consumers flock to the outlets alongside traditional retailers.
We'll check-in (no pun intended) with this year's results during Cyber Monday.
