Online shopping traffic up by 82%, says new Verizon report

Verizon Business on Thursday released its Business Retail Trends report. The seventh edition of the report highlights the growth in online sales during the holiday season. It also attributes to the Covid-19 restrictions and concerns for the surge in online sales. 

The Verizon Business Retail Trends report is based on a sampling of traffic to 20 of the top 100 retailers, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), comparing the first week of November 2019 to the first week of November 2020.

According to the report, there was an 82% increase in data traffic for the first week of November year-over-year. It also pointed out that mobility traffic to and around the US’ largest malls have declined dramatically from last year. The report says people are moving to and around malls 20% less than they did last year during early November. There was a 28% increase in usage of payment sites as compared to last year. 

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“Our report confirms what we expected to be true, significant shifts continue from in-person, brick and mortar shopping to online shopping,” said Michele Dupre, VP of Sales Vertical Markets, Retail and Hospitality for Verizon Business. 

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“What’s surprising and promising for retail stores is while mobility around U.S. malls is down from last year, it’s up significantly at 59% since the height of the pandemic. Online retailers will need to continue to invest in creative and innovative customer experiences, to capture revenue and offset lost sales from in-person shopping,” he added.