On both Black Friday and Thanksgiving this year, the top 500 retail websites recorded decreases in their share of US visits year over year, according to Experian Hitwise.
The share of US visits to those retail sites fell a full 15% on Thanksgiving Day 2009 from Thanksgiving 2008 levels, and on Black Friday their traffic share was down 9% from a year earlier.
However, traffic to Black Friday websites (those that point to Black Friday deals) on Black Friday 2009 was up 9% from last year—though the day before, on Thanksgiving, visits to Black Friday sites was down 4% from a year earlier, Hitwise said.
Retail Traffic on Black Friday
Black Friday traffic to the top 500 retail websites was up 4% from the previous day (Thanksgiving) this year.
For the second consecutive year, Amazon was the most visited retail website on Black Friday 2009, this year receiving 13.55% of US visits among the top 500 retail websites, followed by Wal-Mart (11.18%), Target (5.65%), and BestBuy (4.62%).
Among the top 20 websites this year, the following were to top 3 in traffic growth between Black Friday and Thanksgiving:
- Visits to Apple increased 110%.
- Visits to Staples increased 47%.
- Visits to Dell increased 40%.
Traffic from Black Friday Websites
Wal-Mart was the top site to receive traffic from Black Friday sites on Black Friday 2009, with a 32% increase in such traffic compared with 2008 levels. It received 5.34% of US visits from Black Friday sites, up from 4.06% last year.
Target, with 2.02% of US visits from Black Friday websites, received the largest year-over-year bump in traffic: 110%.
Thanksgiving Day 2009
For the fifth consecutive year, Wal-Mart was the most-visited retail website on Thanksgiving Day, this year receiving 14.97% of US visits among the top 500 retail websites, followed by Amazon (12.41%), BestBuy (6.22%), and Target (5.63%).
Among the top 20 retail websites, most recorded year-over-year growth in Thanksgiving Day traffic. The top 3 with traffic share gains:
- Old Navy's share of traffic increased 59%.
- Amazon's traffic share increased 30%.
- Target's share increased 28%.
Thanksgiving Day Traffic from Black Friday Websites
Wal-Mart received the most online traffic from Black Friday websites on Thanksgiving Day, with an 11% increase in share of visits from such sites compared with 2008.
Misc. Thanksgiving Day Stats
Visits to Facebook increased 671% on Thanksgiving Day 2009 compared with Thanksgiving Day 2008.
Global retail traffic on Thanksgiving Day 2009 peaked at approximately 2 PM EST (11/26/09) with 5,732,966 visitors, and North America traffic peaked at approximately 10 PM EST with 4,095,242 visitors, according to Akamai Technologies.
