Walmart saw a big dip in customers shopping at its stores on Black Friday this year, study finds. Instead, they may have been flocking to the retailer's website.

• According to Placer.ai, Walmart saw a decline in in- store traffic.

• Walmart got more search traffic than its competitors.

• Early online and in-person deals were offered by the retailer.

Black Friday used to be a time when shoppers would flock to stores. This year, the world's largest retailer experienced that.

According to estimates from Placer.ai, Walmart saw a dip in traffic this Black Friday compared to last. According to Placer.ai, Target and Lowe's saw a decline in foot traffic on Black Friday.

It doesn't mean that people aren't shopping at Walmart and its competitors. According to a study by Semrush, global online searches for the term "Black Friday deals" were up 246.6% this year.

According to a CNBC review of data in November, Walmart was the leader in online searches leading up to Black Friday. Walmart saw a huge spike in Black Friday searches.

Black Friday is an example of how the Arkansas-based retail giant is trying to balance its traditional brick-and-mortar approach with a surge in online sales.

Walmart wouldn't comment on its Black Friday performance.

The retailer ran a full-court press on its Black Friday sales, offering three online-only days of deals earlier in November.

During the early days of the coronaviruses epidemic, the world hunkered down and mostly went online to shop. Walmart US sales increased in the second quarter of 2020. The growth of Walmart US e-commerce sales has slowed this year.

Walmart still gets a boost from Black Friday. According to Placer.ai data, Black Friday brought a 77.1% increase in shoppers at Walmart stores across the nation.

In comparison to a Black Friday that was limited by rising COVID cases, and an active effort by retailers to shift focus away from the retail holiday, brick-and- mortar visits were down nearly across the board. The data shows that Black Friday's importance is declining. A huge surge in visits occurred on the day.

Despite the drop in physical-store visits, the day seemed to bear fruit for Walmart.

It is getting harder and harder to figure out how individual stores are doing over Black Friday. Overall, the high-level reports I've seen have been positive for Walmart.

If you have a tip about Walmart, please let us know. Ben can be reached by email at btobin@insider.com or by text at 498-9171.

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