Footfall rises ahead of Christmas but remains lower than 2023 levels

Footfall rose for the second consecutive week last week across all UK retail destinations with retail parks and shopping centres paving the way, according to MRI Software’s new data. However, levels were still considerably lower than the same week last year.

For the week to 22 December, footfall rose by +4.6% in all UK retail destinations last week compared to the week before; by +8.5% in retail parks, +7.8% in shopping centres and +1.3% in high streets.

Activity levels peaked on Thursday and Friday by an average of +16.1% in retail parks and +17.6% in shopping centres. This was much more subdued in high streets where footfall rose by +5.5% for the same time period.

The momentum carried into the weekend for retail parks where footfall rose by +9.2% in retail parks, however shopping centres and high streets saw a decline of -0.5% and -11.6%, respectively.

While footfall dropped week on week in historic towns (-6.9%) and office locations within Central London (-4.5%), market towns and Greater London saw strong rises of +8.5% and +8.1%, respectively.

Regionally, the South East (+10.1%), East Midlands (+8.5%) and East of England (+7.9%) experienced the greatest increases in footfall from the week before. However, all town types and regions failed to surpass annual levels.

Office locations within the capital, as measured by MRI Software’s ‘Back to Office’ benchmark, recorded a -4.5% decline week on week which could be an indicator that many employees may have chosen to work from home last week if they hadn’t already finished for the Christmas holidays.

As the final two trading days before Christmas get underway, MRI’s report suggested that retailers should be prepared for a surge in shopper activity.