UK footfall dips amid rail strikes and adverse weather
Footfall across all UK retail destinations saw a modest decline of -1.1% last week, 3-9 December, compared to the week before, impacted by nationwide rail strikes and unfavourable weather.
That was mainly driven by a weekly footfall drop of -1.7% in high streets and -1.1% in retail parks. Shopping centres, however, witnessed a marginal uplift of +0.3%.
There was also a more significant drop of -5% across all retail destinations last week compared to the corresponding week in 2022, with year-on-year footfall falling -7.1% in high streets, -4.5% in shopping centres and -0.9% in retail parks. That also “reinforces restraints in consumers’ spending power” as Christmas gets closer, according to the latest data from retail analysts MRI Software.
Despite such a challenging week, the gap from the pre-pandemic 2019 level narrowed marginally to -13.7% across all UK retail destinations.
Additionally, MRI Software anticipates an uplift in footfall this week - especially in the lead up to what could be the busiest Saturday of the year, usually dubbed as ‘Super Saturday’, “suggesting consumer confidence will hold strong this festive season”.
Jenni Matthews, Marketing and Insights Director at MRI Software, said: “Last week’s rail strike action affected different regions on different days and ultimately meant that each region was affected apart from the South East and Greater London which witnessed marginal uplifts from the week before.
“Surprisingly, Central London and MRI Software’s Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark highlighted an uplift in footfall from the week before which suggests that there was very little disruption apart from on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, this meant that regional commuter hubs outside of London witnessed a greater impact with footfall declining from the week before.
“As we approach the final two shopping weeks before Christmas, the retail analysts at MRI Software anticipate an uplift in footfall this week especially in the lead up to what could be the busiest Saturday of the year, usually dubbed as ‘Super Saturday’.
“Normally this tends to be the Saturday before Christmas Eve, however this year that falls on 23 December and many people may decide to use this day to make their festive getaway to maximise time spent with families, using the days leading up to the 23rd to finish their festive shopping.”
Image: PA
