MRI: Boost To Retail Footfall Last Week

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 18, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 28/04/2024 - 04/05/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: -0.5%
Week-on-week: +3.1%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: -0.7%
Week-on-week: +3.3%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: -1.3%
Week-on-week: +2.9%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: +0.7%
Week-on-week: +3.0%

Jenni Matthews, Marketing & Insights Director, OnLocation for Footfall Analytics at MRI Software, said: 

The lead up to the bank holiday weekend combined with the milder weather witnessed over the last week likely supported a boost in footfall across all UK retail destinations week on week. However, footfall remained marginally lower than 2023 levels which may well be as a result of the King’s Coronation celebrations taking place over the same weekend last year. Retail parks observed a marginal rise year on year however shopping centres and high streets witnessed the opposite. 

A strong week led to footfall rising each day from the week before in all destinations except for Friday. Retail parks and shopping centres saw a drop in activity on Saturday however high streets observed a rise on this day compared to the week prior. This upward trend coincided with an increase in visits to market, historic and coastal towns as Brits sought to enjoy the warm weather over the bank holiday weekend. All UK retail destinations benefitted from an uplift in activity in all regions with the South East (+4.7%) and East Midlands (+4.4%) recording the highest rises. 

Footfall rose by +3.1% last week from the week before in all UK retail destinations with high streets (+3.3%) recording the greatest uplift likely spurred by the warmer weather and many May Day Bank Holiday events taking place regionally especially in market and historic towns where footfall rose by +4.6% and +2.9%, respectively. Retail parks (+3%) and shopping centres (+2.9%) also witnessed a similar rise in activity from the week prior, however activity levels dropped on Saturday in both destination types which coincided with a significant boost in activity in coastal towns where footfall rose by +12.8% on Saturday alone, supporting the overall week on week rise of +4.1%. 

Annual footfall levels remained marginally lower by -0.7% in high streets and -1.3% in shopping centres. However, footfall in retail parks sat +0.7% higher than 2023 levels which is likely to have been encouraged by shoppers stocking up for barbecue and gardening essentials.

Looking ahead to this week, retail destinations that rely on footfall from those who travel in by train are likely to face disruption from the rail strike action, it is anticipated that footfall will remain lower week on week particularly within regional cities and Central London. Commuters into the city may choose to work from home therefore MRI Software’s Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark is likely to also see activity fall. However, with warm weather forecast for the next week, certain regions may benefit from a localised boost in footfall.

Source : MRI Software

Image : Olena Yakobchuk / shutterstock / 1230910540

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