UK DIY News

MRI: Diwali, Half-Term And Hallowe'en Boost Retail Footfall

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 44, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 27/10/2024 - 02/11/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: +8.9%
Week-on-week: +6.9%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: +13.9%
Week-on-week: +8.0%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: +4.3%
Week-on-week: +7.9%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: +3.0%
Week-on-week: +3.3%

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

A spooktacular half-term week combined with Diwali celebrations and early fireworks events led to a week-on-week boost in footfall across all UK retail destinations for the second consecutive week highlighting the impact of the school holidays and events on driving visitors and shoppers to retail destinations. However, for context, it’s worth noting that in the same week last year, footfall had declined during the same period as schools had already reopened nationwide.

From Sunday to Friday, high streets saw the strongest daily gains compared to the week before with shopping centres following a similar trend. Retail parks also witnessed daily week on week rises however these were much more modest and may be due to half-term events taking place in shopping centres and high streets driving much of the footfall to these destinations.

All town types experienced substantial rises in footfall both year on year and compared to last week which is an indicator of the shift in the school half-term holidays. Coastal towns experienced the greatest rise suggesting many continued to getaway for what may be the final time this year before Christmas. Despite forecasted tube strikes for the end of the week, which were called off at the eleventh hour, footfall in the capital also remained strong particularly in office dense areas.

Regionally, Wales and Greater London saw strong performance week on week however the East of England saw double digit growth compared to 2023. The trends seen in Wales and Eastern parts of England may also align with the strong trends seen in coastal towns.

Footfall rose by +6.9% last week compared to the week before in all UK retail destinations; high streets drove much of this rise with an +8% rise in footfall recorded, followed closely by shopping centres (+7.9%). Retail parks also witnessed a week on week rise however this was much more modest at +3.3%.

A strong start to the week paved the way for a fruitful half-term for retailers as footfall rose by +16.1% in all UK retail destinations on Sunday, compared to the week prior. Shopping centres and high streets averaged a rise of +12% and +11.7%, respectively, from Sunday to Friday. Retail parks, however, saw a much more modest rise of +4.8% for the same time period.

Coastal towns were the clear winners last week as footfall rose by +10.5% from the week before but by almost a fifth compared to 2023 highlighting the impact of the school holidays on footfall in towns and cities across the UK. Historic and market towns also witnessed significant year on year rises of +13.1% and +10.5%, respectively. Footfall in Central London remained +7.4% higher week on week and +18.6% higher compared to last year despite the threat of tube strikes which were called off at the last minute.

All regions experienced growth both week on week and year on year; Wales saw a +13.8% rise in footfall from the week before as did Greater London (+7.2%). Annually, Eastern parts of England witnessed an +11.9% rise in activity.

With the shift in the school half-term holidays, footfall remained significantly higher than 2023 levels sitting at +8.9%; high streets led the charge with footfall rising by +13.9% compared to much more modest rises in shopping centres (+4.3%) and retail parks (+3%).