UK DIY News

MRI: Half Term Contributes To Week-On-Week Footfall Uplift

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 43, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 20/10/2024 - 26/10/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: -3.5%
Week-on-week: +2.1%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: -2.8%
Week-on-week: +2.2%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: -6.6%
Week-on-week: +3.2%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: -1.6%
Week-on-week: +0.7%

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

As the school half term holidays broke for many across the UK, retail destinations benefitted from a week-on-week uplift in footfall, especially in shopping centres and high streets. Retail parks also experienced a rise in activity however this was much more modest. Despite this uplift, footfall levels remained significantly lower compared to the same period in 2023, likely due to the strong recovery witnessed in the same week last year following Storm Babet.

Footfall in high streets and shopping centres strengthened steadily as the week progressed with particularly strong activity recorded across the board on Tuesday and Wednesday. Retail parks, however, witnessed week on week rises on only four out of the seven days suggesting that half term activities hosted by towns and cities and shopping centres were much more effective in driving visitors to these destinations.

Regional cities outside of London and coastal towns saw strong week on week gains which could be an indicator of where the school half term holiday took place regionally. Coastal towns followed a trend similar to that of previous years and may well signal the final getaway for many families before the Christmas break. The East Midlands and South West experienced the greatest week on week rises however Scotland experienced a significant drop which may well reflect the reopening of schools in this region.

Overall, retail footfall rose by +2.1% last week from the week before with shopping centres leading the charge recording a rise of +3.2%. High streets and retail parks followed with much more modest rises of +2.2% and +0.7%, respectively.

The start of the week (Sunday) saw footfall fall by -7.9%, compared to the week before, in all retail destinations however this was quickly offset with rises recorded from Monday onwards, particularly in high streets and shopping centres. These gains peaked on Tuesday and Wednesday averaging a rise of +6.7% and +6.3% respectively. Retail parks, however, saw more modest rises from Tuesday to Friday only.

With the school half term holidays well under way, regional cities outside of the capital and coastal towns experienced the greatest week on week rises of +5% and +3.7%, respectively. The East Midlands also benefitted from footfall levels rising by +4.3%, which may also coincide with families preparing for religious celebrations including Diwali. Scotland was the only region to see footfall decline last week by -4% from the week before suggesting the end of the half term holidays in that area.

While a strong week emerged for retail footfall, compared to the year prior, activity remained -3.5% lower than 2023. This was mainly driven by a downturn in shopping centres (-6.6%) whereas high streets and retail parks witnessed much more modest declines of -2.8% and -1.6%, respectively. This is likely to be a sign of levels normalising following the strong recovery last year after Storm Babet.