MRI: Marginal Rise In Retail Footfall Last Week

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 42, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 13/10/2024 - 19/10/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: +3.2%
Week-on-week: +0.4%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: +5.3%
Week-on-week: +0.7%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: +0.6%
Week-on-week: -0.2%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: +1.6%
Week-on-week: +0.3%

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

Retail footfall rose marginally last week from the week before which may well be the calm before the school half term break descends across some parts of the UK. Encouragingly, footfall levels were much higher than 2023 which is likely to be due to weather conditions being relatively mild last week compared to the same time last year when Storm Babet was in full force causing major travel disruptions across the UK.

A mixed week emerged for all retail destinations with footfall declining on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but strong week on week rises were recorded on the days in between leading to a steady week overall. Retail parks experienced a relatively consistent week with week on week rises recorded from Monday to Thursday.

Coastal towns and market towns witnessed the strongest week on week rises in footfall which may well be due to holidaymakers taking vacations ahead of the school half term holidays, whereas areas within London all witnessed marginal declines when compared with the week before. Regionally, Scotland and northern parts of the UK, including Yorkshire, experienced strong week on week rises versus a decline in Wales.

Footfall rose by +0.4% last week from the week before bolstered by a +0.7% rise in high street activity and by +0.3% in retail parks. Shopping centres, however, saw a marginal decline of -0.2%. It was a week of two halves across all UK retail destinations with footfall declining week on week by an average of -2.5% on three out of the seven days. High streets witnessed strong rises on Monday (+7.4%) and Saturday (+3.8%) whereas retail parks saw steady performance from Monday to Thursday with footfall rising by an average of +1.2%. However, shopping centres experienced marginal declines on five out of the seven days averaging a -0.9% drop week on week.

Out of all of the town types monitored by MRI Software, coastal and market towns saw footfall levels rise from the week before by +2.7% and +2%, respectively, compared with marginal declines across all parts of London leading to an average decline of -0.4%. Scotland (+4.7%) and northern parts of the UK (+1.3%) witnessed strong week on week rises compared with marginal declines in other parts of the UK.

Compared to 2023 levels, footfall remained +3.2% higher in all UK retail destinations. This was mainly driven by a +5.3% rise in high streets followed by a +1.6% rise in retail parks, whereas shopping centres witnessed a marginal rise of +0.6%. This highlights the annual recovery from Storm Babet a year ago. However, retail stores and destinations should remain cautious, as frequently changing weather conditions at this time of year can still disrupt travel and deter shoppers, especially at outdoor locations.

Source : MRI Software

Image : monkeybusinessimages / iStock / 496648303

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