MRI: Retail Footfall Dipped Slightly Last Week

MRI Software has published retail footfall data for week four (week beginning 19th January). 

Jenni Matthews, Marketing and Insights Director at MRI Software, said: 

Week 4 – SUN-SAT

Retail footfall dipped slightly last week from the week before following a strong rebound. However, despite this dip, a strong week emerged with five out of seven days recording week on week increases in footfall activity. High streets paved the way with a marginal uplift whereas both shopping centres and retail parks experienced declines. 

High street footfall rose from Sunday to Wednesday however this dropped on Thursday and Friday likely due to Storm Éowyn impacting northern parts of the UK. Encouragingly, activity recovered on Saturday despite strong winds persisting. Aside from Monday and Saturday, retail parks and shopping centres saw footfall decline on the days in between from the week before. 

All town types recorded strong week on week rises aside from coastal and market towns, and regional cities outside of London. Central London saw the strongest rise followed by MRI Software’s Central London Back to Office benchmark which is encouraging and may suggest more and more employees returning to offices. However, there were marginal declines recorded year on year in both locations which could be weather related.

At a regional level, the East of England saw strong performance compared to the week before however Scotland saw a sharp decline likely as a result of Storm Éowyn. Year on year, modest declines were recorded in all regions apart from Greater London and the South West where footfall rose slightly.

Footfall declined by -0.5% last week compared to the week before with retail parks (-1.9%) and shopping centres (-1.4%) leading this decline. High streets saw a marginal uplift of +0.6% which was likely due to a strong start to the week as footfall rose by an average of +4.1% from Sunday to Wednesday versus a marginal decline of -0.8% in both retail parks and shopping centres. Thursday and Friday saw footfall decline by an average of -7.4% in all UK retail destinations which may well be due to Storm Éowyn. 

Central London saw footfall rise by +3.4% from the week before as did office locations within the capital (+1.7%) suggesting the return to office remains strong. At a regional level, the East of England saw footfall rise by +4.9% week on week as did Greater London (+2.9%). Scotland, however, saw a sharp decline of -12.5%. Annually, the South West (+0.8%) and Greater London (+2.3%) were the only regions to record an uplift in activity.

Overall, footfall remained marginally lower in all UK retail destinations by -1.4% with high streets leading this drop (-1.5%). Retail parks and shopping centres also saw footfall decline year on year by -1.2%. Weather related events are likely to continue impacting retail footfall this week as a second storm - Storm Herminia – brings with it yellow warnings for much of the UK. 

Week 4 – MON-SUN

Retail footfall dipped slightly last week from the week before following a strong rebound. However, despite this dip, a strong week emerged with four out of seven days recording week on week increases in footfall activity.  

High street footfall rose from Sunday to Wednesday however this dropped on Thursday and Friday likely due to Storm Éowyn impacting northern parts of the UK. Encouragingly, activity recovered on Saturday despite strong winds persisting. Aside from Monday and Saturday, retail parks and shopping centres saw footfall decline on the days in between from the week before.

All town types recorded strong week on week rises aside from coastal and market towns, and regional cities outside of London. Central London saw the strongest rise followed by MRI Software’s Central London Back to Office benchmark which is encouraging and may suggest more and more employees returning to offices. However, there were marginal declines recorded year on year in both locations which could be weather related.

At a regional level, the East of England saw strong performance compared to the week before however Scotland saw a sharp decline likely as a result of Storm Éowyn. Year on year, modest declines were recorded in all regions apart from Greater London and the South West where footfall rose slightly. 

Overall, footfall remained marginally lower in all UK retail destinations with high streets leading the drop. Weather related events are likely to continue impacting retail footfall this week as a second storm - Storm Herminia – brings with it yellow warnings for much of the UK.

Source : MRI Software

Image : Jason Batterham / Shutterstock / 671551474

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