MRI: Retail Footfall Drops As Schools Reopen

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 45, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 03/11/2024 - 09/11/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: -1.2%
Week-on-week: -8.4%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: +0.2%
Week-on-week: -10.0%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: -4.4%
Week-on-week: -10.4%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: -1.0%
Week-on-week: -3.0%

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

Last week saw a sharp drop in retail footfall across the UK as schools fully reopened, with high streets and shopping centres hit hardest both recording double digit declines week on week. This follows a similar trend to last year however the drop was much more prominent this time around.

Daily footfall declined steadily from Sunday through Friday, with Wednesday witnessing the greatest drop. High streets and shopping centres experienced the steepest falls, while retail parks saw much more modest declines. A boost in activity on Saturday, however, suggests early signs of Christmas shopping, aligning with the sentiment recorded by MRI Software’s Insights from the Inside* four weeks ago where 68% of retailers stated they have noticed shoppers starting to shop for the festive season already.

All town types recorded significant week on week declines with coastal towns naturally seeing the greatest drop following the school half term break. MRI Software’s Back to Office benchmark followed behind which may be due to the planned tube strikes that were called off at the last minute. Many employees may have already made alternative arrangements to avoid travelling into the city to avoid these disruptions and likely continued with these.

Despite the week-on-week declines, footfall remained higher compared to 2023 levels particularly in regional cities outside of London suggesting a strong return to office which remains unaffected by travel disruptions. Festive markets and Christmas light displays are also starting to take place which could be driving footfall into towns and cities during the working day, after work and also at weekends.

Footfall across UK retail destinations took a hit last week, dropping by -8.4% from the week prior. High streets (-10%) and shopping centres (-10.4%) felt the full force of this, while retail parks saw a much more modest dip at -3%.

High streets and shopping centres experienced double digit declines each day from Sunday to Friday compared to the week before with a severe drop recorded on Wednesday of -15.9% and -18%, respectively. This downward trend did soften as the week progressed with footfall levels rising by +6.8% on Saturday across all UK retail destinations; this could be a nod to the start of consumers preparing for the festive season.

Naturally, coastal towns recorded the steepest week on week drop in activity of -19.9% following the school half term break with office dense locations in the capital following behind with a -12.3% decline in footfall compared to the week before but saw a +1.2% rise from last year. Regional cities outside of London, however, remained resilient and unaffected by travel disruptions recording a strong year on year rise in activity of +7.4%.

Overall, footfall remained marginally lower compared to last year in retail parks. (-1%) and shopping centres (-4.4%) whereas high streets experienced a slight uplift of +0.2%.

* A weekly survey of over 700 store managers which provides insights from the shop floor around how external factors and consumer behaviour are impacting both footfall and spending.

Source : MRI Software

Image : IR Stone / shutterstock / 237523528

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