MRI: Retail Footfall Recovered Last Week

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 40, covering Sunday to Saturday, the week 29/09/2024 - 05/10/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: -1.0%
Week-on-week: +1.4%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: -3.1%
Week-on-week: +1.6%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: +0.8%
Week-on-week: +1.0%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: +1.7%
Week-on-week: +1.6%

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

Retail footfall across the UK recovered last week, bouncing back from the disruption caused by heavy rainfall and flooding in the week prior. 

Despite a weak start, high streets experienced the greatest bounce back which was largely boosted by Thursday’s performance; the day most affected by the adverse weather in the week before last. Retail parks and shopping centres also witnessed a strong week with rises recorded on five out of the seven days last week. 

While coastal towns continued to see a week on week decline, it was encouraging to see footfall recover in office locations within Central London. Historic towns also witnessed a strong bounce back however regional cities outside of London experienced a modest week on week decline in activity which may well be linked to lingering travel disruptions from the previous week’s severe flooding. 

Footfall recovery was strong across most regions, except for North & Yorkshire, where there was a slight decline. The East of England and South East, in particular, experienced strong week on week rises. 

Footfall rose by +1.4% in all UK retail destinations last week from the week before with high streets and retail parks leading the charge with a +1.6% rise compared with a lesser rise of +1% in shopping centres. 

A weak start emerged for high streets with footfall declining by an average of -10.6% on Monday and Tuesday which may well be due to inclement weather conditions continuing across the UK. However, there was improvement as the week progressed with the greatest rise recorded on Thursday (+13.6%) likely to be a rebound from the week before when it declined by -11.7% on that day. Retail parks and shopping centres also witnessed a relatively strong week, aside from modest declines recorded on Tuesday and Friday.

Regional trends revealed a strong recovery in all UK retail destinations apart from North & Yorkshire where there was a marginal decline of -0.5%. The East of England (+5.1%) and South East (+4%) witnessed the most significant recovery which is to be expected as these were regions that were likely to have been the worst hit when heavy rain and flooding occurred in the week before last. 

Overall, footfall remained -1% lower than 2023 levels which was driven by a drop in high street activity (-3.1%). Retail parks and shopping centres, however, saw modest rises of +1.7% and +0.8% respectively, which is an improvement from last week where declines were recorded across the board.

Source :  MRI Software

Image : Lakeside shopping centre / Steve Bateman / iStock / 1455493971 

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