Overall Retail Footfall Decline In Week 14

MRI Software has published its latest OnLocation Index for week 14, covering Sunday to Saturday, 31/03/2023 - 04/04/2024.

Overall

2024 vs 2023: -10.1%
Week-on-week: -5.3%

High Street

2024 vs 2023: -9.3%
Week-on-week: -2.0%

Shopping Centre

2024 vs 2023: -12.0%
Week-on-week: -8.1%

Retail Park

2024 vs 2023: -9.8%
Week-on-week: -9.7%

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

Inevitably, footfall declined last week given the significant rises witnessed in the week before last in the lead up to Easter weekend. Much of this decline can be attributed to the subdued activity on Easter Sunday, both week on week and year on year, as a result of all retail stores and destinations remaining closed. 

Easter Monday delivered a strong start to the week for retail parks suggesting many consumers had ventured out to either replenish groceries or bank holiday DIY essentials. This momentum continued for all retail destinations on Tuesday before deteriorating for the remainder of the week in retail parks but strengthening in high streets and shopping centres. Friday and Saturday saw footfall decline in all retail destinations coinciding with Storm Kathleen and rail strikes causing disruption across parts of the UK.

As forecasted, coastal towns bucked the trend with a rise in footfall week on week whereas Central London surprisingly witnessed a marginal rise from the week before which may be a result of the tube strikes being called off at the last minute. Expectedly, MRI Software’s Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark witnessed a decline in footfall last week from the week before emphasising the Easter school holidays and many people taking vacation.

Annually, footfall declined significantly in all UK retail destinations by double digits with the most severe drop witnessed in UK shopping centres.

Footfall declined by -5.3% in all UK retail destinations last week led by a significant drop in retail park activity (-9.7%) followed by shopping centres (-8.1%). This drop is anticipated given the greater increases witnessed last week particularly in the lead up to Easter weekend where footfall rose by almost a fifth on Good Friday. High streets witnessed a lesser decline of -2% week on week however this wipes out all of the gains made in the week before last when activity rose by +1.9%. 

Retail parks witnessed a strong start to the week with footfall rising on Monday by +16.6% week on week however this naturally deteriorated from Wednesday onwards in response to the surge in activity witnessed in the week leading up to Easter. High streets witnessed week on week rises in footfall from Tuesday to Thursday averaging +6.3%. This deteriorated on Friday and Saturday with activity declining by an average of -3.8% likely to be in response to the uplift on Good Friday and Saturday (30th March) but possibly worsened by Storm Kathleen and the start of the rail strikes. Shopping centres saw a similar trend to high streets with footfall rising by an average of +10.8% on Tuesday and Wednesday but declining from Thursday to Saturday by an average of -7.6%.

Coastal towns were the clear winners last week witnessing a week-on-week uplift of +2.1% in footfall suggesting the Easter school holidays are well under way. Central London, surprisingly saw a marginal uplift in activity with footfall rising by +0.8% which may be due to many choosing to take day trips into the city as part of the holidays especially with tube strikes being called off. Unsurprisingly, office locations within the city (Central London ‘Back to Office’ benchmark) saw footfall decline by -3.4% week on week highlighting the true impact of the Easter school holidays.

The decline in footfall year on year reached double digits as footfall fell by -10.1% in all UK retail destinations. The most severe drop was seen in UK shopping centres as activity fell by -12% compared with slightly lesser declines in retail parks (-9.8%) and high streets (-9.3%). However, it’s worth noting that this comparison will be against the week leading up to Easter last year and may also be exacerbated by results in the latter part of the week as a result of the stormy weather and rail strikes.

Source : MRI Software

Image : monkeybusinessimages / iStockphoto.com / 496648303

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