Festive shopping boosts footfall 6.1% in December

Footfall across UK retail destinations rose by +6.1% from November to December as poor weather conditions, rail disruption and the cost of living crisis failed to deter festive shoppers.

According to the latest data from MRI Software, December was predominantly boosted by the fourth week of the month, the final trading week before Christmas day, with footfall rising by +11.2% across all UK retail destinations.

Shopping centres led the charge with a rise in footfall of +11.1% in December from November followed by retail parks (+5.9%) and high streets (+3.7%).

Compared with 2022, footfall rose marginally by +0.2% across all UK retail destinations, however this was largely driven by activity in high streets where footfall rose by +1.2% versus a modest rise of +0.1% in retail parks, whereas shopping centres witnessed a decline of -1.9%.

The month of December witnessed an improvement in footfall performance from the 2019 level as it narrowed to -10.4% across all UK retail destinations, which was the second best result recorded for the year following June’s result when it was -8.6% lower than 2019.

In high streets this narrowed to -11.4% from -12.6% in the month before, shopping centres witnessed an improvement to -16.7% from -17.1% in November and retail parks also noticed this improve to -1.5% from -2.2% in the month prior.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Boxing Day footfall was +4% higher than Boxing Day 2022, primarily driven by high streets (+8.8%) whereas retail parks and shopping centres both experienced a year-on-year decline of -1%.

Despite the increase, footfall on Boxing Day remained -14.9% lower than 2019 levels, indicating continued travel or the growing trend to use this day to shop online which may have even started as soon as Christmas Day.

MRI also predicts that as we look ahead to January, a natural post-Christmas slump is anticipated, with footfall projected to decline in the region of -20% to -25%. Weather warnings and a one week delay in the return to school for many regions across the UK, may lead to subdued footfall at the start of the month.

However, this should improve as the month progresses, compared with 2023 levels, particularly with more and more employees returning to offices. The financial constraints felt in the latter part of 2023 for many consumers are likely to continue into the early part of 2024 which may also impact footfall in UK retail destinations.