Footfall dropped in all UK retail destinations following a surge in the week of Black Friday. High streets, which experienced the most significant uplift during that week and saw the sharpest drop last week however this is most likely driven by a natural post Black Friday slowdown combined with the disruption of Storm Darragh, which hit over the weekend.
A week of two halves emerged with all retail destinations experiencing strong week-on-week rises from Sunday to Wednesday however there was a stark contrast from Thursday. Footfall declined significantly from Thursday to Saturday with shopping centres and high streets feeling the force of this. Saturday, in particular, saw high streets experience footfall fall by almost a third which coincided with the arrival of Storm Darragh and many weather warnings in force urging people to stay home and avoid travel.
Coastal towns, naturally, experienced the greatest decline followed by regional cities outside of London. Many festive markets and events in towns and cities decided to close for the day following the warnings in place which will have impacted footfall greatly over the weekend. Regionally, Wales and North & Yorkshire were the areas hardest hit and reflective of where the storm was concentrated.
Footfall declined by -3.8 per cent in all UK retail destinations compared to last week. This was led by a -4.9 per cent drop in high streets followed by a -3 per cent drop in shopping centres. Retail parks witnessed a much more modest decline of -2.4 per cent. Last week’s trends resulted mainly from the second half of the week (Thursday to Saturday) where footfall fell by an average of -12.2 per cent across all UK retail destinations compared with a rise averaging +6.1per cent in the first half of the week. High streets bore the brunt with footfall declining by an average of -15.2 per cent from Thursday to Saturday as shoppers sought out sheltered retail environments or chose to stay home, however much of this decline is also likely to be a natural drop-off from the surge on Black Friday last week and the Saturday which followed. Shopping centres and retail parks appeared to be slightly more resilient with declines averaging -10.9 per cent and -7.2 per cent, respectively, for the same time period.
Regionally, Wales saw footfall drop by -9 per cent week-on-week followed by North & Yorkshire (-5.9 per cent). Compared to last year, all regions recorded an uplift in activity aside from Wales and the South-West where footfall declined by -11.3 per cent and -2.8 per cent, respectively. Coastal towns also saw a significant week-on-week decline of -10.4 per cent as did regional cities outside of London (-5.7 per cent) however levels remained higher than 2023 which may well have been due to the strong activity recorded from Sunday to Wednesday.
Despite the impact of Storm Darragh over the weekend, footfall remained +0.4 per cent higher than 2023. Retail parks led the charge with a +3.1 per cent rise year-on-year which may well be due to shoppers choosing enclosed environments with a choice of brands and free parking if they did choose to go out. High streets (-0.2 per cent) and shopping centres (-1 per cent), however, witnessed marginal declines from the same week last year.
With only two full trading weeks until Christmas, this resilience is encouraging for the retail sector to see. It’s anticipated that footfall will bounce back once the storm subsides and shoppers will return to full force enjoying the festivities.
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