The February footfall reports are coming in and after MRI Software’s assessment on Thursday that footfall was down marginally, the British Retail Consortium on Friday was a bit more upbeat, pointing to a “small bounce”.
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But that bounce was very small — amounting to almost flat figures — and coming after a much busier January, February’s figures weren’t exactly exciting.
The BRC-Sensormatic Footfall Monitor is calculated using precise shopper numbers entering retail stores across the UK and it showed total footfall up 0.2% year on year. That was lower than the 6.6% jump seen in January.
High street footfall rose 0.1% (down from January’s +4.5%), while retail parks were up 2% (+7.9% in January) and shopping centres rose 0.1% (+7.4% in January).
Wales was the most buoyant of the four UK nations with a 2.7% increase while England rose only 0.2%. But Northern Ireland and Scotland dipped slightly, by 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
BRC CEO Helen Dickinson highlighted that “footfall increased for the second consecutive month, with retail parks continuing to outperform other retail destinations. The variety of larger retail outlets and the option of free parking enticed customers to visit retail parks over their local high street or shopping centre, which saw only marginal improvements. Strong investment in retail parks and fewer empty stores has led to consistent positive shopper traffic over the past year”.
And Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic, added: “After January’s jump-start, retail footfall in February stalled, with retailers seeing only the slimmest improvements compared to 2024 last month.
“While the good news is that shopper counts remained steady, many would have been hoping for a more substantial leap building off a strong start to the year.
“Retail Parks, consistently one of the top performers in 2024, once again outstripped other retail destinations in February, as the convenience and choice built into their retail offerings again proved popular with customers. With Easter falling late and well into April this year, this will, undoubtedly, put added pressure on retailers as we head into March.”
