Weekly footfall fluctuates between Black Friday and Storm Darragh

Footfall across UK retail destinations presented a story in two halves for the week to December 8, 2024, as a late Black Friday helped boost figures before Storm Darragh ravaged the nation.

All retail destinations experienced strong week-on-week rises from Sunday to Wednesday, however this starkly contrasted figures from Thursday onwards, when shopping centres and high streets took a dramatic storm-related hit.

During these three days, all destinations recorded a total footfall decrease of 12.2 percent–high street footfall notably declining 15.2 percent–down from a rise averaging 6.1 percent in the first half of the week.

This was largely due to people being urged to stay home and avoid travelling as Storm Darragh took its toll over the weekend, with such warnings particularly impacting coastal towns. Regionally, Wales and North & Yorkshire were the regions to take the hardest hit.

Throughout the entirety of the week, however, footfall fell 3.8 percent compared to the week prior, with the high street leading the way reporting a 4.9 percent drop, followed by shopping centres, where footfall fell 3 percent. Retail parks, meanwhile, saw their footfall decline 2.4 percent.

Despite the storm’s impact, footfall remained 0.4 percent higher than 2023, with retail parks leading the charge at a YoY increase of 3.1 percent, possibly due to shoppers opting for enclosed environments. Marginal yearly declines were seen at high streets and shopping centres.