Weekly footfall rises for second consecutive week as holiday season kicks off

UK retail footfall rose for the second consecutive for the period April 6 to 12, as Easter school holidays kicked off and warm Spring weather descended on the region. This is according to new data from MRI Software, which said shopping centres and high streets helped drive the uptick.

While overall, footfall rose 3.3 percent over the period when compared to the week prior, shopping centre footfall was up 3.9 percent and high street footfall increased 3.6 percent. Retail parks saw a more modest growth of 1.9 percent, MRI noted.

A 10.2 percent increase in footfall in coastal towns was driven by warmer weather last week, with the climate also contributing to positive trends in historic and market towns, which each reported a 5 and 4.6 percent footfall uptick, respectively.

This in turn, drove consumers away from certain retail destinations on some days. While footfall peaks were recorded on Monday (7.4 percent) and Tuesday (6 percent) in comparison to the week before, on Saturday there was a sharp drop in footfall at shopping centres and retail parks of 7.7 and 6.5 percent, respectively.

Looking ahead, MRI anticipates a strong boost in activity among retail parks and shopping centres as “families prepare to gather over the long weekend”. Despite this, the data platform also noted that overall trends “may be slightly subdued compared to last year when footfall rose 6 percent week-on-week”.

This could be attributed to the increased number of shoppers planning to go away on holiday over the coming period, as well as planned train disruptions for the bank holiday weekend.