UK retail footfall shows signs of recovery in August 2024

High streets experienced a slight decrease in footfall, down by 0.3 per cent YoY in August. This marks a recovery from the 2.7 per cent drop seen in July. Retail parks showed a more significant positive trend, with footfall increasing by 2.6 per cent YoY in August, rebounding strongly from a 0.8 per cent decline in the previous month. On the other hand, shopping centres continued to face difficulties, with a footfall decrease of 1.8 per cent YoY in August. Despite the decline, this was an improvement from the 3.9 per cent reduction recorded in July.

The data also revealed regional differences across the UK. Northern Ireland and Scotland saw increases in footfall, with Northern Ireland up by 1.4 per cent YoY and Scotland by 0.7 per cent. In contrast, England and Wales experienced declines, with footfall decreasing by 0.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent YoY, respectively, as per the BRC-Sensormatic IQ data.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “As violent disorder erupted across the country earlier in the month, footfall was severely impacted as many people stayed away from shopping destinations. Retail parks saw footfall levels rise in the week following the riots as some continued to avoid high streets and shopping centres. Footfall recovered across all destinations towards the end of the month when warmer weather and summer sales prompted shoppers to browse their favourite stores.

“While year on year footfall changes improved on July, they remain in negative territory. Local communities need government to implement its high streets plan to help drive footfall back into growth. The upcoming budget is an opportunity to move forward with the plan to fix the broken business rates system which acts as a brake on retail investment and contributes to our declining high streets as it leads to so many store closures up and down the country.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, commented: “Despite the unrest at the beginning of the month, a strong footfall performance in the second half of August, helped by an easing of price inflation, fair weather and a boost from school and bank holiday trade, saw year-on-year shopper traffic rise to its highest level since July 2023. With all destination types improving on July’s visitor numbers, retail parks, which potentially picked up shopper traffic from town centres during riot disruption, had a standout month. Retailers will be hoping that the resilience seen in August, with footfall tantalisingly close to returning a positive year-on-year performance, will lead to longer-term growth for store traffic.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)