According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic retail footfall data, total UK footfall increased by +6.6% in January (YoY), up from -2.2% in December, as shoppers hunted for bargain purchases.
High street footfall increased by +4.5% in January (YoY), up from -2.7% in December, retail park footfall increased by +7.9% in January (YoY), up from 0.0% in December, and shopping centre footfall increased by +7.4% in January (YoY), up from -3.3% in December.
Footfall increased YoY in all four UK nations, with Wales improving by +8.5%, England by +7.4%, Northern Ireland by +3.5% and Scotland by +1.0%.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), says: “Shopper footfall received a welcome boost in January following a disappointing festive period. Store visits increased substantially in the first week of the month as many consumers hit the January sales in their local community, with shopping centres faring particularly well. Despite snowy weather and Storm Eowyn causing disruption in some areas, footfall was still positive across major UK cities over the whole month.
“Improved shopper traffic is welcome news for high streets following a particularly difficult ‘Golden Quarter’ to end 2024, and low consumer sentiment to start the year. Retailers want to invest more in stores and staff to enhance the shopping experience for customers and help to grow the economy, but the swathe of additional costs from April will limit investment and lead to job losses and higher prices at the tills.
"To drive growth in communities across the country, the Government must ensure costs are limited in other areas. This can be done by delaying packaging taxes and ensuring that business rates reform leaves no shop paying more than they currently do.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic, comments: “After a dreary December, retailers will welcome January’s footfall jump. The uptick was boosted by a very strong Week 1, helped in part by New Year’s Day falling on a Wednesday, which may have prompted ambient store traffic as consumers bolted on additional days of leave, as well as retailers extending post-Christmas discounting well into January.
"Not even the significant disruption from Storm Eowyn was enough to dampen overall footfall performance.
"While welcome, after months of erratic and constrained footfall, the jury’s out as to whether January’s store performance signals the start of a sustained high street revival or if it will be a flash in the pan come February. And, even if shopper traffic recovery has finally turned a corner, the challenge for retailers will be solving the next conundrum – how they balance enhanced footfall, which requires optimised store staffing to convert into sales, and the significant rises to labour costs borne out of the Budget on the one hand, with consumer appetite for discounts, a long-term margin-eroder, on the other, which will not be an easy circle to square.”
