Christmas Eve shopper numbers fall amid cost-of-living crisis

The number of in-person shoppers has fallen on Christmas Eve compared to last year amid Sunday trading hours and the cost-of-living crisis.

Footfall across all UK retail destinations up to 5pm on Sunday (24) was 6.8 per cent lower than last week, and 20.6 per cent lower than 24 December 2022, the latest data from industry analyst MRI Software shows. The data also showed footfall remains at least a third lower than levels in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

Retail parks saw the only week-on-week rise in footfall up to 5pm on Sunday with a 6.7 per cent rise, while the figure dropped for both high streets and shopping centres by 14.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively. This year, many stores and destinations operated normal Sunday trading hours.

In some areas the day was busy early on, with dozens of people queueing outside Selfridges on Oxford Street in London before it opened.

Jenni Matthews, head of marketing and insights at MRI Software, said, “As Christmas Eve progressed, footfall diminished across all destination types week-on-week, and year-on-year.”

“Compared to 2019 levels, footfall remains at least a third lower with a number of factors contributing to this; Sunday trading hours are in operation today which is likely to limit retail trade, and the cost-of-living crisis has impacted many this year which means consumers are likely to have spread the cost of Christmas and started shopping earlier.”