Footfall starts to build bringing festive boost

Total UK retail footfall saw a festive boost over the weekend as shoppers headed in stores, shows recent data.

According to data from the Sensormatic IQ platform, shopper traffic for total retail experienced a +5 per cent boost this weekend (16 and 17 Dec 2023) compared to the weekend before (09 and 10 Dec 2023). It was the High Street which was the retail setting that saw the largest weekly increase in footfall.

Over the weekend, as Christmas shoppers hit the High Street, visitor numbers rose by +9.1 per cent compared to the weekend prior, representing a +4 per cent year-on-year boost.  Shopping centres also saw an uplift, with shopper traffic up +6.4 per cent this weekend on the weekend before, marking a +5 per cent improvement compared to 2022.

Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA Retail Consultant, commented, “Retailers will be welcoming a boost to footfall as shopper traffic starts to build into this week before Christmas.  For many this represents a critical period for determining peak trading success and can very much make or break their performance during the critical Christmas trading period. 

“Retailers will be hoping that the festive footfall momentum is maintained, but also that shoppers, who are increasingly price and promotions sensitive, are buying as well as browsing in order to capitalise on the Golden Quarter opportunity.  And there’s still all to play for, as we expect next Saturday, dubbed Super Saturday, to be the busiest in-store footfall day of the entire peak trading season.”

According to Sensormatic Solutions’ predictions, Super Saturday’ (23 Dec 2023), the last Saturday before Christmas, is tipped to be the busiest in-store shopping day of the entire 2023 peak trading season, rising from the UK’s third busiest day for Christmas shopping in 2022. 

Last year, UK shoppers were tipped to have spent almost £1.63 million on Super Saturday, as they topped up on last minute gifts and headed in-store to avoid Royal Mail strike disruption impacting online deliveries in the final shopping days before Christmas.