BRC-SENSORMATIC IQ FOOTFALL MONITOR – March 2024
Covering the five weeks 25 February
2024 – 30 March 2024
According to BRC-Sensormatic IQ data:
-
Total
UK footfall decreased by 1.3%
in March (YoY), up from -6.2% in February.
-
High
Street footfall decreased by
1.5% in March (YoY), up from -9.3% in February.
-
Retail Parks footfall
decreased by 3.5% in March (YoY), up from
-5.8% in February.
-
Shopping
Centre footfall increased by
0.3% in March (YoY), up from -7.0% in February.
- Nations of the UK were split in their overall footfall
traffic, with Northern Ireland and Wales increasing traffic year
on year, while England and Scotland had lower traffic year on
year:
- Wales footfall increased by 0.4% YoY
- Northern Ireland increased by 4.0% YoY
- Scotland decreased by 0.9% YoY
- England decreased by 1.6% YoY
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail
Consortium, said:
“Overall UK footfall declined in March as the wet weather
kept shoppers indoors. Northern Ireland and Wales bucked the
trend while shopping centres across the UK also saw a
year-on-year increase in footfall, primarily driven by the start
of the school holidays. The early Easter meant footfall rose
across the UK in the final week of March, particularly in English
cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool, but this was not enough
to reverse the overall decline over the course of the month.
“As we draw closer to a general election, these figures highlight
how vital it is for all parties to include a clear and
comprehensive plan for growth in their manifestos. As the
everywhere economy, retail serves all of us, providing the
products we need as well as local jobs and investment. Instead of
imposing burdensome costs on the industry, parties should focus
on reforming business taxes and improving planning policy to help
put life back into communities up and down the country.”
Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic
Solutions, commented:
“An early, high-performing Easter helped put a spring in
shoppers' steps and this, combined with a boost from Mother's Day
and ambient store visits from school holidays, drove up shopper
traffic numbers in March to improve on what was a rather muted
footfall performance in February. While retailers will have
welcomed the seasonal uplift in store visits last month, the
choppy nature of footfall recovery we've seen over the past few
months indicates that consumer confidence is yet to fully turn a
corner, meaning we may see a bumpy recovery in shopper traffic in
the months ahead.”
MONTHLY TOTAL UK RETAIL FOOTFALL (% CHANGE
YOY)
UK FOOTFALL BY LOCATION (% CHANGE YOY)
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY NATION AND REGION
|
GROWTH RANK
|
NATION AND REGION
|
Mar-24
|
Feb-24
|
|
1
|
Northern Ireland
|
4.0%
|
-7.1%
|
|
2
|
West Midlands
|
1.0%
|
-3.9%
|
|
3
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
0.8%
|
-1.4%
|
|
4
|
Wales
|
0.4%
|
-8.0%
|
|
5
|
North West England
|
0.2%
|
-3.1%
|
|
5
|
East Midlands
|
-0.5%
|
-3.3%
|
|
7
|
East of England
|
-0.8%
|
-1.7%
|
|
8
|
Scotland
|
-0.9%
|
-3.2%
|
|
9
|
South West England
|
-1.0%
|
-2.3%
|
|
10
|
North East England
|
-1.6%
|
-3.7%
|
|
11
|
England
|
-1.6%
|
-6.6%
|
|
12
|
South East England
|
-3.0%
|
-4.8%
|
|
13
|
London
|
-4.6%
|
-6.2%
|
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY CITY
|
GROWTH RANK
|
CITY
|
Mar-24
|
Feb-24
|
|
1
|
Belfast
|
9.4%
|
-3.1%
|
|
2
|
Liverpool
|
4.8%
|
1.6%
|
|
2
|
Leeds
|
3.8%
|
1.3%
|
|
4
|
Edinburgh
|
2.9%
|
0.2%
|
|
5
|
Birmingham
|
1.8%
|
-4.4%
|
|
6
|
Cardiff
|
0.3%
|
-4.2%
|
|
7
|
Manchester
|
-1.6%
|
-3.7%
|
|
8
|
Glasgow
|
-1.8%
|
-4.6%
|
|
9
|
London
|
-4.6%
|
-6.2%
|
|
10
|
Bristol
|
-5.4%
|
-2.1%
|
|
11
|
Nottingham
|
-5.6%
|
-5.0%
|
WEEKLY TOTAL UK RETAIL FOOTFALL (% CHANGE
YOY)
|
WEEKLY FOOTFALL VS SAME WEEK IN PREVIOUS
YEAR
|
|
Week
|
Total Retail
|
High Street
|
Retail Park
|
Shopping Centres
|
|
March Week 1
|
-6.9%
|
-8.9%
|
-3.7%
|
-9.6%
|
|
March Week 2
|
3.0%
|
4.7%
|
5.6%
|
-0.7%
|
|
March Week 3
|
-15.0%
|
-13.4%
|
-12.8%
|
-18.3%
|
|
March Week 4
|
-3.7%
|
-4.8%
|
-0.3%
|
-5.0%
|
|
March Week 5
|
17.6%
|
18.0%
|
14.4%
|
17.5%
|
