Easter gives much needed footfall boost

The later timing of the Easter bank holiday weekend provided retailers with a much-needed footfall boost, with the number of shoppers visiting the high street up 15.7% compared with last Easter, according to the latest MRI Software data.

In the week leading up to Easter, overall retail footfall remained flat from the week before; high streets experienced a modest drop in activity whereas retail parks and shopping centres saw an uplift which may well reflect consumers preparing for the long weekend Easter celebrations.

MRI said “a week of two halves emerged” for high streets with footfall rising only on Tuesday and Thursday. Retail parks and shopping centres, however, witnessed a slow start to the week with declines recorded on Sunday and Monday but improved thereafter.

Coastal and market towns recorded a drop in footfall last week from the week prior which could be an indicator of people choosing to travel abroad for the peak Easter period. Central London continued to see a week on week uptick and all town types benefited from a rise in footfall compared to the same week last year.

However, whilst the annual comparison highlights an increase in activity compared with the same week last year, MRI added “this isn’t a true reflection of retail performance in the lead up to Easter weekend”.

It said a true comparison is against the week leading up to Easter 2024 and this is where it can be seen that footfall levels this year surpassed 2024 levels “significantly” by +11.8% in all UK retail destinations.

High streets led the charge with a +15.7% rise year on year followed by retail parks (+8.1%) and shopping centres (+7.1%); a sign that more families may well be choosing local towns and cities for days out to enjoy the holidays. This is reflected in footfall rising in both historic (+11.7%) and market towns (+10%). Central London may also have benefitted from Easter tourism as footfall levels remained +25.8% higher than the week leading up to Easter last year.

However, week-on-week, footfall declined in high streets driven by a significant drop on Friday and Saturday averaging -7.7% which may well be due to shoppers visiting retail parks and shopping centres to gather last minute groceries and Easter treats.

This was reflected in footfall rising by an average of +5.2% and +2.1%, respectively. Thursday appeared to be the busiest day for all UK retail destination types with shopping centres leading the way with a rise of +13.5% followed by retail parks (+11.8%) and high streets (+11.8%).