Super Saturday failed to give retailers a much needed footfall boost this year, with store visits down 6.9% year on year as shoppers delayed spending amid continued consumer caution, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions.
The figures, based on ShopperTrak Analytics data covering around 40 billion store visits globally each year, showed that high street locations were the most resilient destination type, recording a smaller decline of 3.7% compared with 2024.
Footfall remained under pressure the following day, with store visits on Sunday down 7.2% year on year. However, shopper numbers improved compared with the previous week, rising 9.3% week on week.
Despite the annual declines, the weekend delivered a short-term uplift for retailers compared with earlier in the month. Overall footfall on Super Saturday was up 1.5% week on week, with retail parks seeing a sharper increase of 10.9%. Across all destinations, visits in the week to 20 December rose 11.2% compared with the prior week.
Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, said the softer-than-expected performance on Super Saturday would have been a disappointment for retailers.
He said: “As one of the ‘make or break’ days of Christmas trading, soft footfall performance on Super Saturday will have dealt a blow to retailers who would have been hoping to capitalise on trade.
“Throughout this year’s festive trading season, we’ve seen consumer caution cause spending hesitancy and upend usual demand patterns. Shoppers are taking longer to validate purchases, with many still holding out and hoping that retailers may bring forward Boxing Day promotions pre-Christmas, as they did last year.”
Retailers are now banking on a late surge in demand in the final days before Christmas.
Sumpter added: “We expect the usual last-minute rush to be particularly pronounced, with shoppers leaving purchasing right up to the wire.”
Sensormatic forecasts that footfall will pick up ahead of Christmas Day, with Tuesday, 23 December, expected to be the third busiest shopping day of the peak trading period. Boxing Day is forecast to be the fourth busiest day for footfall, despite some continued migration of spending online.
