Half-term boost fails to save Feb footfall

Half-term failed to save footfall figures in February as it declined by -2.2% across UK retail destinations for the second consecutive month, largely driven by a drop in footfall of -3.5% in high streets, according to the latest figures from MRI Springboard. MRI said the start of the month was fraught with rail strikes and overtime ban disruptions across the UK which, surprisingly, failed to hamper footfall activity and led to footfall rising by +2.9% from the week prior, with high streets playing a leading role in this increase (+4.5%). This rebound is likely to be attributed to a bounce back in activity from the week before when Storm Isha impacted travel across the UK. With widespread action taking place, all regions and town types suffered with declines in footfall at some point during the nine days of strike action. February was saved by the school half-term holiday which contributed to an overall rise in footfall of +8.3% from the month before across all UK retail destinations. This was largely driven by high streets witnessing a rise of +11.4% followed by shopping centres (+6.9%) and retail parks (+3.3%). Much of this activity was driven by the third week of the month which is when half term fell across many regions delivering a rise in activity of +15.3% in all retail destinations from the week before, and aligns with historical trends for February seeing an overall boost following the post-Christmas slump. However, MRI said that “financial pressures are mounting for consumers” and this was evident in the final week of February when footfall declined by -8.6% across all retail destinations. Given that this was half term for some regions, MRI said it anticipated a boost in activity but this may highlight consumers “continuing to tighten their purse strings especially with payday not occurring until the end of that week for some. Overall it added the drop in footfall for the month may well be an indicator of the significant amount of brands, such as John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, and Boots, that have streamlined physical store operations over the last 12 months through closures; and for some locations these may act as anchor stores “serving a vital role” in driving footfall to that location. Jenni Matthews, Marketing and Insights director OnLocation for Footfall Analytics at MRI Software, said: “As we head into March, retail destinations should approach this with optimism as the second largest trading period falls towards the end of the month; Easter. Falling a week earlier than last year, this shift allows retail destinations to benefit from the holiday build up starting around the third week of the month. Despite consumer confidence falling by 2 points in February, as published by GFK, the outlook for the next 12 months remains strong as consumers continue to spend despite the cost-of-living crisis. “The metric which measures people’s personal finance situation for the next 12 months highlighted stability as this had not slipped back and was actually 18 points higher than last February. This suggests that consumers are maintaining control over their finances and budgeting accordingly for the year ahead with relief coming in the form of reduced energy bills and optimism that inflation and interest rates may also be set to fall.”