Early June UK footfall makes dreariest reading since Easter high – MRI

As we stepped into June, there was no bright news to cheer UK retail on the footfall front. Numbers declined last week (1-7 June) from the previous week, the sharpest week-on-week decline experienced since the seven days that followed the Easter period.

Overall, weekly footfall in UK retail destinations weakened by 8%, especially noticeable in shopping centres (-10.4%) with high streets following closely behind (-9%). Retail parks witnessed a more modest decline in activity at -3.5%.

Despite strong week-on-week declines, annual trends “remained optimistic” in retail parks (+1.8%) and shopping centres (+0.3%) whereas high streets continued to see footfall decline for the second consecutive week (-5.3%) “which could reflect the change in weather conditions and a shift in commuter patterns”.

But the declines weren’t a shock following a strong half-term for all UK retail destinations and it “could be a sign of footfall stabilising rather than a cause for concern”, reported MRI Software. 

As routines resumed and weather conditions became less favourable, activity levels dropped across all UK retail destinations. Footfall declined each day last week except for Monday where there was a marginal uplift driven by a strong rebound in high street activity.

However, footfall from Wednesday to Friday averaged double-digit declines “driven by a steep drop in visitors to shopping centres”. 

The sharpest declines were seen in leisure-led destinations and regional hubs, “suggesting a clear shift from seasonal spikes to stabilising footfall”.
 
Coastal and historic towns saw the greatest week on week drop in footfall suggesting people had returned to work and school. This was also replicated in regional cities outside of London and office-dense locations within Central London. Trends also remained marginally lower compared to 2024 in these locations.