Overall UK retail footfall witnessed a marginal rise of 0.2% in February 2025 compared to the same month of 2024, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Sensormatic.
This represents a slowdown from the 6.6% increase observed in January.
Fom 2 February to 1 March 2025, retail foot traffic saw an uptick for the second month in a row, with retail parks maintaining their lead as the most frequented shopping destinations.
Retail parks’ year-on-year boost reached 2% during the month, though this was lower than January’s 7.9% surge.
High street shops saw a flat increase in foot traffic of 0.1% during the month, a slowdown from the 4.5% growth seen in the preceding month.
Shopping centres recorded a marginal year-on-year i(YoY) ncrease in foot traffic of 0.1% in February, following a more substantial 7.4% increase in January.
British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson stated: “The variety of larger retail outlets and the option of free parking enticed customers to visit retail parks [rather than] their local high street or shopping centre ,which saw only marginal improvements. Strong investment in retail parks and fewer empty stores has led to consistent positive shopper traffic over the past year.”
Geographically, Wales enjoyed the highest YoY foot traffic increase with 2.7%, followed by England which saw a 0.2% bump.
In contrast, Northern Ireland reported a marginal YoY decrease of 0.1% and Scotland faced a 0.3% downturn.
Helen Dickinson added: “Retailers are always looking for ways to invest in shopping destinations and the communities they serve. Unfortunately, the £7bn worth of costs facing the industry from the [Autumn 2024] Budget will hinder retailers’ ability to do this. At a time when many high streets are in desperate need of revitalisation, the government must do more to support the retail industry’s ability to invest. Ensuring no shop pays more as a result of business rates reform and delaying the new packaging levy would allow for more investment in stores and jobs, giving footfall a better chance of recovery in 2025.”
The BRC – NielsenIQ shop price index data for February 2025 revealed a notable persistence of deflation within retail shop prices.
