UK retail footfall stalls but continues to rise in February

(Alliance News) - UK retail footfall growth slowed but increased for the second consecutive ...

Alliance News 7 March, 2025 | 12:01AM
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(Alliance News) - UK retail footfall growth slowed but increased for the second consecutive month, as retail parks outperformed other destinations.

According to British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic data, total UK footfall increased by 0.2% in February from the previous year, down from 6.6% in January.

Retail park footfall grew by 2.0% in February, down from 7.9% in January. High street footfall grew 0.1%, down from 4.5% in the previous month. Shopping centre rose 0.1%, down from 7.4% in January.

"The variety of larger retail outlets and the option of free parking enticed customers to visit retail parks over their local high street or shopping centre which saw only marginal improvements," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.

"Strong investment in retail parks and fewer empty stores has led to consistent positive shopper traffic over the past year."

"At a time when many high streets are in desperate need of revitilisation, 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," Dickinson said.

Sensormatic analyst Andy Sumpter said retail footfall "stalled" in February after a "jump-start" in January.

"While the good news is that shopper counts remained steady, many would have been hoping for a more substantial leap building off a strong start to the year," he said.

"With Easter falling late and well into April this year, this will, undoubtedly, put added pressure on retailers as we head into March. To plug the gap, retailers have an opportunity to create compelling reasons to visit and enhance their offerings with greater convenience and choice, which have been the standout strengths of retail park performance."

The survey covered shopper traffic from February 2 to March 1.

Numbers on Tuesday showed food prices rose at their third fastest monthly rate in a year in February. Food inflation reached 2.1%, up from January's yearly growth of 1.6%, according to data from the BRC and Nielsen IQ.

Fresh food prices are now 1.5% higher than a year ago, also a hike from January's 0.9%, while ambient food inflation increased to 2.8% from 2.5% in January.

By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter

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