New data from MRI Software, a real estate software solution provider, suggests that foot traffic increased by 1.4 per cent in January over the same month the previous year. This is the biggest year-over-year rise outside of the pandemic since January 2016, when foot traffic increased by 1.2 per cent.
All UK retail destinations saw increases, with high streets, especially at apparel stores, seeing a 1.1 per cent increase, retail parks seeing a 1.4 per cent increase, and shopping centres seeing a 1.8 per cent increase in foot traffic. This occurred in spite of a notable decline in foot traffic month over month, which decreased by 20.8 per cent; nevertheless, MRI pointed out that this was consistent with past patterns seen every January.
With foot traffic up 1.6 per cent from Monday to Friday, the return to work contributed to the month’s weekday foot traffic results. Foot traffic at MRI’s Central London back-to-office benchmark increased by 1.4 per cent in January, mostly due to a 4.4 per cent increase in the early evening hours. On the other hand, weekend foot traffic decreased by 3.5 per cent at all retail locations.
