Drop in Boxing Day shopper footfall ‘could be influenced by cost-of-living crisis’
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The slump in Boxing Day shopper footfall could be influenced by the cost of living crisis, an analyst has said. Boxing Day footfall was down 9.4% across all UK retail destinations by 12pm in comparison with last year, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found.
This came after Barclays forecast that shoppers would spend £236 each on average in the Boxing Day sales this year, but that the majority of purchases would be made online. Footfall had fallen by 10.2% on UK high streets, 6.8% at retail parks and 10.1% in shopping centres by 12pm on Boxing day compared with 2023, MRI found.
Last year by 12pm, footfall across all destinations was up 2.8% compared with 2022. This year marks the first drop in Boxing Day retail footfall recorded by MRI Software since before the pandemic. The decline is a “major contrast”, said Jenni Matthews, marketing and insights director at MRI Software.
She told the PA news agency: “This could be reflective of the shift in consumer behaviour influenced by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.”. However, footfall on Christmas Eve was 18% higher in all UK retail destinations compared with last year, she said.
Ms Matthews said: “Could that be suggestive of shoppers front-loading their spending in a pre-Christmas rush?. “A lot of this could be that people have spent as much as they can spend this year, they spent it up (to) and on Christmas Eve.”. Many online sales kicked off between December 23 and the night of Christmas Day and “a lot of people would have grabbed those bargains from the comfort of their own home”, she said.
