The decline in festive shoppers on London’s streets was smaller compared to the rest of the UK, according to new retail analysis.
Data from MRI Software reveals that footfall in Greater London fell by 8.4% between 18 December and New Year’s Eve, compared to a larger 11.2% drop across the rest of the country.
While London saw an increase in foot traffic on Black Friday and Christmas Eve compared to 2023, numbers were lower on Boxing Day.
Jenni Matthews, head of marketing at MRI Software, commented, “We knew even before the pandemic there was a gradual shift to online shopping and that’s becoming more and more prominent.”
She noted that London’s appeal as a tourist hotspot has helped it perform better than other regions.
The decline in shoppers reflects a challenging year for UK retail, with over 13,000 High Street stores closing permanently in 2024, according to figures from the Centre for Retail Research.
11,341 independent stores closed, marking a 45.5% increase from 2023.
Rising costs and job losses in the retail sector were exacerbated by increased National Insurance contributions announced in October’s budget.
Matthews warned that the financial challenges highlighted in the autumn budget are likely to persist into the new year, “The retailers are likely to say they’ll be facing challenges as we head into 2025 and it’s something they’re already bracing themselves for, so that is going to bring with it the financial challenges that we saw outlined in the autumn budget.”
