High Street suffers as Boxing Day shoppers stay at home
26 December 2024, 14:55 | Updated: 26 December 2024, 15:11
Boxing Day shoppers are opting out the High Street and shopping centres - compared with last year, initial footfall data suggests.
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Footfall was down 10.6% from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 10am, according to analysts.
Footfall was 12.3% lower on UK high streets, 3.3% lower in retail parks and 13.9% lower in shopping centres, according to MRI Software's OnLocation Footfall Index which analyses consumer behaviour.
The figure for all destinations was 49.2% lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
The provisional figures suggest an early sign online shopping continues to dominate the traditional Boxing Day sales.
South-west England saw the largest drop in Boxing Day morning retail footfall in the UK.
A total of 26.7% fewer people had visited shopping locations in the South West by 10am on Boxing Day compared with 2023.
The fall was more than double the size of any other region measured by MRI Software's OnLocation Footfall Index on Thursday morning.
The next largest decline in footfall since 2023 was 11.1% in Greater London.
The South West has also had the largest decrease in Boxing Day shoppers compared with 2019, with 54.4% fewer people visiting retail destinations before 10am.
