Retailers in Wales saw a “drab golden quarter” with falling footfall leading to “disappointing” figures for bricks-and-mortar shops.
Despite Black Friday and last-minute Christmas purchases providing boosts at either end of December, footfall across the month as a whole was “feeble”, said the Welsh Retail Consortium (WRC).
According to WRC-Sensormatic data covering the five weeks between 24 November 2024 – 28 December 2024:
- Overall, total Wales footfall across 2024 was down 2.9% on 2023. For the three months to December – known as the golden quarter – footfall decreased by 2.9% (YoY).
- Welsh footfall decreased by 2.6% in December (YoY), up from -7.1% in November.
- Shopping Centre footfall decreased by 4.2% in December (YoY) in Wales, up from -12.2% in November.
- Retail Park footfall decreased by 0.5% in December (YoY) in Wales, up from -2.6% in November.
- In December, footfall in Cardiff decreased by 3.5% (YoY), up from -8.6% in November.
The WRC said the later timing of Black Friday in 2024 meant that it falls into December, rather than November figures, while the reverse is true in 2023. This will artificially worsen November figures and improve the December figure, it said, although this effect will be cancelled out for the three-month to December figure.
Sara Jones, Head of the WRC, said:
“Visits to stores in Wales slipped back in December compared to the same period the year before, rounding off a pretty drab ‘golden quarter’ and 2024 as a whole in terms of shopper footfall. The month was bookended with good news at both the start and the end as Black Friday promotions gave a fillip to foot-traffic early on and with last minute festive purchases delivering an improvement at the end. However, across the month as a whole footfall was feeble and fell across all destinations with retail parks the least-worst performer.
“There’s little denying these are disappointing figures for retailers with bricks and mortar premises, many of whom were hoping for a final flourish to the year and a good Christmas to help weather increasing costs and tide them over the leaner months early in the new year. That said, there is rarely an exact correlation between footfall performance and retail sales growth, and with a third of non-food retail sales purchased online it may be that retailers have proved adept at harnessing technology to get through to consumers who may not have the inclination or time to travel to shops.
“This remains a period of significant flux for retail. Weak footfall, sluggish demand, rising government-mandated cost pressures, and an uncertain outlook are all weighing on stores. The structural, economic, and regulatory changes affecting retail show few signs of abating.”
Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said:
“While December saw some flurries of festive footfall around a few key trading days, overall, the picture was filled with much less sparkle as shopper traffic remained subdued in what should have been the highlight of the Golden Quarter.
While store visits did build ahead of Christmas, it was never quite enough to reverse the shopper count deficit against last year. As footfall limped towards the festive finish line, December’s lacklustre performance compounds a disappointing end to 2024, marking the second consecutive year of declining store traffic.
Retailers will now need to look afresh to 2025 and chart a course to adopt innovative strategies to reverse this trend or maximise the sales potential of fewer visitors, finding new ways to make each store visit count.”
