Week-on-week footfall good, year-on-year poor over Easter in UK
The four-day Easter bank holiday weekend (18-21 April) delivered a much-needed week-on-week boost for retail footfall as shoppers splashed out mostly on seasonal treats and entertaining, data from Sensormatic Solutions shows.
However, while Easter delivered a welcome boost to week-on-week shopper traffic, it couldn't match last year's footfall performance, with total store visits declining a disappointing 7.5% over the Easter weekend compared to 2024.
This is a shame for wider retail such as fashion, given Easter's the second biggest trading event after Christmas, tipped this year to exceed a £2.3 billion spend by GlobalData.
According to Sensormatic's ShopperTrak Analytics insights platform, which captures 40 billion store visits globally each year, footfall on Good Friday (18 April) was central as it delivered a 40.8% week-on-week increase to store visits across all retail destinations.
Saturday (19 April) also saw footfall rising compared to the week prior, up 11.6%, and week-on-week shopper counts on Easter Monday (21 April) jumped 17.4% with retail parks seeing the greatest increase, up 27%.
Of course, given that easter is a holiday week, then footfall would always be expected to be higher week-on-week. That 7.5% fall year on year is bad news, especially as Easter 2024 was in late March/early April and a sunny Easter later in April should have generated some more shopping enthusiasm in 2025.
Shopping centres for Easter weekend itself saw the biggest decline this time at -9.6% against last year. Retail parks, while still down, saw the smallest decline – down 6.2%.
Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions' EMEA Retail consultant, said: 'After a slow start to spring for shopper traffic, and the late dates of Easter this year hitting footfall performance in March, retailers will have been counting on a bank holiday boost to over the Easter weekend.
'While they will have welcomed the uptick in shopper traffic compared to the week before, many retailers may have been left feeling disappointed that footfall performance didn't match that of 2024; proof, perhaps, that when it comes to peak trading retail events, you can't put all your eggs in one basket.'
He added: 'In light of continuing consumer caution and shaky shopper confidence, retailers need to double down on delivering the compelling 'reasons to visit', which keep shoppers coming back - both to browse and to buy.'
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