Easter weekend delivers a footfall boost but store visits dip

The latest footfall data from Sensormatic Solutions, the global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has revealed that Easter delivered a weekly boost to footfall in the UK as shoppers splashed out on seasonal treats and entertaining over the four-day Bank holiday weekend.

Data from Sensormatic’s ShopperTrak Analytics insights platform, which captures 40 billion store visits globally annually, showed that footfall on Good Friday (April 18) delivered a +40.8 percent week-on-week increase to store visits across all retail destinations.

As retail’s second biggest trading event after Christmas, Easter is an important time for retailers, and the Saturday of the long weekend (April 19) also saw footfall rising compared to the week prior, up + 11.6 percent.

Easter Monday also saw total retail footfall rise by +17.4 percent versus the week before, with retail parks seeing the greatest increase, up +27 percent.

However, while Easter delivered a welcome boost to weekly shopper traffic, data from Sensormatic shows that it couldn’t match last year’s footfall performance, with total store visits declining -7.5 percent over the Easter weekend compared to 2024, which fell earlier from March 24 to 30, 2024.

Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, said in a statement: “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. 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.”