Footfall remains a challenge for UK retail destinations with a year-on-year drop of 2.3% in June, although that was better than May’s 3.6% fall.

That’s according to the BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor, which was released on Friday.

As is often the case, it was retail parks that led the charge with only a 0.4% dip, much better than May’s 2.3% fall.

High streets, by contrast, were down 3.1%, which was was actually worse than the 2.7% decline during May. Shopping centres were down 3.2% in June but they’d been down by 4.5% in the previous month so the latest figure was definitely an improvement there. 

Three of the four UK nations saw the footfall gap narrowing year on year, while one, Scotland, managed to increase visitor traffic by 0.2%.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland was down 0.6% year on year, England dropped 2.6% and Wales fell a wider 4.1%.

And as far as major cities are concerned, Belfast was particularly strong with a 3.7% uplift in June compared to football edging up only 0.7% in May.

Football in Edinburgh and Glasgow increased as well and made up for some of the losses in May, while Liverpool also looked strong.

But other cities all saw footfall drops, including Manchester, Leeds, London, Nottingham, Bristol, Birmingham, and Cardiff. That said most of these cities performed better last month than they had in May, apart from Birmingham where football was down 4% this time compared to a 1.6% hike in the previous month.

So what was the reason behind the generally better performance in June compared to earlier in the year, even though it wasn’t quite where retailers would have liked it to be?

Poor weather earlier in the month probably had a part to play, as well as the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. And of course we can’t ignore the fact that lower footfall doesn’t necessarily mean lower spending. In a report we published only this week, location specialist CACI said that even with reduce footfall, spending levels are quite strong at retail destinations with many consumers making fewer trips, but those trips they do make them more like “big days out”.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “With June failing to live up to last year’s heatwave, overall footfall declined last month compared to the previous year. However retail parks and shopping centres did see an uptick compared to the previous month’s washout, and footfall levels in Edinburgh and Liverpool were boosted as Taylor Swift enchanted crowds of fans. Retailers are hoping that warmer weather and maybe, just maybe, a successful European Championships for England could bring footfall home this July.”

Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, added: “June’s footfall saw an improvement in performance compared to last month. With the rain finally giving way to drier and sunnier weather, this along with events including the start of the 2024 Euros and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour helped to deliver an ambient boost to shopper traffic. However, while edging up compared to May, store visits remain marginally down compared to 2023, suggesting recovery in shopper traffic has yet fully to turn a corner. With home-nation hope still alive in the Euros, retailers will be hoping football – and footfall – will be coming home in July, as other major sporting events, including Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, also provide positive opportunities to entice shoppers in-store.”