Boxing Day 2025 Sees Decline in UK High Street Footfall Despite Online and Retail Park Gains
Boxing Day footfall across UK retail destinations fell by 0.3% year on year according to MRI Software data, with high streets down 2.4% and shopping centres down 2.6% compared with 26 December 2024. Central London saw a significant drop in footfall of 7.7%, while outer London experienced an increase of about 4% and coastal towns rose approximately 10%. Retail parks performed well, rising 6.9% in Boxing Day morning, reflecting their appeal as out-of-town venues with car access and often free parking.
Retailers like Marks & Spencer and Next prominently featured online discounts of up to 50%, with in-store reductions becoming available from Saturday. Manchester's Trafford Centre opened as early as 7:30am, Selfridges reported queues, and Lush promoted reductions up to 50%. However, colder temperatures may have discouraged travel from distant shoppers.
Barclays projected an average end-of-year spend of £253 per shopper, up £17 from 2024, but total Boxing Day spend was expected to be around £3.6 billion, which is £1 billion below 2024 estimates. Participation levels were also anticipated to be lower. Retailers faced a challenging year in 2025, contending with high energy and grocery bills and weakened consumer confidence due to uncertainty surrounding the late-November budget.
