Week 26 2025 Retail Parks Performance Update: Location Analytics Insights

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Leveraging cutting-edge location analytics, the latest update provides a comprehensive deep dive into the performance of UK retail parks. The insights drawn from The Benchmark reveal intriguing trends across footfall, dwell time, and regional performance, offering a valuable resource for industry stakeholders.

Overall Performance

UK retail parks have seen a slight uplift in footfall, with the average daily visits reaching 19,000 – a modest increase of 0.9% week-on-week. However, compared to the corresponding period last year, this figure is 10.4% lower. The dwell time metric tells a more nuanced story: despite a 2.8% drop during the recent week, the year-on-year figure shows a healthy 7.7% increase, indicating longer, more engaged visits over the long term.

Regional Breakdown

Detailed regional insights show that England is leading with an average of 19,300 daily visitors, marking a 1.3% increase on the week but still reflecting a 10.3% decrease when compared to last year. Welsh retail parks, drawing an average of 15,600 daily visitors, experienced a 3% decline over the past week along with a significant 12.2% year-on-year drop. Scotland maintained a steady weekly performance with 18,200 daily visits, though it experienced an 11.2% annual decline.

Engagement Metrics

In terms of customer engagement, the data paints a mixed picture. England’s retail parks have succeeded in maintaining a robust average visit duration of 73 minutes, with only minor weekly changes and a notable 14.1% improvement year-on-year. In contrast, both Scotland and Wales have seen shorter dwell times. Welsh parks average 62 minutes, and Scotland has experienced a downturn in visit duration, suggesting softer engagement trends in these regions.

Industry Comment

Joe Capocci, a spokesperson for Huq Industries, remarked, "The modest weekly recovery in English footfall, bolstered by recent images showing progress at Wynyard Retail Park, confirms that our data continues to offer essential insights despite an annual softness." His comments underscore the importance of nuanced location analytics in understanding market dynamics, even amid broader industry challenges.

This update reinforces the role of location intelligence in tracking performance metrics and highlights the need for stakeholders to continually adapt to evolving consumer behavior across different regions of the UK.

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