This week, the temperatures have plunged into single figures, snow has genuinely started falling and it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Halloween came and went, and faux cobwebs and spooky skeletons have been replaced by wreaths, baubles and, of course, lights.
Walking down Oxford Street in London, Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester or marvelling at City Hall in Belfast, the Christmas lights are a key focus, brightening up what can only be described as a gloomy, dark and freezing time of year. Rather than simply trudging around shops in the rain or rushing into and out of shops as quickly as possible, there are locals and tourists alike pausing to take pictures and to marvel at the shimmering spectacle.
Shops follow suit, decorating their windows with wintery displays and department stores come into their own by creating theatrical scenes to match the seasonal shift outside. It’s a magical time to be out shopping in real life, and heading to the high street is an annual ritual for many as they skim through shopping lists and find gifts for friends and loved ones at old haunts or newly discovered stores.
Further to the lights themselves, there’s always quite the fanfare around the switch on in major cities, having become a winter tradition that has attracted the likes of Jim Carey, Kylie Minogue and Take That to do the honours over the years. It’s a celebratory moment, that attracts crowds of thousands strong in multiple cities across the UK, and every time the big buzzer-like button is pushed to illuminate the city, the festive season is officially open and ready for business.
And not just metaphorically. The months of November and December are the busiest time of the year for retailers, with events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday encouraging purchases, limited editions and advent calendars going on sale for the countdown to Christmas, and general gift buying at full throttle for winter festivals – and the Christmas lights play a part in making this time of year successful for retailers.
Once the lights have been switched on, footfall in the UK increases with more visitors being drawn to shopping areas that have festive decorations. On TikTok there are over 120 million posts tagged ‘Christmas 2024 Lights’, highlighting the number of people who are engaging with the spectacles, and last year, overall retail footfall increased 4% in the week leading up to Christmas which is consistent with previous years. Tourism, unsurprisingly, also increases; an estimated 1.5 million people visited central London to see the Christmas lights in 2022, and this will surely continue to rise as we move further away from the aftermath of covid.
“Every time the big buzzer-like button is pushed to illuminate the city, the festive season is officially open and ready for business.”
For brick-and-mortar stores, this is only good news as higher footfall is translated into more sales. In 2023, total retail sales during the Christmas period were projected to reach approximately £84.7 billion which accounts for a substantial portion of annual revenue for many businesses. The festive atmosphere created by window displays and Christmas lights draw more trips to the high street while also encouraging longer visits.
Take Carnaby Street in London for example. Although it is just one shopping street among many in Soho, it has become famous for its larger-than-life decorations, which has a theme as its focus each year. Previous examples have been the best installations of the past 25 years and a collaboration with the charity Choose Love, and this year the theme is ‘Into the Light’ using 60,000 energy-efficient LEDs. In 2023, Carnaby Street saw a footfall increase of around 25% compared to the rest of the year whilst sales increased by around 18% which translated into around an additional £8 million in spending across shops, restaurants, pubs and bars in the area.
However, there are some factors that can dampen the festive spirit for retailers, and the main culprit is the British weather. In 2010, the UK experienced one of the coldest Decembers on record, with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures across the country and it led to a 20% drop in footfall in some areas as shoppers stayed home to avoid the harsh conditions. Supply chains were disrupted, and retailers struggled to restock shelves which led to some extending their promotional periods and offering additional discounts in an attempt to entice more people to brave the weather.
Returning to the present, the cold snap over the last week has had a similar effect, particularly in areas of the North and Yorkshire where footfall has dropped by 8.8% compared to the same period last year. More people have been working from home because of the weather, which has meant there has been an 11% drop week-on-week in central London and general high street footfall across the UK has fallen by more than 10%. With online shopping now the norm, it’s not surprising shoppers have turned to their phones and laptops to avoid the weather, with a 15% increase in online spending this last week compared to the previous one.
But what this does show, is that despite the ease with which purchases can be made online these days – for some brands it is as easy as one click and you can have the product in your hands the next day – the magic of Christmas lights, window displays, and general festive cheer is still encouraging people to the high street. There’s something about the collectiveness of being out shopping during the Christmas period, looking at the lights, wrapped up in coats, scarves and hats that gives a sense of community that feels less apparent the rest of the year. With the trend of retailers returning to brick-and-mortar stores in full force this year, these freezing, yet somewhat fizzing, winter months, make that shift feel more justified than ever.
