Mall foot traffic in October bodes well for the upcoming holiday season, as visits to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers and outlet malls were back on par with 2023 levels following a slight decline in September. The mall sector has experienced several months of roller-coaster visit trends, with August visits surging and September visits dipping, according to placer.ai’s October mall report.
Indoor mall visits were down 0.6% year-over-year in October, while outlet mall visits were down 1.7% during October and open-air shopping center visits were up 0.3%. Those numbers indicate a sizable bounce-back from September, according to placer.ai.
Mall visits dropped on Halloween day, particularly in the afternoon and evening, according to the report. This is not unexpected, as malls do not typically benefit from holiday shopping surges on October 30 and October 31. The report found October 30 visits were about average for October, but Halloween day visits took a hit across all three mall formats. Shoppers were more likely to visit superstores, party supply stores and liquor shops for holiday prep, said placer.ai.
Those who did visit malls and open-air shopping centers on Halloween tended to visit before 4 p.m., a detail that retail managers may consider when staffing for Halloween or by offering early-bird promotions.
However, the last two full weeks of October were positive for all three mall categories. Outlet malls had the largest year-over-year increases in foot traffic, a positive indicator for the category which has lagged behind indoor malls and open-air shopping centers in recent months. Weekly visits crested during the week of October 14 when visits at indoor malls were up 4.9% year-over-year. Visits at open-air shopping centers were up 4.1% and outlet malls up 6.5%.
“Last month’s visits to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls generally matched 2023 visitation trends,” said placer.ai. “The closing of the YoY visit gaps may indicate that consumers are once again ready to spend following the brief September slow-down – boding well for the upcoming holiday season.”