Research from “Big Four” consultancy PWC showed that in the first six months of this year, a total of 6,945 shops belonging to multiples and chains (those with five or more outlets) closed on Great Britain’s high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – equivalent to 38 shops per day. This is a slight increase in the 36 shops closed each day in the first six months of 2023.

Store openings grew slightly, up from 24 to 25 per day, and PWC said this represented “some level of stability” as the net decline has stayed around the 1% mark every six months, “suggesting a slow but steady decline in physical outlets as consumers increasingly undertake more transactions online”.

PWC said fashion has shown a significant improvement in closure rates compared with the first half of 2023. The net closure rate has slowed by nearly two-thirds, however, fashion retail sales were particularly hard hit by the unseasonal weather in the first part of the year.

PWC said the prevalence of online retail had increased further in first half of 2024 – partially as a result of the unseasonably wet weather – and non-food online retail penetration was at its highest since October 2021, at the tail end of the pandemic.

The accountancy firm reported that footfall was 15%-20% lower than before the pandemic, dampening sales and the profitability of some stores and hospitality operators. It said high streets were particularly hard hit, with a decline in footfall in every month of 2024 so far, except for March, explained by the earlier Easter holidays. High streets were hampered by both a higher-than-national-average net closure rate of 1.5% in the first six months of the year, and by being more vulnerable to the unseasonably wet weather.

Shopping centres also experienced a fall in numbers of customers. However, for the first time since the pandemic, there were slightly fewer net closures (1%) than the national average (1.1%).

Retail parks were the only location type to show an improvement in footfall in each of the last 12 months except for April, because of the earlier timing of Easter. This was reflected in chain outlet numbers, which actually grew by 0.4% on retail parks in the first half of 2024.

“It’s clear that online retail is here to stay, outpacing physical stores annually,” said Lisa Hooker, leader of industry for consumer markets at PWC. “As more brands invest in data and really understand their customer, new space increasingly seeks to meet customer trends for convenience, ease of access and fun, creating spaces that feel exciting for consumers to step into.”

PWC’s report was based on research by Green Street, which tracked more than 206,808 outlets operated by multiple operators across Great Britain between 1 January and 30 June 2024.