Placer.ai: Mall visits see increase in January

January’s mall visit growth was fueled by one-off visits, according to Placer.ai.

Even after a successful holiday season, malls started 2025 off strong in terms of foot traffic.

New data from retail traffic firm Placer.ai’s January Mall Index shows that last month, visits increased by 5.5% for indoor malls and by 2.9% and 2.7% for open-air shopping centers and outlet malls, respectively, compared to January 2024. Placer.ai says the January visit growth is also impressive given this year’s arctic blast cold spell which kept many consumers home for much of the month.

January’s mall visit growth was fueled by one-off visits, according to the data, as relatively few mall-goers visit the mall twice (or more) in one month. Open-air shopping centers have the highest rate of returning monthly visitors, likely thanks to their extensive dining and entertainment options, but the format only sees around a third of its visitors heading to an open-air shopping center more than once a month.

Comparing the share of returning visitors in January 2024 and 2025 for each format reveals that the share of returning (2+ times) visitors decreased year-over-year in January 2025, even as overall traffic increased. Placer.ai says that January’s visit growth was primarily driven by casual visitors, and could indicate that interest in malls is moving beyond regular patrons as the format now gains new customers.

Even though January visits increased year-over-year, traffic was still significantly lower than it was in December as expected. Traffic between December 2024 and January 2025 dropped 36.1%, on average, across the three mall formats.

Graphic courtesy of Placer.ai.

In terms of visitor behavior, dwell time across the three mall formats fell in January compared to December, indicating that all three shopping center types enjoy an increase in both the quantity and the quality of visits over the holiday season. Placer.ai says the increase in dwell time in December seemed correlated with the increase in holiday visits: Outlet malls, which received the largest holiday visit boost, also had the biggest difference in dwell time between December and January (73.8 minutes compared to 68.7 minutes, or a 6.9% increase in dwell time in December). Meanwhile, open-air shopping centers, which received the smallest holiday visit boost, also saw the smallest difference in dwell time between December and January.

“The January 2025 Mall Index data suggests significant growth potential for malls in 2025,” said Placer.ai. “The increase in one-off visits may indicate that malls are attracting a broader audience, signaling an opportunity for retailers and shopping centers to convert these casual visitors into loyal customers.”

Placer.ai’s Mall Index analyzes data from 100 top-tier indoor malls, 100 open-air shopping centers (not including outlet malls) and 100 outlet malls across the country, in both urban and suburban areas. Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the country.