SHOPPER numbers hitting the streets and shopping centres across the north rose in the run-up to Christmas compared to the same time a year earlier.
Footfall figures for December show a 1.4 per cent year on year rise in Northern Ireland according to the British Retail Consortium.
And it claimed the figures showed the "increasing maturity of online shopping" was "driving activity back into bricks and mortar stores" with people opting to reserve items online before collecting in store.
The December performance followed a 0.7 per cent decline in shopper numbers in November, though footfall was up 2 per cent across 2014, the report said.
The north fared better than the UK as a whole in December footfall down 0.7 per cent on the previous year.
Only out-of-town destinations reported a UK-wide rise in footfall, 1.3 per cent higher than in 2013.
Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said the north had "recorded a very healthy and welcome spike in shopper footfall numbers in December, bolstered by the important Christmas trading period and by retailers' own promotional activities".
"The resumption in footfall growth last month led to Northern Ireland recording the fourth best results from across ten different parts of the UK," he said.
"The robust footfall growth witnessed over 2014 as a whole is especially pleasing, with the 2 per cent uplift over the year better than Scotland or Wales or indeed the UK as a whole.
"Policy makers in Northern Ireland should seek to capitalise on this positive news in 2015 by pursuing policies which keep down the cost of doing business and which make our town centres and high streets as attractive and accessible as possible."
Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, which compiled the figures, added: "While footfall in Northern Ireland has been volatile during 2014, in December it increased annually for the first time since September.
"A key factor in Northern Ireland's favour is that it has recorded positive footfall growth in both high streets and shopping centres in December, both of which exceeded the UK average.
"In high streets, the degree of variance from the UK was 3.6 per cent in December which is particularly significant as it reflects the gap between a drop of 1.8 per cent in footfall in UK high streets and an increase of 1.8 per cent in Northern Ireland high streets."