Latest figures from retail experts, Springboard, have revealed that footfall in UK retail destinations declined by -2% last week from the week before.
This drop was driven by a decline of -6.1% in high streets whilst footfall rose by +2.8% in shopping centres and +1.6% in retail parks.
In contrast, in Scotland and Northern Ireland following the opening of non-essential retail stores and outdoor hospitality, footfall rose by +74.9% and +45.7% respectively.
Over the bank holiday weekend, however, footfall strengthened once more, increasing from the previous week across all UK destinations by +3.2% on Saturday and by +7.2% on Sunday.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “Footfall across UK retail destinations dipped a little last week from the week before, driven by fewer shoppers visiting high streets whilst in retail parks and shopping centres customer activity rose. In part, this is likely to have been due to the rain and cooler temperatures in the second half of the week in a number of areas across the UK which will have deterred shoppers from external locations. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, footfall was more than double the level on the same days in the previous week before retail had reopened.
