Footfall will be 59% lower than 2019 across all UK retail destinations on Black Friday and 58% lower over the weekend, according to Springboard.
Retail Parks are forecast to remain resilient with a drop in footfall of -30.7% over Black Friday weekend. High streets are expected to see a -67.3% YoY drop in footfall over the weekend, while footfall in shopping centres could fall by -64.7% in comparison with 2019
Footfall in England is forecast to be considerably worse than in other nations, with forecast decline of -61.7% on Black Friday across all destinations.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “It goes without saying that Black Friday this year will be like no other. In previous years – and it must be remembered that Black Friday has really only been a fixture in the annual retail calendar since 2013 – shifts in footfall on Black Friday have ranged between +9.8% (2014) and -5.4% (2018) from Black Friday in the year before. Needless to say due to the lockdown in England, all products bar those available in essential stores will need to be purchased online, so online spend will undoubtedly increase substantially.
“Some of this online spend will of course have been driven by the lockdown, however, it reflects the even greater significance of online spend that is likely over Black Friday. For bricks and mortar stores, particularly in England, the opportunity over Black Friday will largely be limited to their ability to provide click and collect facilities, which is the only option for shoppers to purchase goods at non-essential stores.”
