Footfall in UK retail destinations rose by just +0.6% last week following a flat result the week before, according to the latest report from Springboard.
There were marginal gains in retail parks and shopping centres of +1.4% and +1.3%, but in high streets there was no increase at all.
Between Sunday and Tuesday footfall rose by an average of just +0.9%, however, in retail parks footfall rose by +7.2% on Tuesday, possibly a result of shoppers visiting food stores to stock up on provisions in advance of the semi-final match on Wednesday.
Saturday was by far the strongest day of the week, with footfall +6.1% higher than the week before across all retail destinations, and increases of a similar magnitude in all three destination types (+6.9% in high streets, +5.4% in shopping centres and +5.1% in retail parks).
On Sunday. the day of the Euros final, it was only high streets that benefited with a rise in footfall of +9.7% from the week before – probably supported by fans visiting pubs to watch the match – whilst in retail parks and shopping centres footfall declined by -4% and -4.9%.
The gap from 2019 narrowed slightly to -25.8% last week from -28.1% the week before, with footfall in retail parks just -4.4% below the 2019 level. On Saturday, the +5.1% rise in footfall in retail parks pushed it above the 2019 level by +2.4%.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “The Euros may have gripped the nation but the football failed to boost footfall last week, with only a very marginal rise from the week before. Even on the two match days the change in footfall across UK retail destinations was unspectacular, with a drop from the previous week on Wednesday and a modest rise on Sunday.”
