Footfall worsened slightly in January over the month as a whole, to -20.8% below 2019 from -18.6% in December 2021, according to Sprinboard’s latest Footfall Monitor and Insights report.
The removal of Plan B restrictions meant, however, that footfall strengthened in the second half of the month to -19.2% below 2019 from -21.5% below 2019 in the first two weeks.
Activity in high streets started to increase in overall terms as employees returned to their offices for at least part of the week, and customers began to return to physical stores during the day and to dine out again in the evening.
Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle pointed out that the gain in the second half of the month was not even across all of the three destination types, with the start of the return of shoppers occurring only in high streets where footfall strengthened (from -28.9% below 2019 in the first two weeks to -22.4% in the second two weeks), whilst in shopping centres and retail parks the gap from 2019 widened from -24.9% to -25.4% in shopping centres and from -2.2% to -5.8% in retail parks.
Wehrle commented: ” Whilst shopping centres and retail parks did not see a noticeable uplift in footfall in January, the impetus created by the start of the great return to the high street will inevitably generate a ripple effect across all physical destinations in the forthcoming weeks, which even at this early stage offers a reason for optimism amongst retailers and retail destinations.”
