Footfall increases by a third according to Springboard
Bank holiday weekend footfall increased by a third as consumers took advantage of the eased lockdown restrictions, according to retail footfall insights provider Springboard.
Footfall across all UK retail destinations on both Saturday and Monday was a third higher than on the same trading days over the Easter weekend.
It was high streets and retail parks that experienced the greatest impact over the weekend; high streets reported an increase in footfall of 49 per cent on bank holiday Monday compared to Easter Monday and footfall in retail parks increased by 42 per cent on Saturday compared with Easter Saturday.
The largest rises compared with Easter were in England where travel restrictions have been eased, with footfall on Saturday over 30 per cent higher than Easter Saturday in all regions. On Monday footfall was more than 30 per cent higher than on Easter Monday in every part of the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where travel restrictions are still in place.
Footfall is expected to rise further in the coming weeks following the announcement that non-essential retail will be re-opening from 15 June in some regions.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard’s insights director, said: “We anticipate that once stores open on 15th June – despite the rise in online shopping that has been recorded – the evident pent up demand to go out amongst consumers will absolutely translate into footfall. However an anticipated spending spike could possibly be short lived, as consumers will be cautious and looking at reigning in their spend due to ongoing financial uncertainty in many UK households. Additionally the safety of shoppers and workers will be paramount as announced yesterday by the Prime Minster, so retailers over the coming weeks will need to be working hard to ensure that customer occupancy measures in stores and destinations are in place and carefully managed so that social distancing measures can be implemented successfully.”
