Latest data from retail experts Springboard reveals that last week, footfall across UK retail destinations rose by +0.4% last week from the week before, with a noticeable increase in visits to retail parks where footfall rose by +4.7% and 1.1% in shopping centres. However footfall declined by -2% in high streets.
The change in footfall from the week before varied between UK geographies, ranging from declines of -4.3% in Greater London and -4.2% in the East Midlands to rises of +7.3% in Northern Ireland and +5.8% in North & Yorkshire.
With an annual decline of -65.2% across all retail destinations last week (the fifth week of Lockdown 3) footfall was around a third of the level in the same week in 2020; a stronger result than in the same week of Lockdown 1 when footfall was just less than a quarter of the level in the same week in 2019.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “Footfall across UK retail destinations last week remained virtually level with the week before, although this was largely due to severe weather which hit the UK, particularly at the beginning and end of the week. At the end of what was the fifth week of Lockdown 3, footfall was at a noticeably higher level than in the same week during Lockdown 1, with the largest differential being in retail parks.”
