Footfall figures show retail parks came out on top over Easter

Sunny weather and last minute shoppers drew in the crowds to retail parks on Easter Monday, as shoppers stepped out to stock up on DIY products.

While footfall on Good Friday and Easter Saturday remained almost at level pegging with the same days year, dropping slightly at -1.0 per cent and -1.9 per cent, footfall until 1.00pm on Monday saw an increase of 22.9 per cent.

Despite competing with one of the coldest Easters on record last year, the weather was not enough to tempt shoppers out to the high street on Friday or Saturday, with footfall dropping -8.4 per cent and -10.7 per cent respectively.

However, the last day of the Bank Holiday encouraged people to step out on Monday and enjoy the sun, and high street footfall was boosted by 10.2 per cent.

Shopping centres, expected to be the shopping destination to fall behind – with less variety to attract shoppers and boost dwell time - saw a drop in footfall on Friday and Saturday by -11.3 and -10.4 per cent, but again enjoyed the benefits of holiday spending with footfall increasing by 7.1 per cent on Monday.

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard, said: “The results on Friday and Saturday shows people are clearly still very nervous about spending and the recovery is fragile. Easter weekend is the next big trading opportunity for retailers after Christmas and a huge opportunity, but people may have chosen to spend their holiday doing activities other than shopping over the first two days. However, Monday is the last day to enjoy shopping and make a day of it before the bank holiday ends, and calm weather has encouraged people to head out for last minute spending.”

Source : Springboard
www.spring-board.info/updates/article/easter-2014