High Street Retail Footfall Declined By Over 45% In 2020

Overall retail footfall was down by 39.1% in 2020, according to data from Springboard.

High streets saw a decline of 45.2% while shopping centre footfall declined by 41.9%.  Retail parks fared better, with a 23% decline.

Immediately after the first two lockdowns, retail footfall increased by over 40%.  The first lockdown ran between week 12 and 24, during which time retail footfall declined by 71.4%.

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard, said: “To use the word ‘unprecedented’ truly underplays the impact that Covid-19 has had on the retail industry as businesses large and small fought for survival,” 

“However, as the vaccine is successfully rolled out across the UK in 2021, this offers hope for retailers in the second half of the year, albeit with social distancing measures still in place.

“If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is the need we all have for human interaction and sensory satisfaction, and this is likely to drive visits and spend in stores and destinations.

“What is likely to continue to change in 2021 is the types of destinations that consumers visit and the frequency and when they do so, and much of this change will be driven by the shift to home working.”

Current Retail Footfall

For the week of Friday 22nd January, retail footfall was down by 62.1% year-on-year, but up by 12% week-on-week. 

Diane Wehrle said: "Despite rain and snow last week across much of the UK, footfall rose in retail destinations last week from the week before for the first time in five weeks; perhaps providing the first indications of lockdown fatigue emerging once again. The last rise in footfall was in the peak Christmas trading week beginning 13th December, and even then the rise was only a third as large as last week's; since then there has been a double digit drop in footfall in each week. 

"Footfall rose on five of the seven days last week, with only modest drops from the previous week on Tuesday and Wednesday, most probably due to the adverse weather; over the remaining five days, there was a double digit rise in footfall. In London, the increase in footfall over the week was double that in smaller high streets and three times as great as in regional cities outside of London. 

"The impact of the rise in footfall from the previous week meant that the annual decline in footfall from 2020 narrowed slightly across all retail destinations." 

Source : Insight DIY Team and Springboard

Image : Tony Ivanov / iStock 1214245347

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