Retail Footfall Declines In Lead Up To Half Term

Springboard has published retail footfall data for week 42, advising that UK footfall declined in the lead up to October half term.

To ensure its insights are as relevant as possible, Springboard has introduced a year-on-year 2021 vs 2019 comparison for footfall.

Springboard Index - Shopping Centre - Week 42 2021

2021 vs 2020 = +22.0%

2021 vs 2019 = -22.3%

Week-on-week = +0.4%

Springboard's Marketing and Insights Director, Diane Wehrle, said: 

"Footfall declined across UK retail destinations last week, which was not an unexpected result given that many schools have their half term holiday this week and a dip in activity in the week before the school break is a long term trend as shopping trips are deferred; indeed in five of the six years between 2014 and 2019 footfall declined from the week before in the week preceding the October school half term break. 

"High streets drove all of the drop in footfall whilst it rose marginally in retail parks and shopping centres, and it seems that the drift back to the office slowed with an even larger drop in regional cities outside of the capital and in Springboard's Back to the Office benchmark (those parts of Central London dominated by offices rather than retail).  On a positive note, the drop in footfall in Central London as a whole was a third of that across UK high streets, suggesting that more visits are being made into the capital for retail and leisure purposes.   

"The drop in footfall in high streets was universal, spanning all UK geographies, but the most modest decline occurred in the Greater London region, which spans both Central and Outer London, whilst the poorest results were recorded in the North & Yorkshire and South West regions."

Source : Insight DIY and Springboard

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