Shopping Centres Saw Strongest Footfall Rise Last Week

Springboard has published footfall data for week 47 (20/11 - 26/11) noting that shopping centres come out trumps on Black Friday with a footfall rise, but UK footfall still remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Springboard Index - Week 47 2022

2022 vs 2021 = +4.2%

2022 vs 2019 = -14.1%

Week-on-week = +3.2%

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

UK retail destinations received a boost last week from Black Friday, with an increase in footfall from the week before that was twice as large as in the previous week.

Footfall rose in all three destination types, but shopping centres fared particularly well, which is a result we would expect to see as shopping centres comprise a critical mass of larger retailers, the vast majority of which actively participate in the event.

At the same time, consumers appeared to regard the occurrence of Black Friday last week as an excuse for making trips to high streets to enjoy the pre-Christmas festivities, with increases in footfall in city centres and towns that appeal to consumers for day trips such as coastal and historic towns that were more than twice as large as in high streets across the UK.

Footfall over the week was fairly volatile, with a noticeable drop from the week before on Monday and a bounce back on Tuesday, followed by a lull on Wednesday with footfall then ramping up on Thursday, and peaking on Friday with a double digit increase in footfall from the week before.  On Saturday footfall only increased marginally from the week before, but there was a further late boost on Sunday.

The increase in footfall last week meant that the annual increase from 2021 nearly doubled from the previous week.  This greater annual uplift was driven mainly by high streets, demonstrating that whilst the week on week increase in footfall in high streets last week was not as large as in shopping centres, high streets performed better than on Black Friday week last year. 

Source : Springboard

Image : monkeybusinessimages / iStockphoto.com (496648303)

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