Springboard: Extreme Heat Impacts Footfall

Springboard has published retail footfall data for week 29 (17/07 - 23/07) noting that increasing temperatures drove shoppers to retail parks and shopping centres last week.

Springboard High Street Index - Week 29 2022

2022 vs 2021 = +15.0%

2022 vs 2019 = -20.0%

Week-on-week = -5.0%

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

The extreme heat last week severely impacted footfall across all retail destinations, but it was high streets that fared the worst as shoppers sought the temperature controlled environments offered by shopping centres and retail parks.

Footfall was hit hard on Monday and Tuesday as temperatures reached nearly 40 degrees C, followed by modest week on week rises on Wednesday and Thursday then further drops of a more normal magnitude to the end of the week.

All types of town recorded significant drops in footfall other than coastal towns - a combination of the weather and the start of the school summer break - with a larger drop in footfall in city centres than in smaller high streets as employees worked at home.  Central London was particularly badly impacted, with by far the largest drops at the beginning of the week of any type of town which continued to Friday, whilst in city centres elsewhere in the UK footfall bounced back from Wednesday onwards as the temperature cooled.

Source : Springboard

Image : Travelling Yorkshireman / shutterstock.com (1740530756)

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