Springboard: Footfall Drops As Energy Costs Rise

Springboard has published retail footfall data for week 40 (02/10 - 08/10) noting that footfall dropped by more than -2% in parts of the UK, in line with rising October energy costs

Springboard Index - Week 40 2022

2022 vs 2021 = +5.1%

2022 vs 2019 = -10.8%

Week-on-week = -0.2%

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

Footfall across UK retail destinations declined marginally last week from the week before, a sharp contrast to the rise in footfall in the week before last.  The decline over the week was driven by drops in footfall in both shopping centres and retail parks, whilst in high streets footfall rose very slightly.

Performance over the week was variable for all three key destination types, with increases from the week before at the start of the week followed by drops thereafter.  There was a particularly large decline on Wednesday in high streets and shopping centres, possibly due to more inclement weather than on previous and subsequent days last week.

Footfall dropped in all but three UK geographies which is a clear contrast to the week before last when footfall rose universally across all areas of the UK.

It may be a little premature to draw definitive conclusions, however, the comprehensive drop in footfall across nearly all parts of the UK may well be an initial indicator of the impact on consumers of higher energy costs that came into effect on 1st October.

The impact of the week on week decline was a halving of the uplift in footfall from 2021 from the week before, although the gap from 2019 narrowed marginally.

Source : Springboard

Image : monkeybusinessimages / iStockphoto.com (496648303)

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