Springboard: Footfall Rebounds From Extreme Heatwave

Springboard has published retail footfall data for week 30 (17/07 - 23/07) noting that increasing temperatures drove shoppers to retail parks and shopping centres last week.

Springboard Shopping Centre Index - Week 30 2022

2022 vs 2021 = +13.1%

2022 vs 2019 = -17.3%

Week-on-week = +6.2%

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

Footfall across UK retail destinations rose last week from the week before, however, much of this was a rebound from the significant drops on the Monday and Tuesday of the week before last when the UK experienced an extreme heatwave.  From Wednesday onwards, when the comparison was against days with more normal summer temperatures, there was a modest week on week rise.

Footfall rose from last week in all three destination types, with the largest rises occurring in high streets and shopping centres.  All types of town benefited from increased consumer activity, with Central London recording the largest increase, although the uplift in Central London is likely to be due to increased tourism which typically occurs during the school summer break rather than employees returning to offices.  This is demonstrated by the fact the rise in footfall was more muted in both Springboard's "Back to the Office" Central London benchmark and in city centres outside of the capital (which generally attract fewer tourists).  The rail strike on Wednesday led to a significant drop in footfall in Central London and other city centres around the UK, whilst footfall in market towns rose as employees worked from home.

Source : Springboard

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