Footfall down 4.2% last week although central London shows signs of return to the office
New figures have revealed that UK retail footfall dropped by 4.2% last week from the prior seven day period.
According to retail footfall specialist Springboard, shopping centres experienced the biggest decline with a fall of 7.7%. Meanwhile, retail parks and high streets saw their footfall drop by 4.7% and 2.2% respectively.
Footfall fell by 10.4% in coastal towns in the week, but market towns and outer London destinations saw respective increases of 2.6% and 3%. The number of people visiting central London dropped by 7.8%, although Springboard’s tracker for footfall in key Central London office locations showed a rise of 4.2% which suggests that a drift back to the office may have started.
The drop in footfall across all retail destinations meant that the gap from 2019 footfall levels widened to -17.3% from -15.8% in the week before.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “If any evidence is required as to the relevance of footfall as an indicator of consumer activity it was provided by the results for last week; the commencement of the school term and the return to work of those who had been on holiday led to a decline in footfall across all retail destinations last week from the week before, with a far greater drop in activity in coastal towns which had been visited by many for staycations and daycations over the summer.”
