Footfall: shoppers still cautious despite Freedom Day
Footfall across UK retail destinations increased by 3.3% last week from the prior seven day period after rising by 16.5% on “Freedom Day” when coronavirus restrictions were lifted.
However, the uplift averaged a more modest 1.7% from Tuesday onwards when the week’s heatwave intensified.
Across the week, footfall in high streets edged up 3.3% while shopping centres and retail parks saw respective uplifts of 4.1% and 2.5%.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “Following an above average start to the week as a result of “Freedom Day” on Monday 19th July, the growth in footfall in UK retail destinations slowed considerably from Tuesday onwards. This is likely to be driven by a combination of the extreme heat, the start of the school summer break, and an increased nervousness amongst shoppers in visiting potentially crowded areas created by the growing “pingdemic” which could force them to self-isolate.”
Footfall in coastal towns was much stronger than in high streets generally with a rise of 11% from the week before. In contrast, footfall in Greater London edged down 0.7%. The impact of the heat on customer activity was also evident by a rise in footfall of 12.8% post 8pm when the weather had cooled a little compared to a rise of 2.8% pre-8pm.
The overall results for the week meant the gap in footfall from the 2019 level was largely unchanged at 23.3% down compared to a fall of 24.9% in the previous week.
Photo by Georgia Hawkins
