Rain dampens footfall on high streets over the Easter weekend
New figures on the number of customers visiting retail destinations over the Easter weekend have shown that the rainy weather on Good Friday and Saturday led to a decline in footfall in high streets while boosting the number of shoppers in retail parks and shopping centres.
While high street footfall was down by 9.6% on Friday and by 6.9% on Saturday, footfall in retail parks and shopping centres increased by 5% from Good Friday and Easter Saturday last year.
Springboard insights director, Diane Wehrle said: “Despite poor weather, shoppers have definitely been visiting retail destinations this Easter Weekend. Footfall in retail parks and shopping centres increased by 5% compared to Good Friday and Easter Saturday last year, but the persistent rain has definitely impacted high streets.”
When the rain eased on Sunday, consumers were encouraged to venture out into high streets once more and consequently footfall there rose by 1.9%. This meant the overall level of footfall across all types of shopping destination across the UK rose by 0.7% on Sunday. However, footfall up to 12pm on Easter Monday declined due to further rain.
Wehrle added: “Despite positive results on Easter Sunday, retail footfall up to 12pm on Easter Monday has taken a tumble. This decline was undoubtedly caused by rain that hit much of the UK in the morning and also likely to be due to the fact that shoppers had already made their trips earlier in the weekend.”
