UK footfall return remains steady
Footfall dropped marginally by -0.7% last week from the week before, with Springboard highlighting supply issues has not yet impacted consumer behaviour
Footfall across UK retail destinations declined marginally by -0.7% last week from the week before, according to Springboard.
UK footfall last week was +28.1% higher than in the same week in 2020, which was a strong improvement from +24.5% in the week before.
The fact that footfall did not change last week from the week before meant that the gap from the 2019 level shifted only slightly, to -14% across all destination types from -13.5% last week.
Footfall remained flat in high streets whilst dropping by -1.5% in retail parks and -1.6% in shopping centres.
Latest insight from Springboard highlights that the warned impact of supply issues on the availability of Christmas products has not yet impacted consumer behaviour.
The drops in footfall across retail parks and shopping centres were widespread, with declines in all but one UK geography.
However, in high streets there were declines in only four areas with the largest
rises occurring in the devolved nations (+6.7% in Scotland, +3.7% in Wales and +1.9% in Northern Ireland).
Footfall in Greater London and in market towns declined by -3.4% and -1.4% respectively, whilst rising in Central London by +2.7%.
Springboard’s Central London back to the office benchmark saw a rise of +3.2%, whilst regional cities outside of the capital also rise by +2.1%, showing an acceleration in the
return of workers to the office.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “Last week UK footfall was flat in high streets, but small declines in activity in both retail parks and shopping centres suggests that discussions in the media around the impact of supply issues on
the availability of Christmas products have not yet impacted consumer behaviour.”
“In parallel, indications are that the trickle back to the office is accelerating, with footfall in both outer London and market towns – locations where resilient activity levels are synonymous with home working – declining from the week before, whilst rising in Central London and regional cities outside the capital.”
