Retail footfall jumps as UK coronavirus cases rise
Retail footfall spiked at the end of last month as consumers rushed to the shops to stock up due to the spread of coronavirus in the UK.
Retail footfall in February was down two per cent year on year due to several storms during the month.
However, the final week of the month saw a “slight boost” in the number of shoppers visiting high streets, retail parks and shopping centres.
British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Multiple storms took their toll on footfall this February, particularly for shopping centres and high streets.
“The decline was less marked for retail parks, which provide easy parking and offered some salvation from the rain.
“There was a slight boost in footfall in the final week, where concerns around coronavirus may have contributed to an increase in store visits.”
Footfall on high streets declined 2.5 per cent year on year, below both the three month and 12-month average growth of 1.1 and 0.2 per cent respectively.
Retail park footfall fell 1.5 per cent, and shopping centre footfall plummeted seven per cent.
Shoppertrak retail consultant Andy Sumpter said: “While January saw shopper levels on the high street boosted by the ‘Boris Bounce’, February was a different story.
“Named the wettest February on record, we also had three named storms, which all arrived over weekend trading, and certainly dampened shopper traffic levels.”
Belfast, Leeds and London all reported footfall growth during the year, however all the other cities in BRC and Shoppertrak monitor suffered declines, with Portsmouth reporting the worst drop at 9.8 per cent.