Retail footfall up over bank holiday thanks to staycation shopping
Footfall across all retail destinations rose an average of 8.2 per cent over the August bank holiday as shoppers made the most of the long weekend.
Historic towns enjoyed a flux of day trip and staycation shoppers with footfall up 20.1 per cent over the long weekend while coastal towns saw footfall up 19.8 per cent.
High street footfall rose almost seven per cent last week from the week before while it rose 4.8 per cent in shopping centres and rose just under one per cent in retail parks.
Footfall across all retail destinations rose by an average of 3.9 per cent from Sunday to Friday from the week before.
Data from Springboard showed that over the bank holiday, the increase in footfall in high streets from the previous week was three times as great as the average over the preceding six days from Sunday to Friday.
However, in retail parks footfall declined over the weekend compared to the week before.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “In the final week of the school summer holiday period, footfall across UK retail destinations continued to rise from the week before, although the increase was wholly driven by high streets and shopping centres, rather than retail parks.
“Bank Holiday Monday was clearly a transfer day for many and an opportunity to restock on food and household essentials, as footfall declined from the previous Monday in both high streets and shopping centres whilst it rose in retail parks, undoubtedly driven by the presence of food stores.”