UK retail footfall ‘more resilient’ in second lockdown
Retail footfall has been more resilient during the second coronavirus lockdown compared to the first closure of non-essential stores in March, the latest analysis showed.
Between Thursday and Saturday footfall in retail destinations rose by an average of 13.2 per cent from the same three days in the week before, when the lockdown began.
Shoppers started to return to high streets, shopping centres and retail parks by the end of the week, which saw jumps in footfall of 10.1 per cent, 14.1 per cent and 18.7 per cent respectively.
Footfall was down year-on-year during the first full week of lockdown but the decline “wasn’t nearly as severe as it was in lockdown one or…as comprehensive”, according to Springboard data.
Meanwhile footfall in Wales soared 135.9 per cent after the two week lockdown ended, providing a glimmer of hope for retailers in England in the run up to Christmas.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard’s insight director, said: “The fact that footfall is more resilient may well be a function of the proximity of Christmas, and the concern of shoppers to buy well in advance this year to avoid queues, facilitated by the wide range of non-food products offered in stores selling essential goods .
“In the second half of the week, from Thursday to Saturday, footfall was significantly higher than on the same three days in the previous week which were the first three days of the lockdown, indicating that as the week progressed shoppers began to make trips out of their homes.
“Indeed, this reinforces the concern about the likely rebound in activity following the end of the lockdown, highlighted by the unprecedented increase in footfall recorded in Wales following the end of the two week lockdown.”