Warm weather helps shoppers hit the high street at start of Easter bank holiday weekend
Retail footfall jumped this morning as shoppers hit the high street for the bank holiday weekend, new data reveals.
Shopper numbers were up 4.8 per cent on last week as dry weather tempted customers out to the High Street, according to data from MRI Springboard.
However, the uptick was lower than expected as shoppers shunned high streets and shopping centres.
“On the first day of the Easter bank holiday weekend, over the period up to 12pm on Good Friday footfall in UK retail destinations was 4.8 per cent higher than the previous Friday,” said Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at MRI Springboard.
“Whilst this is a positive result, the uplift is less than half the 10.3 per cent week on week increase forecast.”
Wehrle added that while footfall across high streets generally up to 12pm on Good Friday was 5.7 per cent higher than on the previous Friday, in coastal and historic towns there were far jumps of 23.7 per cent and 20.9 per cent respectively, as shoppers hit the town on bank holiday breaks.
Figures were lower than expected on the week before. Numbers rose just 1.2 per cent higher than on Good Friday 2022 and footfall was still -15.6% lower than on Good Friday 2019, Wehrle said.