According to retail experts Springboard, footfall in UK retail destinations rose by +4.1% last week from the week before, a considerable improvement from the rise of +1.5% in the previous week.
In high streets the increase was even greater at +6.2%, nearly double the rise of +3.3% in shopping centres. The rise in footfall of +0.4% in retail parks was the most modest by far of the three destination types, however, it was still a marked improvement from the – 1.1% drop in the week before
Last week’s footfall uplift meant that the gap from 2019 continued to narrow to -12.4% compared with -14.8% in the week before. In high streets, the gap from 2019 was even smaller at -11.9% whilst in shopping centres it remained at -21.1% indicating that two years ago footfall was far stronger than it is currently.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard commented: “The beginning of the Christmas trading period began in earnest in many retail destinations last week, and it had an increasingly positive impact on shopper activity, ahead of Black Friday.
“In contrast with the week before when footfall rose at the weekend following the switch on of Christmas lights in a number of destinations, last week footfall rose from the previous week on every day apart from Sunday when it was flat from the week before. Across the week as a whole, the increase in footfall last week was nearly three times that of the week before.”
