According to retail expert Springboard, footfall in UK retail destinations fell back once again in April, albeit only marginally to -15.9% from -15.3% in March.
During Easter week, footfall rose by 9.1% from the week before, compared with a week-on-week drop over the remaining three weeks that averaged -1.1%.
Despite the absence of any noticeable boost in footfall in April, Springboard’s town centre sales tracker identified that sales in physical stores in April remained positive, with increases from 2019 across a number of key retail categories: department stores (+9.7%), food and beverage (+5.9%), fashion (+3.7%), health and beauty (+2.5%) and jewellery (+16.7%).
“It seems that while consumer activity in stores and destinations is not bouncing back to the pre-pandemic level, those consumers who remain insulated from increasing cost-of-living pressures are still spending”
Springboard marketing & insights director Diane Wehrle
Springboard marketing & insights director Diane Wehrle said: “It seems that while consumer activity in stores and destinations is not bouncing back to the pre-pandemic level, those consumers who remain insulated from increasing cost-of-living pressures are still spending, undoubtedly supported by the fact that many will have not had the opportunity to shop in-store since the start of the pandemic and have additional savings available to them.â€
She added: “The issue for retail is whether the result for April is a precursor to a contraction in retail consumer activity over the forthcoming months, as strong inflationary pressures start to hit household budgets that are forecast to become of far greater significance as we move through 2022.â€
