Retail expert Springboard has reported that footfall across UK retail destinations rose last week from the week before. However, all of the rise was driven by a bounce back in activity on Monday, when there was a significant drop in footfall in the week before last, due to the Bank Holiday on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
Likewise – but in contrast – footfall declined on Tuesday following a rise in the week before last when people had gone back to work after the Bank Holiday. From Wednesday onwards, footfall returned to a more normal pattern, although rain on Friday in many areas of the UK led to a significant drop in shopper activity in high streets, which impacted the overall result for that day.
“All of the rise in footfall last week emanated from increases in activity in retail parks and shopping centres, with only a marginal increase from the week before in high streets.
Diane Wehrle, marketing & insights director of Springboard
Diane Wehrle, marketing & insights director of Springboard, said: “All of the rise in footfall last week emanated from increases in activity in retail parks and shopping centres, with only a marginal increase from the week before in high streets.
“Results across the range of town types varied; despite a bounce back in footfall in Central London on Monday from the week before last, over the week as a whole it declined, whilst rising in city centres outside the capital, in market towns and in Greater London. These results, together with a drop in activity in Springboard’s Central London Back to the Office benchmark, suggests in increase in working from home last week.”
Springboard provides insights on bricks-and-mortar retail activity, tracking and forecasting footfall and delivering performance metrics across all key retail destination types. It records more than 70 million footfall counts per week at 4,500 counting points across 480 different shopping sites in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.