Latest data from Springboard shows footfall in UK retail destinations rose by 3.2% last week from the week before, with rises in consumer activity across all three key destination types.
Shopping centres were the most popular destination with a rise in footfall of 5.2% versus 2.3% in high streets and 2.7% in retail parks.
Shopping centres were also the winner on Black Friday with a rise in footfall of 16.8%, followed by high streets (+11.3%) and then retail parks (+7.1%). However, despite the uplift, footfall was still 14.1% below the 2019 pre-pandemic level over the week and 17.5% down on Black Friday in 2019.
By Saturday, footfall across all destinations levelled out with a rise of only 0.6% from the week before, although in shopping centres footfall rose by 3.8%. Sunday provided a further boost for retailers with a rise in footfall of 5.9% overall (+7% in shopping centres, +6.2% in high streets and +4.1% in retail parks).
Footfall rose annually last week by 4.2%, which was an improvement on the 2.8% increase in the week before, and on Black Friday footfall was 9.3% higher than in 2021 across all UK retail destinations. Whilst shopping centres recorded a higher uplift than high streets on Black Friday from the week before, the annual increase in high streets was greater than in shopping centres (+15.8% versus +5.6%) demonstrating that high streets had bounced back from last year to a greater degree.
Not unexpectedly, large city centres were the most appealing for consumers over the Black Friday week, with increases of 4.9% in Central London and 4.3% in cities outside London, and up 13.3% and 17.8% on Black Friday itself.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “UK retail destinations received a boost last week from Black Friday, with an increase in footfall from the week before that was twice as large as in the previous week.
“Footfall rose in all three destination types, but shopping centres fared particularly well, which is a result we would expect to see as shopping centres comprise a critical mass of larger retailers, the vast majority of which actively participate in the event. However, notably, footfall still remained significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, indicating consistent nervousness around spending in the current climate.”
NAM Implications:
- i.e. the novelty has worn off, in exceptional times.
- And given a growing feeling that the deals were not as good…
- (amidst the confusion of soaring inflation)
- Performance vs pre-pandemic remains the baseline.
