The woes of the High Street continued last month despite the reopening of most non-essential stores.
Data from Springboard shows UK retail footfall plummeted 56.6% year-on-year in June, although this was better than the 73.3% fall in May.
The number of people visiting high streets and shopping centres last month declined by 65.1% and 62.3% respectively. Meanwhile, retail parks saw footfall drop by 32.2%.
The first week of the reopening of shops in England and Northern Ireland following the three month lockdown saw footfall jump 40% on the previous week. However, after the initial spike, footfall in the subsequent two weeks slowed considerably, from +6.6% in the first week after reopening to +2.4% in the second week.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard insights director, said: “Long queues coupled with a restricted shopping experience due to social distancing could be the contributing factors to this sudden drop off in footfall. This is concerning for the economic recovery path of bricks and mortar retail who are heavily reliant on customer experience.”
NAM Implications:
- No surprise to shoppers that have ventured out.
- i.e. apart from queues and social distancing, pre lockdown inefficiencies and shop floor attitudes remain.
- What has changed is the evolution of consumers to super-savvy status…
- …‘unwilling to settle for anything less than demonstrable value for money’
- …and a good taste of online alternatives.
