Footfall across all UK retail destinations fell by 6.7% last week, although the previous seven-day period had recorded an 11.6% rise after benefitting from the school half-term holiday and improved weather.
The data from Springboard shows high streets lost around half of the gain made in the week before with a decline in footfall of 9% versus a rise of 17.4%. Shopping centres saw a drop of 7.5% and footfall in retail parks slipped 0.9% compared with a gain of 2.3% in the week before.
Footfall dropped across all types of high street, but by the greatest proportion in coastal and historic towns (-19% and -13.1%) and in regional city centres (-13.4%). In contrast, footfall in market towns and outer London dipped by only 2% and 2.6% respectively as people continued to work from home.
Compared with pre-pandemic data in 2019, footfall across all retail destinations fell 18.4% last week, a slightly less favourable position than in the week before when it was 14.5% below two years ago.
Looking ahead, Springboard’s Insights Director Diane Wehrle, said: “With the removal of restrictions set to be delayed by as much as a month, footfall is not likely to strengthen significantly over the next four weeks. However, it should receive a huge boost in the second half of July, particularly as this coincides with the start of the school summer break.”
