UK retail footfall slumps in week following Christmas

UK retail footfall slumped last week, according to retail experts Springboard, even as retailers benefitted from increased footfall each day from Boxing Day to 29 December.

Retail footfall was 27.7% lower in the week ended 31 December than in the seven days leading up to Christmas and just 7.2% higher than during the same week a year earlier, partly due to an offset in dates. The gap from 2019 was -19.7%.

Footfall on Boxing Day was up 38.8% year-on-year but 18.2% lower than in 2019, while footfall rose 36.6% YOY on 27 December and 6.7% on 28 December.

Diane Were, Springboard's insights director, said: "Not surprisingly, footfall across UK retail destinations during the week of Christmas was significantly lower than in the week before that in the final trading week.

"Footfall was higher than in the same week last year, but not significantly, despite Christmas 2021 being overshadowed by Covid. A key factor here is the offset of Christmas which meant that last week began on Christmas Day - when footfall is at its lowest - whilst in 2021 the week began on Boxing Day when many stores were open and trading. In 2019 - the last Christmas before Covid-19 - the offset is even greater, with Christmas Day falling part way through the week before and week 52 commencing on 29th December 2019."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com