UK shopper numbers rise despite lockdown restrictions

Footfall across UK retail destinations rose last week, despite severe weather conditions and the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

According to retail consultancy Springboard, footfall rose 9% week-on-week in the seven days beginning 17 January. High streets saw the biggest improvement, ahead 10.9%, while footfall at shopping centres increased 9.2%. Footfall improved 4.5% at retail parks.

It was a sharp contrast to the previous week, when footfall across all retail destinations fell 10.9%.

The capital saw the biggest activity, with footfall ahead 17.1% in central London and 18.6% in outer London.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “Despite rain and snow last week across much of the UK, footfall rose from the week before for the first time in five weeks, perhaps providing the first indications of lockdown fatigue emerging once again.

“The last rise in footfall was in the peak Christmas trading week beginning 13 December, and then the rise was only as third as large as last week.”

The weekly update came as Springboard posted full-year data for 2020. It found footfall collapsed by a record 39.1% during the year, the lowest ever recorded. Springboard said 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic “significantly altered the retail industry” with non-essential retailers forced to close for a total of 18 weeks.

Of the three destination types, retail parks proved the most resilient, with an overall drop in footfall of -23%. In comparison, shopping centres recorded a 41.9% slide and high streets a 45.2% tumble.

However, with more people working from home from March 2020 onwards, local shops fared better. “Of the high streets across the UK, it was the market towns, coastal towns and historic towns that were far more resilient in terms of retaining shoppers compared to regional cities,” Springboard noted.

Wehrle added: “The word ‘unprecedented’ truly underplays the impact Covid-19 has had on the retail industry, as businesses large and small fought for survival. However, as the vaccine is successfully rolled out across the UK in 2021, this offers hope for retailers in the second half of the year, albeit with social distancing measures still in place.”

Year-on-year, footfall for the week starting 17 January 2021 was sharply lower, down 65.3% across all retail destinations. High streets, retail parks and shopping centres recorded falls of 72.8%, 41.1% and 72.8% respectively.