Rain dampens Bank Holiday footfall
The deluge of rain yesterday made the bank holiday a washout for retailers as footfall dropped by a huge 14.5% in the period up to 12pm.
The figures released by Springboard show that the unexpected sunshine on Saturday and Sunday also failed to draw in shoppers with high street footfall dropping by 7.3% and shopping centre footfall declining by 6.3% over the two day period.
Shopping centres recorded a drop in footfall of 4% on Saturday and 2.4% on Sunday. However, Springboard said a desire to shop locally drove a footfall uplift in smaller shopping centres which saw a 1.8% increase on Saturday and a 6.1% rise on Sunday. However, footfall in regional city centres fell by 5.6% over the weekend.
A drizzly start to Monday did not offer any motivation to shoppers to venture out. Over the period up to 12pm footfall dropped by 14.5%.
However, it was a brighter outlook for retail parks as shoppers stocking up on DIY goods helped footfall to rise by 1.9% on Saturday and by 1.3% on Sunday.
Opting to stay local meant that footfall in coastal towns suffered a drop of 13.5% over the three day weekend. Footfall in historic towns also declined across all three days with a 1.6% drop on Saturday, a 3.5% fall on Sunday and a 1.6% decline on Monday.
Diane Wehrle, retail and insights director at Springboard, said: “Falling just before pay day and with the bleak trends over the last five years it was, as we expected, another tough trading weekend for retailers. While we saw some positive results from smaller shopping centres, retail parks continue to triumph over the high street and shopping centres drawing people out with the convenience of parking, cafes and goods for those all important DIY projects. A drizzly Monday forecast and chilly winds has deterred most people who opted to stay local rather than experience a wash out weekend away.”
