April footfall boosted by strong Easter weekend
New figures have shown that footfall rose by 7.2% from March to April following a drop of 2.8% from February to March.
According to MRI Springboard, there was particularly strong increase in the week of Good Friday and Easter Saturday when the number of visits to retail locations increased by 14.2% from the week before. However, footfall was 10.2% down in the subsequent week due to the impact of Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.
Looking at the annual figures, MRI Springboard said there was an uplift 4.7% in April compared to the same month last year.
In addition, the gap in footfall from 2019 narrowed in April to -12% from -14.9% in March.
Footfall in high streets and shopping centres was up 4.6% and 6.6% respectively year-on-year in March versus the same month in 2022. The number of visits to retail parks was 2.9% higher.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at MRI Springboard, said: The hope is that the three bank holidays in May – one of which surrounds the once in a lifetime event of the King’s Coronation – will deliver a further fillip to retail destinations and stores.
“This will help to offset the loss of weekday footfall that has come about through hybrid working which is particularly relevant for high streets where in April footfall between Monday and Friday remained -18.2% below the 2019 level versus just -7.2% below 2019 during the weekend.”
