Footfall down 10.6% on Boxing Day
Footfall in UK retail destinations up to 12pm on Boxing Day was down 10.6% on the same period last year.
The figures from retail intelligence firm Springboard show the decline was the biggest since Boxing Day 2010 which fell on a Sunday when shops would have opened later.
High streets experienced the biggest decline this year with a drop of 13.6% which can be partly attributed to the day’s rainy weather.
Meanwhile, shopping centres and retail parks saw their footfall drop by 8.8% and 5.9% respectively.
Looking at the regional picture, no single region escaped a drop in footfall, although Greater London and the North and Yorkshire had the lowest declines at 7.2% and 9.9% respectively. In Northern Ireland and the South East there were respective declines of 17.2% and 14.9%. Meanwhile, Scotland and Wales both saw their footfall drop by 14%.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “This result reflects a number of underlying structural changes in terms of how consumers shop with more going online, the increased spending around Black Friday, the growing demand for hospitality and experience and the fact that the number of blended families means that many consumers are still celebrating Christmas on Boxing Day with their family.
“In combination, these changes mean that Boxing Day is indisputably a less important trading day than it once was. In fact, footfall on Boxing Day so far this year is -10.9% lower than footfall over the same period on Black Friday.”
