Footfall: impact of 10pm curfew relatively shortlived
New data on UK retail footfall reveals there was drop of 0.3% last week from the previous seven days.
The figures from retail specialist Springboard shows that footfall rose marginally in high streets and shopping centres where there were respective upifts of 0.1% and by 0.4%. However, retail parks saw a decline of 1.6%.
Springboard said its data highlights that the impact of the government’s 10pm curfew has been relatively short lived, with high street footfall over the evening period partially bouncing back from the double digit decline seen in the previous week. High street footfall between 7pm and 11pm rose by 5.8% compared to a 12.7% decline in the previous week. Meanwhile, post 11pm high street footfall only fell by 0.4% compared to a 26.4% drop in the previous seven days.
However, the change in footfall post 11pm varied significantly across the UK with footfall rising in the south and declining in the North, Yorkshire and the Midlands.
Springboard’s figures also show there was a slight strengthening of the annual result with footfall improving marginally to a year-on-year decline of 30.9% across all retail destinations.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “Consumers appear to have adapted their behaviour to accommodate the 10pm closure of hospitality. Last week – the second full week since the introduction of the curfew – the overall UK result was marginal. However, our data indicates that there appears to be a north-south divide in terms of night-time footfall bounce back, with southern areas of the UK recording rises in footfall post 11pm whilst there are noticeable declines in the Midlands and North where a number of towns have more severe restrictions in place. The exception to this is Scotland, where footfall rose post 11pm.”
