Footfall plummets due to lockdown restrictions
New data has revealed that footfall across UK retail destinations fell by 23.2% last week compared to the previous seven day period.
According to figures from retail specialist Springboard, footfall dropped by 31.8% in shopping centres and by 21.9% in high streets. There was a smaller decline in retail parks where footfall was down 16.8%.
The figures also reveal that footfall across the UK was 55.7% lower than in the same week in 2019 as the impact of more government Covid-19 restrictions kicked in. Footfall in Tier 4 locations was 72.2% lower than the previous year but only 33.9% lower in Tier 3 locations.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “The end of the festive trading period and tightened government restrictions unsurprisingly saw footfall in UK retail destinations drop significantly at the end of 2020. Moving into a new year, with the extension of Tier 4 across virtually all of England and lockdowns in place in the devolved nations, retailers are unlikely to see any respite until restrictions are eased in the coming weeks or months.
“We know from our experience of retail reopening in June 2020 that until the widespread roll out of the vaccine, retail footfall will remain significantly below the pre Covid level.”
Photo by Georgia Hawkins
