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New data from Springboard has revealed that footfall at UK retail destinations dropped by 2% last week from the previous seven-day period, despite the reopening of non-essential retail stores across the country.
The footfall decrease was primarily due to a considerable drop of 6.1% in high street footfall, despite footfall in shopping centres and retail parks rising by 2.8% and 1.6% over the period, respectively.
However, the bank holiday weekend saw a footfall rise of 3.2% on Saturday and 7.2% on Sunday across all UK retail destinations.
Footfall in Scotland and Northern Ireland jumped by 74.9% and 45.7% following the opening of non-essential retail stores and outdoor hospitality.
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director for Springboard, said: “Footfall across UK retail destinations dipped a little last week from the week before, driven by fewer shoppers visiting high streets whilst in retail parks and shopping centres customer activity rose.
“In part, this is likely to have been due to the rain and cooler temperatures in the second half of the week in a number of areas across the UK which will have deterred shoppers from external locations.”
She added: “Despite this, activity rose in regional cities outside of London, whilst in tourist destinations and smaller high streets it declined, suggesting that the appeal of major stores that are present in large city centres was enough to offset the less favourable weather.
“The uplift in footfall in both Scotland and Northern Ireland following the opening of non-essential retail last week was significant, with these being the only areas of the UK where footfall rose from the week before.”
