UK footfall falls 13% on Coronation Day but London welcomes boost

Last week saw mixed results for retailers as footfall dropped by 13.2% from results in 2022 on Coronation Day (6 May), while central London saw a 11.3% boost in footfall and an additional 21.5% between the hours of 10am and 3pm, according to Springboard.   

Across the whole week, footfall increased by 3% on 2022 levels, dropping only 0.2% on the previous week.

Over the five hours between 10am and 3pm, the uplift from last year in the capital was even greater, as a 21.5% boost in footfall was recorded in central London, with it being 46.4% higher in non retail areas.

However, footfall dropped by 20.6% across UK retail destinations on Coronation Day compared to the week before, as consumers were drawn away by the historic display. 

This comes as last Saturday footfall across the country’s retail centres was 13.2% lower than on the same day last year. 

In contrast, central London saw a significant footfall boost, as it was actually 11.3% higher than on that same Saturday in 2022. It was also 24.3% higher in non-retail areas of central London and an additional 9.2% higher in Knightsbridge. 

Diane Wehrle, insights director at MRI Springboard, said: “Last week was an exceptional week in that it was bookended by bank holidays, which meant that footfall across UK retail destinations remained virtually flat from the week before. 

“There were very marginal rises in footfall in high streets and retail parks, but these were offset by a larger drop in footfall in shopping centres. Footfall rose from the previous week on each day between Sunday and Thursday in all three key destination types, but it dipped on Thursday in shopping centres.” 

She added: “There were also uplifts in footfall in other towns and cities across the UK, as big screens were erected in some high streets to enable shoppers to watch the proceeding.”