According to data from analysis company Springboard, city centres in the UK are facing challenges despite an overall increase in footfall on Christmas Eve. While UK consumers seemed undeterred by the Omicron variant and ventured out to shop, city centre flagships struggled to attract shoppers, and London experienced a significant drop in footfall. On the other hand, retail parks and shopping centres saw more positive trends, with a greater increase in footfall compared to high streets.
The resilience of retail parks can be partly attributed to trips for food and grocery products, as most retail parks have a food store. Additionally, the spacious layout and larger stores in retail parks make shoppers feel less crowded, leading to their success in retaining shoppers for non-food items as well.
However, high streets experienced a lower increase in footfall compared to the previous week, primarily due to the decline in activity in city centres, particularly in Central London. Footfall in city centres outside of London dropped by 10% compared to the previous week, while Central London witnessed a staggering 30.3% drop in footfall.
Despite the challenges faced by city centres, footfall in smaller high streets and town centres showed an increase. However, the level of visitor traffic varied across different types of towns. Market towns experienced a 14.3% increase in footfall, coastal towns saw a 26.3% increase, and historic towns only had a 1.7% increase. This trend has been observed for the past few weeks, with shoppers choosing to stay local and avoid larger destinations where they perceive a higher risk of contracting COVID-19.
Overall, footfall on Christmas Eve was higher compared to the previous year, with a 30.2% increase. This increase can be attributed to the greater caution observed due to the lack of vaccination a year ago and the restrictions that were in place on December 24, 2020. However, footfall is still 21% lower compared to Christmas Eve in 2019, indicating the ongoing impact of the pandemic on consumer behavior and city centre activity.
Please find below two links providing more information on the challenges faced by UK city centres:
1. BBC Article on Declining Footfall in UK City Centres
2. The Guardian Article on London’s Struggling High Streets
