The recent bad weather and the delay in lifting the full lockdown restrictions in the UK have had a negative impact on footfall in retail destinations. Despite a promising start to the month of June, visits to stores have seen a consecutive decline for the second week in a row.
According to data from Springboard, footfall across all retail destinations dropped by 3.1% in the week of June 14th to 20th. High streets were hit particularly hard, experiencing a significant decline of 5.4%. Shopping centers and retail parks, on the other hand, saw smaller decreases of only 1.3% and 0.1% respectively, as they are less affected by rain.
The decline in footfall was observed in all types of high streets. Central London experienced a drop of 9.5%, Greater London witnessed a decline of 10.1%, market towns saw a decrease of 4.4%, and regional cities outside of London experienced a smaller decline of 3.2%. In contrast, footfall in Wales actually increased by 5% overall, with high streets witnessing a significant rise of 8.9%.
This consecutive decline in footfall has widened the gap from 2019, with footfall across all retail destinations reaching -22.8% compared to -18.4% the previous week. High streets are being particularly affected, with a gap of -30.4% compared to -21.4% in the previous week.
When analyzing footfall on different days of the week, it was found that footfall declined by an average of 3.5% from Sunday to Wednesday. However, the rainy weather on Thursday and Friday resulted in a more significant decline of 5.1%. Fortunately, footfall recovered slightly on Saturday with a rise of 1.1% as the rain eased.
Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, suggests that the announcement of the delay in easing regulations for another month may have contributed to the dampened consumer activity. Additionally, the rainy weather across most parts of the UK in recent days has had a heavier impact on high streets compared to other retail destinations.
Retailers had hoped for a stronger recovery in footfall as lockdown measures eased, but external factors such as bad weather and delayed restrictions have continued to hinder their progress. As the UK navigates through these challenges, it remains to be seen how quickly footfall will rebound and if consumer activity will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Links to relevant articles:
1. BBC
2. Financial Times
