Last week, the UK’s retail sector took a hard hit as severe weather conditions led to a significant decrease in footfall. According to retail experts MRI Springboard, shopper numbers declined by 7% compared to the previous week. This decline was much larger than the modest 1.1% drop in footfall seen the week before.
Among the different retail locations, high streets were the most affected, experiencing a staggering 10.1% decline in footfall. Shopping centres and retail parks also saw decreases of 5.1% and 2.5% respectively. The consistent decline in footfall persisted throughout the week, but the most significant drop occurred during the three days from Wednesday to Friday, when the weather conditions were at their worst. During this time, footfall decreased by an average of 13.3%.
However, there was a silver lining as footfall started to recover on Saturday, with an increase in customer activity observed in shopping centres and retail parks. Despite this improvement, footfall in high streets remained 6.7% lower than the previous week.
The decline in footfall was not limited to specific regions, as it was observed across all parts of the UK. Wales, the West Midlands, and Northern Ireland experienced the largest footfall decreases, with declines of 10.5%, 10.4%, and 8.7% respectively. Scotland, on the other hand, only saw a slight decline of -0.7%. The impact also varied among different town types, with central London witnessing a footfall decrease of 11.2%, while outer London and market towns experienced declines of 9.4% and 10.3% respectively. Cities outside of the capital had an 8.7% drop in footfall.
Comparing footfall levels to those seen in 2019, the gap widened significantly last week. Across all UK retail destinations, footfall was down by 15.7% compared to the same period in 2019. High streets suffered an even greater decline of 19.4%. This marks a substantial decrease from the previous week’s decline of 11.8%.
The severe weather conditions had a notable impact on the UK’s retail footfall, affecting various locations and regions. As the weather improved towards the end of the week, some recovery was observed, but the overall decline compared to the pre-pandemic period remains significant. It will be interesting to see how the retail sector adapts and recovers from this setback.
Useful links:
1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/02/07/retail-footfall-slumps-13-snow-storms-hit-shops/
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60311393
