According to The New West End Company (NWEC), footfall in London’s West End remained stagnant despite a busy Saturday, while other cities experienced a decline in visitor numbers. NWEC reported an increase in footfall on Saturday, but overall footfall for the week of November 29 in the West End was flat. However, Fashionnetwork.com staff observed a significant number of shoppers on Oxford Street and surrounding areas on Saturday, indicating a return to normalcy. Sunday was also reportedly busy, although less so than Saturday. Specifically, footfall in the West End increased by 23% on Saturday compared to the previous week.
Despite the increase on Saturday, NWEC stated that footfall remained as much as 30% lower than pre-pandemic levels for the rest of the week. This is due to the absence of tourists and office workers who have not yet returned to work or have only returned on a part-time basis. NWEC believes that the Government’s messaging regarding the Omicron Covid variant, along with recent tube strikes, may have contributed to the stagnant footfall figures. Nevertheless, NWEC remains hopeful that the Saturday rush indicates a potential increase in visitor numbers as Christmas approaches and people seek to enjoy the festive offerings in the West End.
The impact of the Omicron variant was also noted by Springboard, which reported a 2% decline in its Central London Back to the Office Benchmark. Additionally, footfall in large cities outside of London decreased by 3.8% compared to the previous week, while small market towns experienced a 1% increase as more shoppers chose to stay local. Nationally, footfall in all retail destinations rose by 0.7% compared to the previous week. Shopping centers saw a 2.3% increase in footfall, retail parks experienced a 1.3% increase, and high streets saw a marginal decline of 0.4%.
In central London as a whole, footfall increased by 0.5%, with a focus on Christmas shopping noted in retail areas where footfall rose by 1.8%. However, footfall on Friday declined by 5% overall and by 10.3% in shopping centers due to a tough comparison to Black Friday in the previous week. When compared to 2019 levels, the gap in footfall was at -17.4% last week, but footfall was 43% higher than in 2020. These figures highlight the ongoing challenges faced by retailers and the uncertain impact of the Omicron variant on future footfall.
Useful links:
– The New West End Company (NWEC)
– Springboard
