UK retail footfall up 6.2 percent in week before second England lockdown

UK footfall across all retail destinations rose by 6.2 percent last week compared to the week before, despite a 53.7 percent decline in Wales where the country is in a ‘firebreak’ lockdown.

In the final week of England’s tiered lockdown system, footfall rose by 3.5 percent in retail parks, 5.2 percent in high streets and by 11 percent in shopping centres.

On an annual basis, footfall stood at 32.5 percent lower than last year, a marginal improvement from the week before when it was -32.9 percent.

On Thursday, England will launch its second nationwide lockdown, with all non-essential retailers to close for a month.

“The school half term break last week delivered a boost to footfall in UK retail destinations, with a noticeable increase from the week before despite a significant decrease in footfall in Wales as a consequence of the firebreak. In contrast, in Central London footfall rose, even though Tier 2 restrictions were introduced in the week before,” said Diane Wehrle, Springboard’s insight director.

“Needless to say with Saturday's announcement of the impending lockdown commencing on Thursday, footfall is likely to increase over the forthcoming three days as consumers try to make essential purchases and buy for Christmas before all non-essential retail stores close for a month on Thursday.

“Whilst next week's footfall will be buffered by four days of trading, over the next month the results will look very different, with an annual decline that could reach -80 percent.

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