Footfall still higher than in Lockdown 1 but high street visits decline due to “severe weather”

Footfall across all UK retail destinations rose by just 0.4% last week, 24-30 January, 2021, compared to the week before but, while footfall rose in retail parks by +4.7%, it declined in high streets by -2% - with severe weather in certain parts of the UK to blame, according to retail experts Springboard.

Footfall in shopping centres was up +1.1%, though there was an annual decline of -65.2% across all retail destinations last week (the fifth week of Lockdown 3) – with footfall was around a third of the level in the same week in 2020. That was still a stronger result than in the same week of Lockdown 1, when footfall was just less than a quarter of the level in the same week in 2019.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, commented: “Footfall across UK retail destinations last week remained virtually level with the week before, although this was largely due to severe weather which hit the UK, particularly at the beginning and end of the week.

“At the end of what was the fifth week of Lockdown 3, footfall was at a noticeably higher level than in the same week during Lockdown 1, with the largest differential being in retail parks.”