Warm weather and roadmap to reopening news sees footfall rise 11%

Footfall across all UK retail destinations rose 11% last week, 21-27 February 2021, compared to the week before.

It was the sixth consecutive week of an increase in footfall, with retail experts Springboard citing warmer weather, news of the roadmap to reopening and increased evidence of “lockdown fatigue”, as people looked to get out and about more despite the continued restrictions.

The increase in footfall in high streets of +15.9% was more than double that recorded in shopping centres, at +6%, or retail parks which saw a +5.9% rise.

Footfall increased on all but one day last week, with a very clear acceleration in activity on Friday and Saturday as the weather improved and consumers looked to make the most of the weekend. The rise averaged +6.8% over the period from Sunday to Thursday, but rose to an average of +21.6% on Friday and Saturday.

The rise in footfall was more than +10% in all types of town centres, but the rises were greatest in regional cities outside of London, which saw a jump of +18.6%, coastal towns saw a rise of +18.4% and historic towns were +16.1%. Even in central London footfall rose by +16.4%, although this uplift is from a much lower base than elsewhere.

The significant increase in activity last week meant that the gap in footfall in retail destinations from 2020 narrowed to -56.5%, from -62.1% the week before.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, commented: “Footfall data is continuing to deliver ever clearer evidence of lockdown fatigue among consumers. Perhaps prompted by the announcement of the government's roadmap to reopening at the beginning of the week, but then supported by drier warmer weather in the second half of the week, footfall in UK retail destinations rose once again last week from the week before.

“Not only was this the sixth consecutive week that footfall has increased, but its magnitude was greater than in any previous week and nearly twice that in the week before.”