Black Friday hits high street footfall as shoppers descend on retail parks

Footfall on the high street dipped 8.8% year-on-year on Saturday and edged down again on Sunday, according to figures from data firm Springboard.

In contrast, footfall increased across the board at retail parks up 14.4% on Black Friday itself and a 3.2% and 6.7% increase on the Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Footfall was driven predominantly by big-ticket homeware and electrical items as consumers rushed to snap up cut-price goods included in the Black Friday sales.

The sharpest increase was seen between 8-9am on Friday with a 50.4% year-on-year increase in footfall as shoppers arrived early to get their hands on promotions before they sold out.

Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle said: “The sheer scale of the discounts that were available on big-ticket electrical items inevitably meant that out of town retail locations where the best offers could be found were favoured as opposed to the high street.”

Footfall (year-on-year percentage change)

On a regional level, footfall in Northern Ireland and the East of England recorded large increases over the weekend with a 9.7% and 7.8% increase respectively.

Springboard predicts Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, will boost this week’s footfall figures as shoppers increasingly turn to click and collect.

It is expected footfall will increase 3.2% across the week.

Friday to Sunday footfall (year-on-year percentage change)