The switch to working from home will hit urban retail locations permanently if sustained at present levels, a leading shopper footfall monitor has warned.
The trend is likely to result in footfall remaining 10% lower than it otherwise would be, Springboard chief executive Diane Wehrle told The Telegraph.
She said: “Unless that changes, there will be a permanent scarring and certainly permanent change in the way we shop.”
Shopper traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels in places such as central London, as many people have chosen to continue working from home for at least part of the week.
Wehrle told the newspaper: “It impacts footfall because workers are simply not in towns or cities as much.
“So, of course, it’s going to keep footfall lower than it would have been, had everyone gone back to their offices full time.
“Unless that changes, there will be a permanent scarring and certainly permanent change in the way we shop.
“Of course, that immediately impacts all the shops and the stores that service the offices in central London and other cities – sandwich bars, restaurants, chemists.
“In my view, until or unless there is a substantive return to the office by employees, then footfall will continue to remain at circa 10% below the 2019 level.”
Changes to working patterns may prompt other shopping shifts, she thought, such as the emergence of more evening shopping or longer weekend trips.
“There’s real key change happening around retail, but it’s not necessarily wholly detrimental,” she said.
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