Retail footfall slumps as three-tier Covid restrictions take effect

All retail destinations saw footfall dip 3.1% collectively last week after the government’s new system came into force last Thursday, according to the latest data from Springboard. 

In terms of year-on-year performance, the latest restrictions saw overall footfall across high streets, shopping centres and retail parks fall 32%, down from negative 30.9% the week before. 

Year-on-year, high street footfall last week was down 40%, shopping centres were down 34.6%, while out of town retail parks continue to perform the strongest, with footfall down just 13.2%. 

With much of the North East and North West of the country now under stricter restrictions than the rest of the UK, Springboard said “it is not surprising” that the North and Yorkshire saw the sharpest drop of 5% of any region in the UK. 

London footfall slipped just 2.3% last week, less than many other regional cities across the UK. Regional cities, excluding the capital, saw footfall collectively slip 5.7% last week and are now down 47.9% year on year. 

By nation, the 10pm closure of hospitality continued to have a deleterious effect on footfall with footfall slipping after the cut-off point 4.5% across the whole of the UK. 

Wales was the only nation to see high street footfall during 9am to 6pm trading hours rise, up 3.8%, a figure which will be reversed given the region has only today been plunged into a circuit breaker full lockdown, including non-essential retail.

Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said: “The additional Covid tiered restrictions had an immediate impact on footfall in retail destinations last week with an across the board week on week decline; the fourth consecutive drop and also greater than that in previous weeks. The drop in footfall was equally severe across all three destination types, although on an annual basis retail parks continue to remain by far the most resilient. Notwithstanding this, the year on year decline in footfall in all three destination types accelerated once again, with the largest gap between this year and last year for nine weeks.

“Somewhat inevitably, given the advice for people to work from home and the increased restrictions on travel, footfall regional cities declined by significantly more than in smaller towns around the UK. The drop in footfall in regional cities outside Central London was twice that in the capital, undoubtedly a function of the fact that footfall has already declined in Central London by far more than elsewhere. It is also no surprise that the drop in footfall in the North and Yorkshire region was more severe than in any other area of the UK.

“The 10pm closure of hospitality is having a clear impact on high street activity during the evening, with far greater declines in footfall post-6pm than over the daytime trading period of 9am to 6pm. This is UK-wide with the exception of Wales, where high street footfall across the day rose last week from the week before.”