Retail footfall flat as weather keeps shoppers away - Springboard

Footfall across all retail destinations was largely flat last week, industry data showed on Monday, as changing weather conditions kept people away.

According to retail consultancy Springboard, footfall was down 0.2% week-on-week in the seven days beginning 20 June. Within that, retail parks recorded a 2.0% fall, while high streets and shopping centres recorded rises of 0.2% and 0.6% respectively.

Year-on-two-year, used to strip out the impact of last year's lockdowns, footfall across all UK destinations was 25.3% lower.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard's insights director, said: "Variable weather meant that footfall remained virtually level with the week before, albeit with slight variations between urban locations of high streets and shopping centres, where footfall rose marginally, and retail parks, where there was a slight decline in activity.

"Footfall shifted from day-to-day, but overall, the first part of the week was more heavily impacted that the remaining four days."

Larger city centres proved more popular, with central London reporting a 9% rise in footfall while regional cities away from the capital recorded a 0.9% dip. Market towns saw footfall ease 2.5%, while it fell 6.8% in coastal towns.