Footfall down 4 percent for post-Christmas sales

Shopper footfall for the post-Christmas sales period from December 26 to January 1 was down 4 percent, according to new figures from retail intelligence experts Springboard.

Following a lacklustre two weeks in the lead up to Christmas, retailers were hoping to end the year on a positive note, however, figures reveal that footfall to bricks and mortar stores and destinations post-Christmas didn’t bounce back, as footfall declined on all but one day between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

December 30, saw footfall increase across all destinations by 11.1 percent, but this was likely to be because the day fell on a Monday rather than a Sunday in 2018, allowing for longer trading hours.

The most modest decline in footfall was on the December 27, which performed better than Boxing Day itself with a drop in footfall from 2018 of -2.3 percent versus -8.6 percent on Boxing Day.

Springboard states that December 27 and 28 are now key shopping dates, where footfall on each of these days was 7 percent greater than on Boxing Day.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard said in a statement: “Post 5pm on Boxing Day, footfall declined by less than over the 24 hours, suggesting that consumers are increasingly using Boxing Day primarily for leisure purposes, going out to eat or to the cinema, but possibly combining this with a visit to retail stores rather than shopping being the main focus of the trip.”