High street footfall drops during festive week
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Footfall on British high streets during the week from December 28 to January 1 fell 3 percent when compared to the same week last year.
According to retail data firm Springboard, Britain’s high streets continued to lose out to out-of-town retail parks and shopping centres during the Christmas period, with retail parks enjoying an uplift of 3.6 percent year-on-year, while shopping centres saw a footfall uplift of 1.8 percent compared to last year.
However, it wasn’t all bad news for the high street, it did see a 5.1 percent year-on-year uplift on December 29, which has been named ‘Take Back Tuesday,’ another peak in footfall occurred on January 2, with an increase of 9.7 percent year-on-year, as shoppers looked to make the most of the New Year sales.
Overall, there was a 0.3 percent dip in footfall across the country over the five days, Springboard said, with New Year’s Day experiencing an uplift of 2.7 percent year-on-year.
High streets continue to lose out to retail parks and shopping centres
Whilst the wet weather impacted upon shoppers opting for covered and indoor places to shop, this decline in footfall is in line with the overall trend witnessed throughout 2015, said Springboard, and the rising strength particularly of out-of-town retail parks to draw shoppers away from the high street.
Springboard insights and marketing director Diane Wehrle said: "Building on strong footfall experienced by high streets this time last year was always going to be a challenge for high streets, and these figures show there a job to be done in 2016 to in order for a positive uplift to be realised.
“Throughout 2015, high streets continued to be challenged by the convenience, choice and customer service shoppers can find in out of town retail parks and shopping centres. There is a real opportunity for high streets to improve their offer, without overhauling their infrastructure, in a bid to win back shoppers this year and hold off the continued rise of footfall to out of town retail parks in particular.”