In lockdown 3.0, footfall plummets across all retail destinations

Now in lockdown 3.0, closed retailers are seeing a growing decline in footfall, which last week was -27.1 percent from the week before, and -23.2 percent from the previous week.

Data from Springboard show footfall declined by -35 percent in shopping centres, -26 percent in high streets and -21.3 percent from the week before

In the South East and Greater London, which have the highest infection rates, footfall declined by -8 percent and -10.7 percent respectively in comparison to the South West, the East and West Midlands and North & Yorkshire where the decline in footfall from the week before exceeded -35 percent.

With the UK now in lockdown 3.0 and all non-essential stores closed across the UK, the drop in footfall in shopping centres, which have very few essential stores, was greater than in high streets (-35 percent in shopping centres versus -26 percent in high streets). In both the decline exacerbated from the week before by around a third. Even in retail parks which have continued to remain strong throughout the year, as the demand for food shopping returned to normality following the end of the festive period, footfall declined by -21.3 percent from the week before.

Despite the plea from the government for people across the UK to stay home to save lives, the footfall results varied by geography. In the South West, the East and West Midlands and North & Yorkshire the decline in footfall from the week before exceeded -35 percent and reached over -40 percent in the East Midlands and the South West.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard commented: “During the first full working week of 2021 and introduction of lockdown 3.0, the reduction in footfall across UK retail destinations from the week before was nearly as great as that during early November when England entered lockdown 2.0. The decline in footfall from last year is now around the same level as before non-essential retail stores reopened following lockdown 1.0 in June 2020.”

Image: Artem Beliaikin / Unsplash