UK footfall rises amid lockdown fatigue

March 23rd will mark the one year anniversary since the UK was first forced to go into lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

The collective mood in response to having one’s life disrupted for nearly one year, is fatigue. No wonder that despite restrictions and government protocols people are taking to retail destinations for a sense of refuge and much-desired change of scenery.

Springboard, the UK’s leading provider of data and intelligence on customer activity in stores and destinations, on Monday said footfall rose 6.7 percent across all retail destinations over the previous wek.

Despite the stormy weather, shoppers took to the high street, which saw a 9 percent increase over last week. The comparative drop in footfall over last year fell from -65.2 percent last week to -63.9 this week.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard commented: “Despite rain covering much of the UK last week, footfall in retail destinations rose from the week before; the third consecutive week in which footfall has increased and by far greater an uplift than in the previous seven day period. Increases occurred across all three destination types, but were particularly noticeable in high streets where they reached double digits in all but three geographies.

Whilst large city centres have taken the biggest hit, footfall still rose in marginally regional cities and by double digits in Central London. With shopper activity increasing for the past three weeks despite all but essential stores remaining closed, the results are delivering ever more compelling evidence of escalating lockdown fatigue. The UK’s accelerated vaccination drive could well be driving additional consumer confidence, however, we must remember that it is still only the elderly and vulnerable who have had their vaccinations, and they are typically the least likely to be making trips.”

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