Wet weather keeps shoppers away over Easter

Shoppers stayed indoors over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend due to wet weather, as total shop visits between Friday and Easter Monday were down 2.4 percent compared with last year, according to research group Springboard.

Its research reveals that high street footfall fell by 9.6 percent on Good Friday year-on-year, and by 6.9 percent on Saturday, as shoppers avoided the wet weather across the country. Footfall improved on Easter Sunday slightly, increasing by 1.9 percent, Springboard added, however, it dropped again on Monday morning by almost 14 percent, year-on-year.

Footfall did increase for retail parks and shopping centres, with a 5 percent increase from Good Friday and Easter Saturday last year.

Springboard insights director, Diane Wehrle said: “Despite poor weather, shoppers have definitely been visiting retail destinations this Easter Weekend. Footfall in retail parks and shopping centres increased by 5 percent compared to Good Friday and Easter Saturday last year, but the persistent rain has definitely impacted high streets.

“Despite positive results on Easter Sunday, retail footfall up to 12pm on Easter Monday has taken a tumble. This decline was undoubtedly caused by rain that hit much of the UK in the morning and also likely to be due to the fact that shoppers had already made their trips earlier in the weekend.”