UK high streets are expected to see an 8.8 per cent rise in footfall over the Easter long weekend as shoppers make the most of the warm weather and close proximity to March‘s payday.
New data from Springboard indicates that footfall at all retail outlets will be up 5.4 per cent on last year, compared to a fall of 1.9 per cent last year.
This follows results showing that footfall in March broke a six-month decline seeing a 1.2 per cent increase in shopper numbers, as shoppers favored evening spending sprees and continued a shift towards experience over goods.
The retail analyst firm added that historically, a quarter of sales over Easter are from fashion retailers with food outlets pulling in around 10 per cent.
However, this year‘s shift is likely to see fashion sales drop by around five per cent while food is boosted to around 15 per cent.
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“Last year Easter took place on 25 March, a few days in advance of national payday for many shoppers,” Springboard director Diane Wehrle said.
“This, combined with poor weather impacted footfall, which declined across retail destinations from Easter Saturday onwards.
“Mild spring weather is forecast for this Easter, which falls after the national payday. This strongly indicates that more shoppers will visit retail destinations over the weekend compared with last year.”
Meanwhile, separate predictions from ecommerce analyst firm, PCA, have highlighted a potential boom of 17 per cent growth in online shopping over the Easter weekend.
PCA‘s Chris Harle said: “With good weather in sight, it is likely that mobile shoppers will continue to make purchases out in the sunshine via smartphone or tablet.
“We are also likely to see consistent mobile usage throughout the day, including over the dinner table, with few dramatic spikes.”
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