// Retail footfall increased thanks to warm weather and pent-up demand
// Footfall in UK retail destinations rose by 11.6% last week from the week before
New research has found that UK footfall across retail destinations has risen by 11.6 per cent last week from the week before.
High streets saw a rise in footfall of 17.4 per cent versus 8.7 per cent in shopping centres and just 2.3 per cent in retail parks.
Meanwhile, there was a 37.1 per cent rise in coastal towns and 24.8 per cent in historic towns.
READ MORE: Retail sales grow at strongest rate in May
The gap in footfall from 2019 narrowed to 39.5 per cent in central London and just 12.9 per cent in regional cities across the UK.
“A combination of the late May bank holiday, incredible weather and the school half term holiday had a hugely beneficial effect on customer activity in UK retail destinations last week; it not only led to the greatest weekly increase in footfall since the reopening of non-essential retail in April, but also the most modest annual decline since the start of the pandemic,” Springboard insights director, Diane Wehrle said.
“Inevitably visitors wanted to be outside to enjoy the weather, so by far the greatest benefit was seen by high streets, where the rise in footfall from the week before was double that in shopping centres, and eight times that in retail parks.
“Staycations clearly fuelled an increase in footfall in coastal towns which surpassed that in any other type of high street, and a rise in footfall in high streets in the south-west that was nearly double the increase in high streets across the UK and in greater London.
“The fact that the bank holiday occurred a week earlier than in the previous two years, meant that footfall in both coastal and historic towns was actually higher last week than in the same week in 2019.
“Whilst the attraction of coastal and historic towns to visitors meant they benefited the most last week, there was still a significant rise in footfall in central London and in other regional cities across the UK, whilst the most modest increases once again occurred in more local high streets.”
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