// Retail footfall remains 14.2% below the 2019 level, but showed progress from the 20.8% recorded in January 2022
// The gap from pre-pandemic 2019 footfall levels is expected to be between 10% and 15%
Hybrid working has affected UK high streets as footfall remained 18.2% below 2019 levels in 2022 during weekdays, substantially lower than the -11.8% recorded on weekends.
According to Springboard, footfall across retail destinations fell 14.2% in 2022 compared to 2019. Within that, high streets saw a 16.9% decline and shopping centres a 18.8% slide. Footfall eased 3.7% in retail parks.
High street stores are much emptier than they were pre-pandemic between Mondays and Fridays, particularly around offices, as people continue to work from home.
Retail parks across the UK saw an improvement in footfall, as they ended the year just 3.7% below pre-pandemic levels and up 11.7% from 2021.
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Springboard said this was because retail parks benefited from rail strikes as people tend to drive to these locations, many of which are located outside of London.
Online share of clothes and footwear spending fell from 65% in February 2021 to 24.9% in December 2022.
Greater London, the East, the East Midlands and Wales saw the best balance between the recovery back to pre-pandemic footfall level and the annual increase from 2021.
Springboard insights director, Diane Wehrle said: “Over the decade that Springboard has been publishing its data, footfall declined by an average of -1.3% per year each year from 2009, and so in even the absence of Covid, footfall across UK retail destinations would now be circa -4% lower than in 2009.
“Taking this into account, with all things being equal footfall will not return to pre-pandemic footfall levels, and in 2023, Springboard anticipates that the gap from 2019 will settle at between -5% and -10%.”
