Retail footfall dropped by more than 40% compared with 2019 on Boxing Day.
Footfall was 41% below 2019, according to Springboard, with shopping centres 48.4% lower, retail parks 40.2% down and high streets was 37.7% lower.
‘A major reason for the significantly lower footfall compared with 2019 will be due to consumers’ ongoing nervousness about the Covid infection rate. This will have been compounded by the fact that a few multiple retailers opted not to open on Boxing Day which will have deterred some shoppers. In addition, Sunday generally has the lowest footfall on any day in the week so a comparison with 2019 when Boxing Day fell on a Thursday will always have meant that footfall would be lower than two years ago,’ says Diane Wehrle, Springboard insights director.
‘Despite this, most multiple retailers still opened their doors to shoppers, and the mild weather should have meant that it was easy for shoppers to visit stores and destinations.’
Footfall dropped by 61.6% in Northern Ireland, 51.3% in Wales, 48.3% in Scotland and 39.7% in England.
