Retail footfall lifted by shoppers stocking up for long Easter weekend
Shops saw a footfall injection in the run up to Easter as Brits flocked to high streets to make the most of the good weather.
Footfall during Monday to Thursday last week was up by an average of 15 per cent, with a 21.9 per cent rise on Thursday.
Footfall across all retail destinations rose by +5.8 per cent on Good Friday from the week before.
There was an especially huge increase in activity in coastal towns of +33.6 per cent, as Brits headed to the beach.
However, footfall fell slightly by -0.1 per cent over the weekend from the weekend before over Friday, Saturday and Monday.
This Easter being the first since 2019 with no Covid measures was “likely a factor” in shoppers making trips in advance of the holiday, rather than on the weekend itself, Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said.
Wehrle said: “Two factors heavily influenced footfall activity in UK retail destinations over Easter this year; the first factor was the warm and sunny weather, and the second factor was that this the first Easter bank holiday weekend since 2019 with no Covid restrictions.”
In Central London, footfall over the Easter weekend was down -17.3 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
However, retailers have warned of a slowdown in sales as households experience dramatic cost inflation.