Monday 23 December 2019 1:27 pm

‘Super Saturday’ fails to deliver retail footfall spike

So-called Super Saturday failed to deliver for high street retailers this year after footfall dropped more than seven per cent.

According to the latest figures for the week to 21 December, footfall on the last Saturday before Christmas fell 7.6 per cent year on year and rose just 2.3 per cent compared to the rest of the week.

Footfall during the week was up 7.2 per cent on the week before, but compared to last year footfall declined 7.2 per cent, in a further blow for the UK retail industry after a challenging year.

The number of shoppers declined as the week progressed, with an average decline of 9.3 per cent between Thursday and Saturday compared to a 5.2 per cent drop between Sunday and Wednesday, according to the latest figures from Springboard.

The data suggests that many shoppers took advantage of earlier discounting periods this year to snap up bargains ahead of Christmas, and could demonstrate that even more consumers are opting to buy online.

High streets and shopping centres were the hardest hit by the decline, as footfall reduced eight per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively, while retail parks suffered a decline on 5.5 per cent.

All geographical areas suffered a drop in footfall of more than five per cent.