According to retail expert Springboard, Christmas shopping led to footfall rising by +5.4% across all UK retail destinations last week from the week before. There were increases across all three key destination types: +6.9% in high streets, +4.8% in shopping centres and +3% in retail parks.

This offers a cause for some optimism for retailers, as it follows pre-Covid trends when footfall also rose in the equivalent week in every year between 2013 and 2019. However, the current caution of consumers in the face of the cost of living crisis is reflected by a more modest rise this year than in the same week in 2019, when footfall rose by +7.9%.

The increase in footfall last week from the week before meant that the annual increase doubled to +8.8% from +4.2% in the week before last, and the gap from the 2019 footfall level narrowed to -11% from -14.1% in the previous week.

Footfall rose every day last week apart from Friday when it was -6.1% lower than on Black Friday in the week before. On Saturday, footfall rose by +2.2% across all destinations, but by +7% in Central London and +7.5% in cities across the UK as shoppers gravitated to larger destinations for present buying.

Geographically, all areas of the UK benefited. Increases ranged from +18% in the East to +10.1% in Wales, +12.3% in the South West and +12.6% in Northern Ireland.

“In the face of the cost of living crisis, last week offered a glimmer of optimism for retailers with a rise in footfall across UK retail destinations from the week before,” says Diane Wehrle, Insights director at Springboard.

“This result is in line with pre-pandemic trends when footfall rose across UK retail destinations in the equivalent week every year since 2013. The rise in footfall last week was greater than in the same week in every year between 2013 and 2018 but it was a third lower than in the same week in 2019, demonstrating a degree of consumer caution this year around spending.

“All three destination types benefited from the uplift in shopper activity, but the largest week-on-week increases occurred in high streets and shopping centres. Somewhat inevitably, given their critical mass of retailers, it was large city centres and Central London that fared the best of any type of town, with far more modest rises in market towns and Outer London.

“Footfall rose from the week before on every day apart from Friday, when it was lower than last week due to the high comparable resulting from the increase in footfall on Black Friday.

“The week-on-week increase in footfall was universal across all UK geographies, with particularly strong uplifts in the South West, Wales and Northern Ireland. The increase in footfall from last week doubled the uplift from 2021 and helped to narrow the gap from the 2019 level.”