New data from retail intelligence expert Springboard shows footfall in UK retail destinations rose by +4.9% last week from the week before, with rises of +6.9% in high streets and +4.8% in shopping centres versus just +0.8% in retail parks. Footfall across all retail destinations also rose by an average of +3.9% from Sunday to Friday from the week before. However, this increased to +8.2% over the August bank holiday weekend, as shoppers made the most of the long weekend ahead of Back to School.

Despite the bank holiday weekend uplift, there was a sharp dip in footfall of -11.7% on bank holiday Monday. A large proportion of this decline came from shopping centres, where footfall declined by -10.8%. Meanwhile, retail parks saw a rise of +4.5%, as shoppers headed to food stores to restock on household essentials.

Over the course of the week, high streets saw the largest uplift. The increase from the week before averaged +5% from Sunday to Friday and then +14.8% on Saturday and Sunday. In shopping centres, the increase between Sunday to Friday was similar to that in high streets. Over the bank holiday weekend, they did not fare as well, with a more modest increase that averaged +5.3%. In coastal towns, footfall rose by +19.8% over the bank holiday weekend, and by +20.1% in historic towns.

Footfall last week was +14.2% higher than the same week in 2020 and +23.4% higher in high streets.

This demonstrates how much better bricks and mortar retail performed compared with the August bank holiday last year. In contrast, the gains made by retail parks and shopping centres last week from 2020 were far more modest; footfall is +3.2% higher than the 2020 level in retail parks and +5.7% higher in shopping centres. The strengthening of retail is reflected in the comparison with 2019, with the gap across all retail destinations last week from 2019 at -16.3%.

Commenting is Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard. “In the final week of the school summer holiday period, footfall across UK retail destinations continued to rise from the week before, although the increase was wholly driven by high streets and shopping centres, rather than retail parks. The bank holiday weekend was particularly positive for towns that appeal to both day and overnight visitors, such as coastal and historic towns, demonstrating the significance of staycations this year.

“The positive news for bricks and mortar retail destinations is that footfall last week was noticeably higher than in the same week in 2020 when the August bank holiday also occurred, particularly in high streets; and the gap from 2019 was the smallest of any week since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.”