Week three of trading post-lockdown – what you need to know

Shopping centres across the UK saw a gradual return of shoppers compared to the week previously, up 9.6% on average, according to the latest figures from Springboard

Scotland saw an expected surge in footfall week on week as shops reopened there last Monday. Overall footfall in Scottish destinations was up 41.5% compared to week two, with high streets leading the way, up 50% week on week.

The key outlier was Welsh high streets, which were down 6.1%. As shops reopened in Wales on June 22, the second week of trading for Welsh retailers was down across all destinations, reduced by 1.0% week on week – showing a fall after the initial rush of customers.

Footfall in England and Northern Ireland continued to inch up week on week, growing 2.9% and 11.0% respectively across all shopping destinations.

A week of two halves

As the hospitality industry reopened its doors to the public over the weekend, week three of trading was split into two, says Springboard insights director Diane Werhle.

”Footfall got a bit of a bump in week three,” she says. “In the early part of the week, footfall was a bit flat, but there were two parts of the week – Monday to Friday, then the Saturday to Sunday period. A week of two halves.

“From Monday to Friday the average footfall change was up just 1.8%, whereas by Sunday it was up 15.2%. While restaurants only opened on Saturday, the results for the weekend were quite strong.

”There was a clear appetite across England for hospitality, but not all hospitality venues are open and you can’t accommodate many people in them due to the social distancing. This does limit how much footfall can go up by for the foreseeable future.

”Post-5pm footfall was up 16.3%, meaning we’re starting to see a weighting towards the evening.”

Werhle adds: “Retail parks and centres don’t have a huge hospitality offering compared to high streets – no pubs and few bars, so they tend to be daytime places. High streets, therefore, will mainly see that uplift – on Saturday high street footfall was up 19.6%, and 23.8% after 5pm for example.”

The hospitality industry’s impact on retail footfall may become more pronounced in the coming weeks as more bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs reopen. 

A trickle of demand

Retail footfall remained low across the UK in week three despite both stores and the hospitality industry reopening, down 47.7% year on year.

Footfall in Welsh destinations was the lowest, down 56.0% compared to the same week in 2019. Northern Ireland in comparison fared the best with footfall down 41.4% year on year.

These figures do however continue to grow, showing an upward trend from the historic low of -80% at the height of lockdown.

Werhle asserts that this will carry on, providing there is not a second wave.

“There is still demand and appetite,” she says. “It must be remembered that not all places are open, and people are still being more cautious and seeing how it goes.

“The hospitality industry feeds retail and retail feeds hospitality. People will start to go back out in the evenings as well and will get more used to it. There’s a long way to go but it will become the norm and there will be a slow uptick.

“If lockdown does come back, we may see a more permanent lurch downward with more people going online and less bricks-and-mortar.”