Data: Footfall bounces back in March as shoppers return to stores

Footfall over the period from February 27 to April 2 rose 5.4% compared with the month before, according to footfall experts Springboard. March’s footfall also marked a 15.3% decline compared with the same period in 2019.

Footfall levels last month were also close to levels of -14.5% recorded in November prior to the uplift in Covid cases due to the Omicron variant. 

High street footfall fell 17.4% across the month compared with March 2019, an improvement of about a third from February this year. Footfall in shopping centres decreased 21.3%, while retail park footfall declined by 4.2% compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Despite the increase last month, the uplift in footfall is not expected to continue due to the fall in consumer disposable income as a result of rising energy and fuel prices, as well as inflation.

Beyond the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, retailers face a battle to bring shoppers back into stores due to the popularity of hybrid working, with consumers spending a lot more time at home than before the pandemic.

Springboard market and insights director Diane Wehrle said: “With the substantial increase in energy and fuel prices, consumers are aware that increased costs are on the horizon but have not fully hit and so are already being relatively cautious, and the concomitant rise in inflation that is forecast over the forthcoming months will put household budgets under increasing pressure.”

“Inevitably this will mean less disposable income and so some retail spending will be curtailed, particularly as we enter the summer period when many consumers will be looking to reserve budget to spend on much-longed-for summer holidays.

“Alongside price inflation, the longer-term challenge for physical retail destinations is hybrid home/office working that now appears to have become widely adopted. With many employees opting to work at home for at least part of the week, the recovery in footfall – particularly in large city centres – has been constrained and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.”