Retail footfall data following reopening of non-essential retail

Consumer confidence is on the rise with footfall on Monday up 298.7% on this time last week and up 1000.5% on this time last year.

Week by week figures:

The last week (w/c 5th April) before the easing of lockdown measures saw footfall across the UK decrease week on week by -1.4% despite the Easter Weekend and many centres being closed on Easter Sunday the week before.

Compared to 2020, and with the 2nd full week of lockdown last year, footfall is up 172.4%, but for a more realistic comparison, compared to 2019, the figures are still down -74.1% on the same week.

Previous reopening figures for comparison:

The below table shows the average percentage fluctuation during lockdowns compared with the first week after reopening, and we see the average day was 221% up, or more than treble the average, and 218% for the whole week. If we compare to the last week of lockdown, the increase is just over double, peaking at 146% on the Saturday.

The average week in the current lockdown is about 82% higher than in the first lockdown pointing to increasing consumer confidence on the back of the large proportion of the UK population that has been vaccinated.

PFM Footfall Intelligence believes that a combination of fatigue over Covid related restriction’s, improving weather and a better prepared retail industry are key drivers for the improving footfall picture in the UK.

The above table is a PFM prediction on anticipated footfall levels vs the same period in 2019 (last normal footfall period). We predict this week being -30% compared to the same week in 2019 but this figure should be seen as generally positive for the first week after a long lock down.