Post Christmas footfall drops -27.7 percent compared to previous week

In what proved to be a mixed Christmas season, footfall in the week following the holidays were down -27.7 percent compared to the week leading up to Christmas Day.

Boxing Day, however, drew plenty of shoppers, with data from Springboard showing footfall on average to be 38.8 percent higher, yet lower when compared to 2019 levels by -19.7 percent.

Shopping centres and retail parks proved more popular than high streets (63.8 percent in retail parks and 45.4 percent in shopping centres vs 19.7 percent in high streets).

This is not a surprising result as consumers sought out discounts in larger retail stores located in retail parks and shopping centres, while also replenishing groceries in food stores.

Over the six days from Boxing Day, footfall was 16.3 percent higher than on the same dates in 2021, with double digit rises on each day other than on 31st December when footfall was just 1.9 higher than on 31st December.

Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, comments: “Not surprisingly, footfall across UK retail destinations during the week of Christmas was significantly lower than in the week before that in the final trading week.

Footfall was higher than in the same week last year, but not significantly, despite Christmas 2021 being overshadowed by Covid. A key factor here is the offset of Christmas which meant that last week began on Christmas Day - when footfall is at its lowest - whilst in 2021 the week began on Boxing Day when many stores were open and trading.

Shopping on December 27th trumps Boxing Day

What is significant - and what has been an emerging trend for several years - is that footfall on 27th December 2022 was higher than on Boxing Day.

Furthermore, footfall rose further on the following two days peaking on 29th December, with the first decline from the day before occurring on 30th December, which then continued into New Year’s Eve 2022. This demonstrates that whilst Boxing Day is somewhat of a marker in the annual retail calendar, the key dates for retail spending are now the subsequent days when consumers are likely to have completed visits with family and friends and have time to make trips out.”