LONDON — It’s a sad Christmas for British retail.
Analytics company Springboard has revealed that the U.K.’s footfall last week was 0.9 percent lower than last year and 20.1 percent below the 2019 footfall level.
The drop was driven by a 4.6 percent decline in footfall from the week before followed by a 10.2 percent fall on the high street in general.
A domino effect occurred across the country as the cold weather got harsher and a national rail strike took place.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, when the rail strikes took place, footfall on the high street dropped by an average of 15.7 percent from the week before.
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In Central London, football plunged 31 percent from the week before. It was 20.7 percent down across large cities outside the capital and 18.7 percent lower in historic towns.
“Central London, with its proportionately greater reliance on public transport and a significant working population, was by far the hardest hit. It was followed by historic towns, where narrow roads would have resulted in significant congestion deterring some visitors who weren’t able to arrive by rail,” said Diane Wehrle, insight director at Springboard.
“The week prior to Christmas should have been a peak trading week for retail destinations and stores, with footfall expected to rise from the week before as Christmas shopping moves towards its zenith,” she added.
Retail parks and shopping centers rose by 1.6 percent and 0.8 percent respectively from the week before.
However, footfall was still lower by 1.8 percent than in 2021 and 9.8 percent lower than in 2019 for retail parks.
“Some of this footfall migrated to retail parks and shopping centers, with both recording rises from the week before (albeit modest) versus a significant drop in footfall in high streets. Retail parks fared the best of all three destination types, supported by the fact they can be easily accessed by car with the bonus of free car parking,” said Wehrle.