Retail footfall suffers first decline since April as schools reopen

Retail footfall suffered the first decline since April  last week as schools reopened and families returned from their UK holidays, with the drop exacerbated as people continued to work from home.

Footfall across retail destinations fell 6.3 per cent compared to the previous week as schools across the UK reopened and staycations tailed off. 

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The annual decline worsened to 27.5 per cent from 25 per cent, driven by a nine per cent drop in shopping centre visitors. 

Footfall across UK high streets declined 5.4 per cent and by 5.2 per cent at retail parks, according to Springboard data.

Regional cities saw footfall 7.9 per cent. However in central London shopper numbers were down just three per cent. 

A drop in footfall is expected as summer holidays come to an end each year, experts said.

However this year’s decline is the worst since records began more than 10 years ago. 

The trend has been exacerbated as most workers have not yet returned to the office amid fears over rising coronavirus cases. 

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: “The back to school boost to footfall ended sharply last week.

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“Whilst this is a pattern of consumer activity that Springboard has come to expect – we have seen this drop occur in all but one year since we starting publishing our footfall indices in 2009 – the magnitude of the drop has been larger than in any previous year. 

“This signifies the continued impact of many Brits continuing to work from home as offices across the UK remain closed.”