Announcement, March 2021
Announcement, March 2021
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Springboard research is forecasting that footfall across the UK will increase by up to +47.9% in the first trading week as non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality reopens.
The announcement of the date for the reopening of retail stores of 12 April will have been met by a huge collective sigh of relief amongst all those involved in bricks and mortar retail and shoppers who finally be able to act upon the pent up demand to return to stores. This pent up demand is evidenced by Springboard’s footfall data for the UK which identified that despite the lockdown with all essential stores closed, activity in UK destinations has increased from week to week for the past five weeks.
After the reopening, Springboard are predicting footfall in retail parks to rise by +26% in the first week, whilst high street and shopping centre footfall is likely to see a much sharper rise (by +59% in high streets and by +46% in shopping centres).
In the first week of reopening after Lockdown 1, footfall in high streets rose by +46.6%, however, Springboard are forecasting an even greater rise in high streets this time as both non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality are both opening on 12 April, and of the three destination types high streets are best able to cater for both opportunities.
A continued uplift into the subsequent week after reopening (which starts Sunday 18 April) is also expected, with footfall rising by a further +10.4%. This is slightly higher than the +7.1% seen in the second week of reopening after Lockdown 1, and is likely to be due to the fact that with children returning to school following the Easter holidays on Monday 19 April, many shoppers may choose to defer trips to the second week after reopening as they won’t have the tie of home schooling.
The success of the UK vaccination programme which has seen over 60 million individuals vaccinated will put many at ease to get out to retail destinations, who might have previously hesitated. In addition, there is added confidence that retailers have now perfected the appropriate social distancing measures from previous reopenings in 2020, and shoppers have become more accustomed to wearing face coverings in all public locations.
With social distancing measures set to be eased by 21 June with a return to near normality and a government target to have all adults vaccinated with a first dose by 31 July, this will no doubt support footfall across all areas of the UK. Coastal towns are expected to receive a boost in footfall over the summer months due to staycations and footfall in regional cities will start to rise as some workers start to return to their offices, at least for part of the working week later in the year. Indeed, spending is likely to be boosted in the short term by the fact that many consumers who are in work have disposable income to spend that has not been used for holidays and other spending during the Lockdown.
In what has been a hugely challenging year for retailers both large and small, the retail industry is likely benefit from a surge back to stores as consumers rediscover their love for the physical shopping experience, after many months of shopping online.
Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard commented:
“As we approach the 12-month mark since the start of the pandemic in the UK, lockdown fatigue is at its height and the increases in footfall over the last five weeks have indicated the pent up demand for a return to normality. We know from when non-essential retail reopened at the end of Lockdowns 1 in June and 2 in December that footfall will rise sharply and we anticipate this will be more prominent than ever before with a rise of up to +47.9%.
“By mid-April, consumers will be looking for sensory and social retail experiences, reconnecting with their favourite brands and purchasing new wardrobes for a summer of social events. We are anticipating a strong initial uplift in April that will continue to rise over the summer months as the economy reopens in the UK.”
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