UK footfall remains low as non essential retailers prepare to reopen

With the UK still in coronavirus lockdown, year-on-year retail footfall decreased by 73.5% in February, with only a 3.4 percentage point improvement from January.

That’s according to research from the BRC and Sensormatic IQ.

Following January, this is the second largest drop in the UK footfall since May 2020 (-81.6%).

#Coronavirus has changed the way we shop and we must all play our part to combat covid-19! If you're visiting a store, please follow these steps to ensure everyone can shop safely 👇 pic.twitter.com/A9D3X92M96
— The British Retail Consortium (@the_brc) January 15, 2021

February saw another month of limited footfall on the high street, as non-essential retail remained closed.

There was, however, a small lift in shopper counts compared to January, perhaps due to the success of the vaccine roll-out and the roadmap for unlocking announced earlier in the month.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at British Retail Consortium, says: “Shopping centres continued to suffer the most due to their high proportion of non-essential retailing, whereas retail parks benefitted from the presence of large essential retailers such as supermarkets and health stores.”

“While footfall improved slightly due to slowing Covid infections boosting consumer confidence, it will be a difficult time for retail until businesses are permitted to reopen in April.”

Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA at Sensormatic Solutions, comments: “Many retailers will be holding out hope that, once again, consumers will return when they reopen and that pent-up demand for real life retail experiences will sustain the high street’s recovery.”