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Shopper footfall in the UK jumped in May from a year before, but the annual improvement was considerably less than seen in April, data from BRC-Sensormatic IQ showed on Friday.
Football also continues to lag its pre-pandemic level.
Annually, total footfall was up 20% in May, slowing from the 45% rise seen in April. The increase in May was driven by a rise in footfall of 31% on high streets, 11% in retail parks, and 19% in shopping centres.
Versus three years ago, however, total footfall was down 13% in May, thought this represent a 0.6 percentage point improvement from April.
‘Since the pandemic started, much of retail has bounced between being open and closed, impacting footfall significantly. To make meaningful comparisons to changes in footfall, all figures are compared to their pre-pandemic levels,’ BRC explained.
Footfall on high streets was down 14% on its May 2019 level, but this was a 3.6 percentage point improvement on April.
Retail park footfall was down 6.3% on three years ago and was 2.3 percentage points worse than last month's rate. Shopping Centre footfall was down 27% versus the pre-pandemic period, thought this was improved 0.9 percentage point on last month.
British Retail Consortium Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘UK footfall made small advances for a third month in a row, as the particularly warm May weather saw more people shop in person.
‘The anticipation for the Jubilee celebrations offered an added boost to footfall, with the public hitting the shops to find the best decorations and festive food and drink for the long weekend. London enjoyed the biggest improvement out of all the major UK cities, seeing an increase in tourism as international Covid restrictions are rolled back and we enter the summer season.’
Dickinson noted, however, any improvement remains ‘fragile’ as the country stares down a cost-of-living crisis.
‘With UK discretionary incomes falling, governments financial support to tackle surging energy costs may only provide temporary respite for households. As inflation continues to climb and consumer confidence falls, it is by no means certain footfall will continue to improve in the months to come,’ she said.
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