High street suffers biggest ever decline in footfall as Brits obey lockdown
The UK high street suffered its greatest ever decline in footfall last month as Brits steered clear of shops during the coronavirus lockdown.
Retailers were hit with an “unprecedented” 80 per cent plunge in footfall in April, with high streets and shopping centres the worst affected.
Retail parks were the most resilient thanks to the presence of essential food stores, but still suffered a 68 per cent decline, according to the Springboard footfall monitor.
Despite continued lockdown restrictions, footfall picked up slightly in the second half of the month.
This may have been driven in part by the openings of large DIY and home stores such as Homeback, which sparked long queues at some retail parks.
However, it may also suggest lower compliance with lockdown measures as Brits begin to tire of the restrictions.
The figures also showed a clear shift away from large towns and cities towards smaller, more local centres.
“In contrast to pre-coronavirus days when small high streets were facing an increasing struggle to attract shoppers, the path of recovery for retail may well be led by smaller high streets which can offer both safety and community benefits,” said Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard.
“For larger destinations, the emphasis on safety suggests that those environments that have the capability to control shopper numbers — such as retail parks and shopping centres — will be the next phase of recovery, followed by large towns and cities which inevitably face issues around pedestrian congestion.”
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has set out measures for ensuring safety in shops, including staggering shift times, controlling how many people are allowed in the store at one time and installing plastic screens at tills.
Chief executive Helen Dickinson yesterday called for the reopening of shops to be based on these safety standards, rather than on size or business type.
As well as protecting store staff, these actions would “give us confidence as shoppers, members of the public, that we can go out to shop,” she said.
It comes as shoppers prepare for a raft of high street sales after lockdown is lifted as fashion retailers look to offload mounting stockpiles of clothing.
Superdry chairman Peter Williams told the Sunday Times the “mother of all sales” was coming as stores slash prices to shift their summer lines.