Retail footfall dips as face coverings become mandatory in English stores
Retail footfall dipped slightly at the end of last week as face coverings became mandatory in English stores.
Visitor numbers at retail destinations in England fell 1.7 per cent on Friday and Saturday. On Friday it became compulsory to wear a face covering in shops in England.
However it is too early to identify the conclusive impact of face coverings on footfall, experts said.
The dip in footfall could also be attributed to wet weather in England on Saturday as high street locations were most affected, falling 7.7 per cent compared to the previous week.
Meanwhile footfall at shopping centres grew 0.3 per cent and jumped 2.9 per cent at retail parks on Saturday.
Between 19 and 15 July, footfall in England rose by four per cent and by 6.4 per cent in Scotland, where face coverings are also mandatory.
The rise in footfall was higher in Northern Ireland and Wales where face coverings are not required in stores, jumping by 9.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively.
Across all UK retail destinations footfall rose 4.4 per cent, compared to a 4.5 per cent increase last week.
Footfall across all retail destinations was 38.4 per cent lower than in 2019 – the best result since lockdown eased, moving from minus 40.2 per cent in the week before last.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard said: “Last week delivered another first – the first time that wearing a face covering became mandatory in retail stores and enclosed destinations in England.
“The first few days of the latest government guidelines has not yet delivered conclusive evidence of its impact on activity in bricks and mortar destinations, however it is positive news for retailers that the annual performance is continuing to improve.”
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