Retail footfall recovers in March ahead of reopening

Retail footfall jumped by 4.9 per cent in March, when compared to February, setting the stage for the reopening of non-essential retail scheduled for 12 April.

With the UK still in lockdown, the total UK footfall however decreased by 68.7 per cent in March when compared to the same period in 2019, according to BRC-Sensormatic IQ data.

Northern Ireland saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions at -56.4 per cent, followed by Scotland at -66.3 per cent and England at 68.7. Wales saw the deepest decline at -71.2 per cent, with all figures comparing to the pre-pandemic 2019 data to make meaningful comparisons.

“Footfall crept up on high streets and shopping centres as warmer weather coincided with the end of the government’s ‘stay at home’ requirements. The earlier Easter date also gave consumers a reason to do a little extra food shopping, with strong demand for chocolate and Easter Eggs leading to extra store visits,” commented Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium (BRC).

“Consumers appear to be more confident about visiting shops, showing that the safety measures put in place are clearly helping to make shoppers feel more comfortable visiting and returning to stores.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, added: “As the nation looks ahead to the roadmap for unlocking, and with non-essential retail given the green light for reopening on 12 April, we may have started to see the green shoots of retail’s recovery beginning.

“While non-essential stores remained closed, we saw an incremental improvement in March footfall against February’s shopper counts, fuelled by growing consumer confidence, the promise of greater freedom to come and the relaxation of the Stay At Home guidance.

“But, the real test comes as retail reopens later this month – and whether indeed that reopening is, as hoped, irreversible.  After a year of yoyoing in and out of lockdown, retailers will be hoping for stability and, once again, will be counting on the continued support of shoppers if any sort of bounce back is to be sustained.”