Customers out between Christmas and the new year is 7.2% higher compared to 2021, amid Omicron’s fear
Key takeaways:
- Footfall decreased 27% on British high streets after Christmas, data reveals.
- Between Christmas and the new year, the number of customers is just 7.2% higher than in 2021.
Figures reveal that the footfall on Britain’s high streets and shopping centres fell by almost a quarter in the week after Christmas compared with the week before.
Footfall impacted Christmas and New Year’s sales:
Shoppers chose to stay at home, as retail data critics Springboard said last week’s footfall was 27.7% more down than the week before and 19.7% down on the same week in 2019.
It was just 7.2% higher than the same week in 2021 when customers were away from high streets due to the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid.
The retail professionals said a key reason for this difference was that the final week started on Christmas Day, a Sunday when footfall is usually at its lowest. Still, the year before, it began on Boxing Day.
Footfall 1.9% higher in 2022:
There was a surge in buyers on Boxing Day 2022 when footfall grew 38.8% higher than in 2021.
The interval between the end of 2021 and 2022 was at its least on New Year’s Eve, with footfall 1.9% higher in 2022.
It comes as figures revealed on Sunday showed a big jump in the number of stores shutting on Britain’s high streets.
Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR):
A study from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) found that 17,145 stores were shut for good in 2022 – a jump of nearly 50% from the 11,449 stores closed in 2021.
Diane Wehrle, insights manager at Springboard, said: “Not surprisingly, footfall across UK retail goals during the week of Christmas was quite lower than in the week before that in the last trading week.”
