The number of shoppers hitting Britain's high streets, shopping centres and retail parks continued to improve in August, with the gap on the same month in 2019 reducing to -18.6% from -24.2% in July, footfall data compiled by Springboard showed.
Footfall in central London, which has been hit by an absence of foreign tourists and a reduced numbers of commuters, was 38% below the 2019 level, Springboard said, considerably better than the -50.4% recorded in July.
In large cities outside of the capital, the improvement in footfall in August was nearly double that in smaller high streets, putting them at a comparable level versus 2019 for the first time, Springboard said.
Bank Holiday Weekend
Earlier this week, Springboard reported that UK footfall was up 8.2% over the bank holiday weekend, a 14.2% increase on the corresponding weekend last year.
In the week 34 period, footfall was up 23.4% year-on-year, Springboard said, while in the same week last year, footfall was down 19.6% on the 2019 total.
"In the final week of the school summer holiday period, footfall across UK retail destinations continued to rise from the week before, although the increase was wholly driven by high streets and shopping centres, rather than retail parks," commented Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director, Springboard.
Earlier this week, the British Retail Consortium said that average prices in stores across the UK in August were 0.8% lower than a year before, a smaller decline than in previous months, amidst growing product inflation.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
