As expected, footfall was strong from 30 May to 5 June in the UK, as many Britons celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The latest figures regarding retail footfall from Ipsos have shown that UK-wide visitor traffic was down by just 5.9 per cent compared to 2019 in the non-food sector. The figures represent the narrowest deficit that has been seen since the outset of the pandemic, which made consumers less willing to visit physical stores.
The week, which was buoyed with the half-term school holiday and the long bank holiday weekend, saw footfall across cities down 14.6 per cent against 2019, but up 9.6per cent on the week prior. Meanwhile, towns were up by 0.7 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels and 10.9 per cent more than the previous week.
A report from Opinium and Vouchercodes prior to the Jubilee celebrations predicated that the long four-day weekend would deliver a boost of more than £6bn to retail and hospitality businesses. Currently, it does not seem that the optimistic footfall figures were misplaced in the report, however retail reports in the coming days and weeks will show thoroughly whether the heavy spend happened.
