Lockdown easing fails to lure back shoppers

The latest easing of Covid restrictions in the UK has not yet encouraged more people back into the shops.

According to a count done at 17:00 on Monday, the number of people visiting shops was down by 3% compared with the same time a week earlier.

Compared with the equivalent Monday in pre-pandemic May 2019, footfall overall was 28.4% lower.

The figures were compiled by specialist data firm Springboard, which tracks how many customers are visiting stores.

The data comes as hospitality venues across much of the UK have been allowed to reopen and trade more freely.

The fact that restaurants and pubs in England, Wales and most of Scotland can serve customers indoors, and that cinemas and other entertainment sites can open, might have been expected to encourage more people to get out and about.

However, so far, at least, the relaxation of the rules does not seem to have benefitted retailers by persuading more shoppers through the door.

"Heavy rain showers acted as somewhat of a dampener on the first day that indoor hospitality reopened," said Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard.

When the figures are broken down, they show retail parks saw the biggest declines with visitor numbers falling 5.4% week-on-week. Visits to shopping centres fell 3.4%.

Over the course of the day, 1.6% fewer shoppers than last week popped into shops located on High Streets.

However, compared with pre-pandemic footfall, Monday's figures indicate a far steeper fall.

By 17:00, while visits to all shopping destinations were down by nearly 30% compared with May 2019, visits to High Streets were down by 38.4%, to shopping centres by 32% and to retail parks by 3%.

Regionally, the number of shoppers in London showed the biggest fall, with the number of people out and about in the shops down by 6.3% compared with last week.