Good Friday shopping beats analyst expectations

The number of people heading out to the shops on the first day of the Easter holiday weekend "exceeded all expectations", but are still below pre-pandemic levels.

Analysts at MRI Springboard said Good Friday saw a rise in footfall in the high street, compared with both last week and the same period last year.

Retail parks and shopping centres also saw an increase in customers.

However, overall, footfall dropped by 11% from 2019.

MRI Springboard said the results were a "continuation of strong activity" earlier in the week, as people took advantage of the school holidays in the run-up to Easter as a chance to shop.

Diane Wehrle, MRI Springboard's insights director, said that while retails parks saw steady footfall throughout the day, people were heading out "later in the day" for shopping at high streets and shopping centres.

Overall, there was a rise of 18.6% across all UK destinations compared with last week. Compared with 2022, it was a rise of 3.6%.

High street numbers remain worst hit by the pandemic, in comparison to retail parks and shopping centres - having dropped 14.5% since 2019.

Shops in coastal towns saw the biggest week-on-week increase, up 55.1%, as the sunny weather drew people out to destinations popular with day-trippers. However, measured against market towns and historic towns, coastal area footfall is still lower than both last year and before the pandemic.

Although the general trend sees the gap in footfall narrowing from pre-pandemic levels, shoppers continue to struggle with big rises in the cost of living, with energy bills and grocery prices squeezing household budgets.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that recent recovery in numbers had slowed as inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is close to a 40-year high, with consumers and businesses facing a "challenging economic environment".

The BRC added that weekend shopping is seeing a revival as more people return to working in offices during the week, although numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels and that a recent recovery in numbers had slowed.