Boxing day shopping footfall down by half on pre-Covid levels

Shopping footfall in Scotland was 48% below Boxing Day 2019, before the pandemic.

That was a steeper fall than any region of England, where footfall was down 40%.

However, it was more than a three-fold increase on Boxing Day last year in Scotland, with lockdown restrictions being reintroduced.

Across the UK, suburban and smaller towns did better for shopping activity, while shopping malls did least well.

Apart from the risk of Covid infection, other reasons for the low figures include some shops choosing to close to give staff a further day off, and lower numbers for a Sunday.

On Monday morning, shopper footfall on Scottish high streets and at retail centres was down by 38% on the levels seen two days after Christmas in 2019.

That is a slightly larger drop than the data, from Springboard retail consultancy, for the whole UK shows.

Early indications are that people have returned in larger numbers to retail parks to restock groceries following Christmas, while high streets and shopping malls have taken a bigger hit from consumer caution about Covid infection.

At Braehead shopping centre in Renfrewshire, some keen shoppers queued up before dawn to hit the sales.

The centre said about 200 shoppers waited from 05:30 for Next and JD Sports to open their doors.