Expect stronger Black Friday footfall than final Christmas week, predicts Springboard

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 12, 2021

With supply chain issues to the fore, if you want to know what the footfall forecasts are for UK retail in the critical six-week period covering Black Friday, Christmas, and post-Christmas periods, read on.

Black Friday will record the greatest increase in footfall over the six-week festive period, with a predicted boost of 7.9% from the week before, specialist footfall tracker Springboard believes. This will be a greater rise than the increase of 6.5% in the final week of Christmas trading.

Meanwhile, footfall across UK retail destinations this Christmas will average 17% lower than 2019, continuing the current trajectory seen in September.

It said the drop in UK footfall from 2019 is predicted to be driven by high streets (-17.7%) and shopping centres (-17.5%])but retail parks will show ongoing resilience this Christmas, strengthening by +5.5%

Footfall in large city centres will strengthen over the six-week period, overtaking smaller high streets “as consumers seek out the Christmas shopping experience they missed last year”, noted Springboard.

And in the post-Christmas week, footfall in high streets and shopping centres will drop by around 20% "as Boxing Day sales continue to be less appealing for consumers”.

But at least footfall will be 80.9% stronger in comparison to 2020 when the UK was forced into lockdown two, Springboard added.