Yahoo Finance UK footfall declines by three quarters in February as retailers continue to suffer from lockdown
Retail footfall in the UK decreased by 73.5% year-on-year in February as people were forced to stay at home to curb the spread of COVID-19.
This represented only a 3.4 percentage point improvement from the month before, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed, and was the second largest drop in UK footfall since May 2020, which declined 81.6%.
The number of people shopping on the high street in particular declined by 68.3% year-on-year. After January, this was the deepest decline since May last year and worse than both the 3- and 12-month average declines of 60.6% and 55.7%, respectively.
Retail parks saw footfall decrease by just 34.5% last month, benefitting from the presence of large essential retailers such as supermarkets and health stores, while shopping centre footfall declined by 75.7% year-on-year due to their high proportion of “non-essential” retailing.
Northern Ireland saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions at -65.6% for the sixth consecutive month, followed by Scotland at -69.2% and the East of England (-70.1%). Wales saw the deepest decline at -75.4%.
“While footfall improved slightly due to slowing COVID infections boosting consumer confidence, it will be a difficult time for retail until businesses are permitted to reopen in April,” said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of British Retail Consortium.
She added: “Retailers welcomed the chancellor’s extension of key business funding schemes in Wednesday’s Budget. Nonetheless, the real challenge will arise in April, as tens of thousands of “non-essential” retailers hold their breath to see if demand returns to stores.
“Despite the support offered by the chancellor, the retail industry is not out of the woods yet. In order to support a much needed recovery in the industry and the three million jobs it supports, the government must ensure the UK’s state aid rules allow businesses to fully access the grants and loans that have been announced."
READ MORE: UK retail footfall plummets to lowest point since May
It comes as UK retail sales fell sharply in January as a return to lockdown stopped people spending.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published on Friday, showed sales fell by -8.2% in January. Economists had forecast a -2.5% month-on-month decline.
The ONS said the data showed "a steep decline in the sector, as it was again affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions."
"Feedback from retailers suggested that these enforced closures affected sales, although not to the same extent as witnessed in April 2020 (the first full month of restrictions on the retail sector) when total retail fell by 22.2%," the ONS said.
January's decline followed near-flat sales in December. November's month-long lockdown had sent retail sales into contraction for the first time in six months. Sales are currently 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels, the ONS said.
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