Easter sun puts spring in High Street’s step
Written by Hannah McGrath
23/04/2019
The Easter sunshine brought shoppers back out onto the High Street this bank holiday weekend, providing a much-needed boost for UK retailers.
According to figures from Springboard, bricks and mortar retailers saw a three per cent rise in footfall compared to the four-day period from Good Friday to bank holiday Monday last year, which by contrast was marred by stormy weather.
On a year-on-year basis, footfall was up 6.5 per cent on Good Friday, 1.2 per cent on Saturday and 8.4 per cent on bank holiday Monday.
Retailers also saw a 3.2 per cent rise in footfall from the previous week, with numbers of shoppers hitting the High Street boosted by the good weather.
As a result, consumers shied away from spending the bank holiday indoors, with a decline in shopping centre traffic of 11 per cent on Good Friday and 11.8 per cent on Saturday.
Meanwhile, footfall in retail parks was down by 2.4 per cent on Good Friday and 1.3 per cent on Saturday compared to the same days last year.
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said: "The uplift was a consequence of a combination of factors: the offset of Easter this year, including Good Friday and Easter Saturday, the school holiday continuing in certain parts of the UK, and also hot sunny weather over the weekend."
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