Retail intelligence specialist Springboard saw shop footfall drop by an average of -4% over the post-Christmas shopping period (26th December to 1st January).
Following a lacklustre two weeks in the lead-up to Christmas, retailers were hoping for a bounce back in footfall to bricks-and-mortar stores after Christmas, yet footfall declined on all but one day between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
The 30th December saw footfall increase across all destinations by +11.1%, yet the rise is likely to be due to the day falling on a Monday (rather than a Sunday in 2018).
The most modest decline (-2.3% YoY) was on 27th December – better than Boxing Day, which fell -8.6%.
Springboard states that the 27th and 28th December are the new key shopping dates – footfall on each of these days was +7% greater than on Boxing Day.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, comments: “Post 5pm on Boxing Day, footfall declined by less than over the 24 hours, suggesting that consumers are increasingly using Boxing Day primarily for leisure purposes, going out to eat or to the cinema, but possibly combining this with a visit to retail stores, rather than shopping being the main focus of the trip.”
