High street footfall is up due to better weather

According to a report by Springboard and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) footfall in Britain’s high streets went up by 1.4% in March.

Springboard said improvement was favourable compared to last year’s fall of 6% in March, due to the Beast from the East.

Springboard said, “We continue to be in the midst of a no-splurge culture.”

Insights director at Springboard, Dian Wehrle said consumers remain focused on “prudence.”

Adding, “This becomes very obvious when looking at footfall in each week; with the month being bookended by two strong weeks, while footfall plunged in the middle three weeks.”

Helen Dickinson, chief of the BRC said, “Retailers will be relieved to see footfall up from last year though this is was heavily influenced by the weather, while shoppers in 2018 were contending with the “Beast from the East”, this March has been mild by comparison.

“Unfortunately, the higher footfall has not translated into higher spending.”