Shopper footfall in June down a third on pre-pandemic levels

The number of shoppers visiting retail destinations in June was nearly a third lower than two years ago as footfall recovery stalled, latest figures show.

Footfall decreased by 29.5% in June this year compared to the same month in 2019, which has been used for comparison in the SRC-Sensormatic IQ data as 2020 was such a turbulent year.

This is below the UK average decline of 27.6% and a 4.8% decrease from May 2021.

Meanwhile shopping centre footfall declined by 34.1% in June in Scotland compared to 2019.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, head of policy and external affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), said: “The recovery in shopper footfall stalled in June in the second full month since shops fully reopened, with total footfall falling back by nearly 5% compared to the previous month.

“This was very different from the story elsewhere in the UK, potentially driven by the pause in relaxing Covid restrictions north of the border.

“That reverse meant visits to retail destinations were nearly a third lower than the comparable period in 2019. Shopping centres continue to struggle to attract shoppers, with footfall more than a third below the 2019 figure.

“These figures illustrate just how far the retail industry is from recovering from the Covid crisis. Whilst stores can trade, the restrictions on hospitality and office working continue to impact on visits to the high street.

“Operating stores itself remains challenging with capacity limits due to caps on the number of customers due to physical distancing rules. There is a growing need for policy makers to consider how best to reignite consumer confidence.”

The figures also show that footfall in Glasgow decreased in June by 30.3% compared to two years ago, with a 7.2% decline from May 2021.

SRC-Sensormatic IQ said that in order to make meaningful comparisons to changes in footfall, all 2021 figures were compared with 2019 because much of the retail sector bounced between being open and closed throughout 2020.