New data has found that Black Friday failed to get UK shoppers out to high streets.
The latest data from Springboard found that this year’s footfall was down 14.5% on 2019 levels.
“Despite the tube strike, footfall rose in Central London by +13.3% from the week before [on Black Friday],” said Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard.
“The draw of large city centres is clear, as footfall in regional cities outside of the capital rose by +6.5% whereas in market towns footfall dropped by -5.2% from last Friday and only rose by +1.8% in outer London high streets.”
“Despite the increase in footfall, it remains -24.2% below the 2019 level across all UK retail destinations.”
High streets remain quieter despite the lack of Covid restrictions, as 53% of employees are still working for home at least part time.