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Major high streets saw an increase in footfall over the Easter weekend. According to Springboard, there was a 1.2% year-on-year rise in footfall across the country between Friday and Sunday.
London’s West End saw a 6.8% surge of footfall over the Easter holiday. The number of in-store purchases also saw an improvement, with Barclaycard reporting a 13% spending increase. Customers also spent more money as the value of payments rose by 4%.
Easter Monday showed an increase in footfall as well, with an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous year.
Paul Lockstone, managing director of Barclaycard, said: “A comparatively milder and later holiday weekend prompted consumers to make more purchases, although the lower rise in transaction values suggests part of the appeal was down to the discounting seen across the high street.”
Online shopping beat in-store sales over Easter with Barclaycard reporting a 26% increase in transactions when compared to last year. Consumers also followed the growing trend of spending more on experiences rather than goods; with increases in those paying for meals, day trips and entertainment respectively.
Diane Wehrle, insights director for Springboard, said: “The trend for increased footfall outside of retail hours continues, indicating food and beverage outlets are a key driver of shopper footfall. On Good Friday, footfall dropped 8.2 per cent between 9am and 5pm, year on year, but post 5pm dropped just 1.3 per cent.”
Retail parks and shopping centres did not benefit from the Easter retail boost. Figures showed that footfall decreased by 2.3% and 8% respectively at these sites.
