Total UK footfall decreased by 68.7% in March (Yo2Y), marking only a 4.9% improvement from February, according to the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) Sensormatic tracker.
The data, which covered the five weeks from 28 February to 3 April 2021, showed that the footfall drop in March was above the three-month average decline of 72.3%.
Northern Ireland reportedly saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions at 56.4%, followed by Scotland which dropped to 66.3% and England at 68.7%. However, Wales saw the deepest decline at 71.2% on a year-on-two-years basis.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of BRC, said: “The earlier Easter date also gave consumers a reason to do a little extra food shopping, with strong demand for chocolate and Easter Eggs leading to extra store visits.
“Non-food retail stores will have lost £30bn in foregone sales over the three lockdowns. It is essential they are able to trade effectively from April 12, and remain open. Savings have been building up over lockdown, and the economic recovery relies on retailers being able to…
