Shoppers shun Christmas sales as footfall drops amid Covid fears(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/5245/production/_122516012_shopping.jpg)
The number of people taking advantage of post-Christmas sales on Monday fell by 32% compared with 2019, new data shows, amid persistent Covid concerns.
Retail analyst Springboard said ดาวน์โหลด SLOTXO (https://slotxo.im/download-slotxo/) footfall figures were better than Boxing Day.
But popular shopping destinations such as central London saw a drop caused in part by disruption to rail services.
Shoppers chose to visit retail parks on Monday, but footfall there was still down 7.2% from pre-pandemic levels.
That contrasted with a sharp drop in footfall on High Streets, down 40.1% on 2019, and in shopping centres, which recorded a 38.8% decline.
"The greater attraction of retail parks is in part likely to be a result of shoppers restocking groceries following the weekend's festivities," said Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard.
It is a reversal of the trend seen on Boxing Day when more people shopped on High Streets than in retail parks. However, overall Boxing Day footfall figures were far lower than pre-Covid levels.
Across the UK, Springboard said High Streets saw footfall drop on Boxing Day by 37.7% compared with 2019. Retail parks recorded a 40.2% decline in footfall while there was a sharper 48.4% drop in shopping centres.
Springboard said footfall declined on Boxing Day due to fears over Covid, as well as the fact the traditional start of post-Christmas sales fell on a Sunday this year and some big name stores opted to stay closed.
Companies including Next, John Lewis and M&S decided to shut on Boxing Day to give staff a longer Christmas break, though they launched their sales online.