Access in central London has fallen faster than elsewhere in the country over the past week as the capital’s many Omicron cases put a damper on shopping the day before Christmas.
Central London’s footfall was almost a third lower on Christmas Eve morning than it was a week earlier, new data from Springboard shows.
But other city centers are also noticing this. Outside London, visits to city centers fell by 10%, the figures show.
However, the total number of retailers increased by almost 14%, aided by a strong display in market towns, retail parks and shopping malls.
“The increased activity in retail parks today will be due in part to travel for food and grocery products, as the majority of retail parks have a grocery store,” Springboard said as it revealed retail sales rose 23.6% compared to last week.
“But since the inception of Covid, retail parks have consistently been more resilient in terms of retaining shoppers, as they are large open areas with large stores that make shoppers feel safer and less nervous.”
In shopping malls, the number of visitors increased by 19.6%, compared to just an increase of 6.7% in the main street.
The data, especially those from London, show the effect of the Omicron strain of the Covid-19 virus, which has hit the capital particularly hard.
Although there are fewer restrictions in place than last year – the number of visitors to central London today was 42% higher than a year earlier – many shoppers are clearly staying home to avoid the outbreak.
Overall, the country’s dealers have seen visitor numbers fall by more than a fifth compared to Christmas Eve 2019, before the pandemic hit.
But the industry is at least recovering from last year, when there were several restrictions in place. The total number of visitors has increased by more than 30% since then.
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