Euro football fever and England’s progression to the final of the tournament failed to translate into more spending in shops last week as visitor numbers at all UK retail destinations rose by only 0.6%.
On Sunday, the day of the Euros final, shops on the high street were the sole beneficiary with a rise in footfall of 9.7% from the week before, while in retail parks and shopping centres footfall declined by 4% and 4.9% respectively, data from industry analyst Springboard showed.
“The Euros may have gripped the nation but the football failed to boost footfall last week, with only a very marginal rise from the week before,” said Springboard Insights director Diane Wehrle.
“Even on the two match days the change in footfall across UK retail destinations was unspectacular, with a drop from the previous week on Wednesday and a modest rise on Sunday.”
Compared to the same period in 2019 and before the pandemic, footfall remains down almost 26%.
Between Sunday and Tuesday footfall rose by an average of just 0.9%, however, in retail parks it was up 7.2% on Tuesday, as shoppers stocked up in advance of the semi-final match on Wednesday, Springboard said.
Saturday was the strongest day of the week, with footfall 6.1% higher than the week before across all retail destinations, and increases of 6.9% in high streets, 5.4% in shopping centres and 5.1% in retail parks.
Supermarkets had said they were bracing for a surge in demand for beer and barbecue food but while retail parks edged up by 1.4%, high streets remained flat.
