The number of people hitting Britain’s high streets and shopping centres for the traditional Boxing Day sales rose sharply on last year when Covid concerns kept shoppers at home, but remained far short of pre-pandemic levels with the cost of living crisis expected to depress spending.
Figures from retail intelligence provider Springboard showed that footfall as of midday on Monday jumped 50 per cent on December 26 last year, when some restrictions were in place due to the spread of the Omicron variant and several large retailers remained closed.
But in the latest sign of the persistent pressures on bricks and mortar stores, foot traffic on the high street was down 25.3 per cent compared with pre-pandemic in 2019, while for shopping centres it was down 36.9 per cent.