Footfall Header
Published On: February 1, 2022

The following analysis contains data for the devices at Westdaw (64-65), Bernard Marcus, Dorking Light & Shade, Renee’s Health Food Store and The Optical Studio.

  • Footfall in May was boosted by the reopening of indoor hospitality and venues such as cinemas. Footfall was up 27.4% in the week of the reopening, with footfall now at a similar level to October 2020.
  • However, footfall did drop the week after, with operators and occupiers having to work hard to keep customers returning. Unfavourable weather and the bank holiday might have had an impact as consumers were able to take trips away from their home.
  • With the delay in the reopening for a further four weeks, footfall is expected to remain similar in June 2021.

Weekly Footfall Profile

  • Figure 1 shows how weekly footfall has compared year on year for the month of May.
  • In May, footfall started to rebalance across the whole week, as people spread their shopping trips throughout the week.
  • Footfall on Monday in 2021 was 3% higher than in the average day in 2020. This could be due to the continued ‘work from home’ advice meaning less people are commuting in the week.
  • The reopening of shops had a significant impact on footfall on Saturday. 19% of the weekly footfall occurred on this day compared to just 16% in May 2020 when shops were still closed after the first lockdown.

Overall Footfall Volume

  • Figure 2 shows the weekly footfall throughout May across for the active footfall devices.
  • Westdaw saw footfall increase dramatically in Week 20, with all devices seeing a boost in Week 20 as indoor hospitality was allowed.
  • Footfall did decline in the week after, with colder and wetter weather having an impact on footfall levels across Dorking.
  • Figure 3 shows the weekly footfall summary: footfall started to increase in Week 20, with footfall now averaging above 60,000 for the active devices, which is comparable to footfall in October, prior to the national month-long lockdown in November.
  • Footfall still has some way to go to reach the levels of August 2020, when footfall across the active devices hit 75,000 per week.

Week on Week Change in Footfall

  • Figure 4 shows the percentage change in footfall week-on-week in May 2021, depicting a rise in footfall across all devices in Week 20 when indoor hospitality, exercise group classes and hotel accommodation could reopen.
  • Interestingly, there was a drop in footfall in the week prior to the reopening, as consumers held back spend for the new phase of the reopening roadmap.
  • Only The Optical Studio and Westcott & Williams saw footfall remain the same in Week 21, the week after the reopening. The challenge for occupiers will be in continuing to attract shoppers back to the high street.
  • Figure 5 shows this with the weekly footfall rising only in Week 20, with footfall down each of the other weeks in the month. This was despite the warmer weather during the bank holiday in Week 22.

Raw Data

LDC_Dorking_May_Footfall_Dashboard

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