Black Friday footfall in UK expected to be 12.8 percent higher this year

UK retailers could be in stall for a jump in footfall this year despite the cost-of-living crisis.

Footfall is expected to be 12.8 percent above last year’s levels across all UK retail destinations, according to figures from Springboard.

It comes as shoppers are expected to seek out high discounts to offset soaring inflation.

Despite that jump, however, footfall is still forecast to be 7.8 percent below pre-Covid levels from 2019.

Breaking it down by destination, footfall is expected to climb 16.3 percent year-over-year at shopping centres, and 13.2 percent across high streets.

Black Friday is expected to fuel a 15.9 percent increase in footfall compared to the previous week, with footfall at shopping centres forecast to jump 20.1 percent.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said shoppers are expected to “make the most of available discounts to purchase Christmas gifts as they endeavour to outpace inflation, just announced to have risen to 11.1 percent”.

She continued: “A further driver of footfall over Black Friday is likely to be potential stock shortages of desired gifts due to increased supply costs incurred by retailers which may limit stock replenishment.

“This is likely to provide a greater incentive for shoppers to purchase Christmas gifts early rather than wait and run the risk of their favoured gift being out of stock.”

A separate study earlier this month suggested Brits could spend 850 million pounds less this Black Friday as they tighten their purse strings.

Research from data comparison site Finders.com suggested the average shopper will spend approximately 189 pounds this year versus 275 pounds last year - a 31 percent drop.