- A new report claims UK retail foot traffic to stores at weekends is increasing despite the country's nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
- Retail intelligence firm Springboard found that foot traffic increased significantly over the weekend of April 4 and April 5 compared with the previous weekend - up 9.5% on Saturday and 21.3% on Sunday.
- The UK's weather is warming up as Easter weekend looms, one of the British retail industry's most significant periods.
- Despite the uptick in weekend shopping, overall footfall across retail destinations dropped 75.1% in the week beginning March 22 and by 81.4% last week, which suggests the lockdown is having an impact.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A worrying new report claims UK foot traffic to stores at weekends is increasing, despite the country's nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Retail intelligence company Springboard found that foot traffic was up "significantly" over the weekend of April 4 and April 5 compared with the previous weekend. More specifically, it was up 9.5% on Saturday and 21.3% on Sunday - a finding Springboard described as "alarming."
The UK's weather is warming up as Easter weekend looms, which is traditionally one of the British retail industry's busiest periods.
Despite the uptick in foot traffic, the report also found that visits to bricks-and-mortar retail destinations dropped 75.1% in the week beginning March 22 and by 81.4% last week, suggesting the lockdown is having a material impact.
Commenting on the findings, Springboard's insights director Diane Wehrle said it is "impossible to draw any real comparison between Easter this year and Easter in preceding years" given the "swathing restrictions" being placed on would-be shoppers.
Under current UK government guidelines, people are only allowed to leave their house to shop for "basic necessities, for example, food and medicine," and these trips must be "as infrequent as possible."
Earlier this month, staff at major British pharmacy and beauty chain Boots told the BBC they feel "unsafe" as shoppers were continuing to browse makeup.
The UK's nationwide lockdown was first introduced on March 23.
Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email covidtips@businessinsider.com and tell us your story.
And get the latest coronavirus analysis and research from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting businesses.