FEATURE: RETAIL REPORT 2021


In-store and online sales In May to December 2021, in-store sales were -4.2% lower than the same eight month period in 2019, however there were some categories where sales were on par or higher than 2019. Jewellery and electrical/mobile phones saw sales rise from 2019 by +15.1%, and +3% respectively. Even in health and beauty and fashion and accessories, store sales were only very slightly lower than in 2019 (-0.5% and -0.6%). Inevitably the restrictions around eating and dining that prevailed following the end of Lockdown 3 meant food and beverage sales suffered, but over the eight month period they were only -3.1% lower than in 2019 supported by a huge boost in sales in August that was +13.4% higher than in 2019. Over the three months from August to October, in store food and beverage sales averaged +6.3% higher than in 2019.


In 2021, as a percentage of total


retail sales, online sales averaged at 30%, increasing from 2020 when it averaged 27.2%. Online sales inevitably increased during Lockdown 3 - to 35.7% between January and March, but fell back to 28.1% between


April and


December. Online sales for clothing and footwear peaked at 57.4% during Lockdown 3, however, this also means that 42.6% of spending occurred in store, despite only essential retailers’


stores being


able to trade. Notably, despite the improvement in home delivery, the vast majority of consumers continued to buy food and groceries in store during 2021. Online food sales averaged only 11% of total sales throughout 2021, and rose only slightly to 12.4% during Lockdown


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3, dropping back to 10.5% between April and December.


Consumer confidence increases Inevitably, the pandemic continued to impact consumer confidence, however the consumer confidence index score as measured by GFK improved significantly in 2021 from 2020, shifting from an overall index score of -26 in 2020 to -15 in 2021. This score was heavily influenced by the adverse impact of the wider economic situation over the past 12 months (index score of -50), whilst consumers felt far more confident about their own financial position last year (index score of -8) and particularly over the next 12 months (index score of +7). The confidence of consumers increased significantly from May onwards, following the ending of Lockdown 3 and remained strong over the summer, declining as infections increased from September onwards and into the Christmas period.


A view for 2022 Springboard


has identified a


number of key trends that they forecast will play out in 2022. Most significantly is


the maturity of


the hybrid office/home working model which will result in a greater number of retail visits in the evening and at the weekend, longer dwell times and an increase in the combination of shopping and dining as the prospect of going out after a work day at home is more attractive. Alternatively, this model will in itself generate a demand by consumers for the choice that can only be obtained in a larger destination when more time allows. While


2020 was typified by


unprecedented change in retail brought about by the pandemic,


“The experience of three lockdowns has taught us is that the need for human interaction and sensory satisfaction”


and 2021 saw the start of retailers accommodating this change, 2022 will be typified by the transition of retail to succeed in a Covid world. Retailers can expect a continuation of the migration of spend online to continue throughout 2022, although as consumers feel more confident with regard to the risks associated with Covid, a proportion of this will shift back to stores. Therefore, the better integration of online and store retailing must be at the forefront of retailers’ minds. Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard comments: “The experience of three lockdowns has taught us is that the need for human interaction and sensory satisfaction that we highlighted in the 2020 review really does drive visits and spend in stores and destinations. Following the end of Lockdown three, the initial surge in visits to stores and destinations that we forecast in our 2020 review came to pass, with the gap in footfall from 2019 immediately halving


and then continuing to strengthen, peaking during October half term week at -10.9% below 2019. In fact, even with Plan B measures in place and shoppers exhibiting significant caution in December, footfall in the week leading up to Christmas ended up just -13.8% below 2019.” “It is clear that whilst retailing was impacted by Covid in 2021, the roll out of the vaccine programme has been a game changer. In our review of 2020 we were forecasting that we would need to break down 2021 into two key parts – pre-vaccine


and post-vaccine


- and largely this is what has happened. With the rapid roll out of the vaccine in 2021, bricks and mortar has weathered the storm of two new variants, with footfall strengthening every month until December when the government issued Plan B guidance to work from home which took the froth off of the expected uplift in footfall and sales during the crucial Christmas trading period.”


About Springboard Springboard is the leading provider of insights on bricks and mortar retail activity, tracking and forecasting footfall and delivering performance met- rics across all key retail destination types at national and regional levels since 2002. Springboard has the most comprehensive footfall data set in the UK using the latest generation automated technology, recording over 159 million footfall counts per week at 3,600 counting points in 1,300 shopping locations in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Springboard is part of the Government High Street Task Force working to revitalise local high streets across the UK. Springboard’s footfall data is included within the weekly ONS “Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society” report.


FEBRUARY 2022 DIY WEEK 21


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