Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets

PLoS One. 2022 Jul 29;17(7):e0267160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267160. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Policymakers around the world are enforcing mobility restriction policies such as lockdowns, facemask requirements and social distancing to curb the spread of Covid-19. While these policies are effective in preventing the spread of virus, the economic implications are not well understood. We contribute to the literature by examining the impact of these policies on the offline retail sector. Specifically, we measure the effects of these policies on the daily number of shoppers passing by, which we refer to as 'footfall', along major shopping streets in Netherlands. We rely on unique proprietary Wifi data to accurately measure footfall. Our findings imply that all these policies attribute to a non-trivial reduction in footfall levels along shopping streets. While lockdowns led to a 50% reduction in footfall along major shopping streets, shopping streets faced with facemask regulations also experience a 25% drop in human traffic. A reduction in footfall translates into a substantial reduction in retail income of between 12% and 25%.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Communicable Disease Control
  • Humans
  • Masks
  • Physical Distancing
  • Public Policy

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.