The group stages have drawn to a close in Brazil, with the 16 nations progressing to the knockout stages confirmed – but how has the tournament impacted retail traffic so far, and what can those left in the competition expect during the second half?

FootFall has used exclusive data to review the impact of football on footfall during key European matches. Here’s our lowdown on the retail winners and losers from the action in Brazil so far:

England

Sporting failure was retail’s gain, as UK footfall losses decreased as each match progressed. Whereas consumer footfall activity had been down by -14.8% week on week during the squad’s first match against Italy, despite the earlier kick-off time, footfall only fell -3.2% week on week when England played Costa Rica – at which point they knew they were heading home. Interestingly, as England’s progress was reliant on Italy beating Costa Rica, consumer traffic decreased by -3.0% in the UK during this match.

France

With a rich pedigree, the French were always going to be keeping a close eye on their nation’s footballing fortunes and this showed during the team’s opening match against Honduras – footfall declined a significant-52.2% week on week, and a fall of -39.6% year on year. By the time they faced Ecuador, however, France was all but through to the later stages, and this led to another reduced week on week footfall decline of -6.1%.

Switzerland

The Swiss team’s consistent performance in the tournament was reflected in its footfall results too, as shopper activity was affected similarly for each game: week on week footfall decreased by -20.0% in their first match against Ecuador, -16.5% against France and -18.6% against Honduras.

Germany

It was difficult to make an accurate judgement on the impact of Germany’s campaign on footfall, as the team’s opening game against Portugal occurred a week after the country had a national holiday and shops were closed, preventing week on week figures from being drawn. However, action on the pitch categorically impacted retail activity during Germany’s second match against Ghana, as week on week figures fell -19.2% while year on year results declined by -30.2%. By the time the team took on the USA in the final group game, footfall declined to -47.9% week on week and -52.3% year on year – the biggest impact on footfall of any match played in the tournament so far.

Italy

Of all the European nations competing in the World Cup, Italian fans appear to be the most passionate: week on week footfall decreased by -39.8% during the squad’s game against Costa Rica, the biggest deficit of any second group match. In fact, interest in Italy’s progress has increased as the tournament unfolded – footfall was only -15.9% down during their opening match against England.  However, with defeat to Uruguay, Italy is now out of the competition.

Spain

If any nation’s retailers benefited from poor performance on the pitch, it was Spain. The reigning World Cup champions were expected to show skilful form in the early stages of the competition, which led to a significant footfall decline initially – figures were down -24.8% week on week and -16.4% year on year footfall decline during their match against Chile. However, Spain became the first nation to crash out of the tournament and home fans responded by turning their backs: during Spain’s final match against Australia, when they were guaranteed to leave the competition, retail activity actually improved +6.8% week on week and +25.1% year on year!