Businesses across Suffolk have reported a successful trading period after Christmas - but sales appear to still be down when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Nationally, analysts at Springboard said data from Monday showed footfall was 38.8 per cent higher than last year, but Tuesday's footfall dropped by nearly 25 per cent when compared with 2019.
The news comes amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis and ongoing rail strikes.
"Both days were really good for us," said Kie Humphreys, owner of the Ipswich-based Coffee Cat.
"The town wasn't outrageously busy, but there were a good amount of people coming in.
"Unfortunately it probably wasn't as good as pre-Covid levels but, considering there is a cost-of-living crisis going on, that has to be expected."
Lawra Stubbs, owner of Ipswich's Midnight Moon and Miss Quirky Kicks shops in Orwell Place, said December 27th was better than Boxing Day.
"Tuesday was great and we were a lot busier than the 26th," she said.
"Looking forward, we're quite worried about January to March - especially with everything that's going on at the moment.
"But we were very lucky to have a really good few days over the festive period."
In Felixstowe, Kate Cain of the town's Business Improvement District, said: "I'm yet to receive the specific figures, but from what I've gathered so far, it was positive.
"Particularly when you consider the cost-of-living crisis, it was likely better than many people expected.
"We're hopeful we have built on a successful pre-Christmas - with people even coming from outside of Felixstowe to shop here."
However, Mark Cordell, of Bury St Edmunds' Business Improvement District, was not expecting a hugely successful period as most businesses had closed for the bank holiday period.
"There were one or two high street businesses that were open, but not many," he said.
"I'm yet to receive all the data on those days, but I'm not expecting footfall to be that high for this reason."
Many businesses across the county chose to close their doors during the festive period in order to take time to rest after a difficult year.
"I don't believe in opening on Boxing Day," said Alan Rayner, owner of Ipswich's Twist 'N' Shout clothes shop.
"But we had a very good day on Tuesday.
"We probably saw around an 8 per cent drop in sales over the Christmas period - which is always difficult - so I can't complain.
"In all, it was a successful winter for us."
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