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Experian Retail FootFall Index falls 2.2 per cent (October 2007 - October 2008).
Archived article dated Friday October 31st 2008
The UK experienced a drop in both online and High Street retail activity during October, according to the latest monthly retail insight report from Experian.
UK Internet traffic to online retailers decreased by 0.5 per cent (between October 2007 and 2008), representing the first annual decline this year according to Hitwise, an Experian company. On the high street, the Experian Retail Footfall Index recorded 2.2 per cent fewer shoppers compared with October last year. Meanwhile, over three million square foot of new retail floorspace created in 2008 now presents over-capacity problems in a number of major retail destinations across the UK. Supermarkets, discounters and value chains expected to come out on top this Christmas.
Robin Goad, Director of Research at Hitwise, said: “UK Internet traffic to online retailers decreased by 0.5 per cent between October 2007 and 2008, the first annual decline this year. Up until now, online retail has been surviving the economic downturn, but this month's data proves that the sector is not immune.
“Despite the overall decrease in traffic to the online sector, budget retailers are benefiting from the demands of more price-conscious consumers. UK Internet searches for second hand goods have increased 22 per cent over the last 12 months and, as a result, traffic to Classified Retailers increased by 47 per cent over the same period.
“Supermarkets are also benefiting. UK Internet traffic to supermarkets is up 10 per cent year-on-year. Although there has been a small increase in demand for online grocery shopping, the main growth area for supermarkets has been high-ticket consumer electronics goods.
“Online consumers searching for laptops and washing machines are increasingly ending up at sites operated by the likes of Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys. The supermarkets are driving this traffic by investing heavily in search marketing campaigns.”
Commenting on the problem of retail over-capacity, Jonathan de Mello, Director of Retail Consultancy at Experian, said: “This year has seen the opening of an unprecedented number of new shopping centres and whilst some have clearly moved their towns up the retail rankings, such as Liverpool from 15th place to 5th place, others have had less of a positive impact, particularly in the current economic climate.
Tagged as: experian | footfall | online | hitwise
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