Retail footfall down in October
New data has revealed that UK retail footfall dropped by 2% year-on-year in October. This follows a fall of 1.7% in September.
The figures from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard in their monthly footfall monitor show that the decrease is the eleventh consecutive month of decline in the UK.
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: “October showed another month reflecting the continued long-term decline in footfall. This trend is primarily driven by a move from in-store to online purchases. With retail becoming more digital, physical shopping locations are working to reinvent themselves as places people go for days-out rather than just for day to day purchases.”
Looking at the regions, Northern Ireland was the only area to record growth in the month with an uplift of 2.7%. Meanwhile, the East and East Midlands experienced the deepest declines with drops of 6.1% and 4.8% respectively. In Wales there was a deceleration in decline, from 5.5% in September to 2.3% in October.
High street footfall dropped by 2.3% in the month while footfall in retail parks edged down 0.2% after two months of positive growth. Shopping centre footfall deepened to 3.3% from 2.5% in September to mark 19 months of consecutive decline. The figures show that no region experienced growth in shopping centre footfall.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director, added: “If further evidence of the veracity of footfall as an indicator of retail trading performance were required then it is provided by October’s result of -2%. Not only does it reflect the ongoing challenges that the retail sector is facing but, as importantly, with the decline becoming larger in every month since June, it is illustrating that the challenges for retailers have been increasing as we moved through the year.”
