Retail footfall down in September
Retail footfall edged down 0.9% year-on-year in September to mark a return to the decline seen before August’s 0.1% increase.
The figures from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard’s monthly footfall monitor show that high street footfall fell by 0.5% after two months of growth including a 1.1% increase in August.
Footfall in shopping centres declined by 2.5% which was a further fall from the 1.9% drop in August.
Meanwhile footfall in retail parks was broadly flat following a 0.4% rise in August.
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: “Total footfall was fractionally down this month with almost one per cent fewer people heading out to shopping locations across the UK. While in itself this isn’t the news retailers would hope for, taken with other retail industry data published this month it tells a fascinating story.
“At the same time as both footfall and shop prices have fallen year-on-year, retail spending grew in September by 1.3%. This is a function of the changing face of retail and the hard work and innovation of British retail businesses who are responding brilliantly to technological advances and changing consumer habits.”
