The latest reports on UK retail footfall indicate a continued sluggishness in consumer activity, with the cost of living crisis playing a significant role. According to the Ipsos Retail Tracker, non-food footfall in the UK was down 13.1% compared to pre-pandemic levels in the seven days leading up to Sunday. Although there was a slight increase of 0.8% compared to the previous week, it is evident that consumer sentiment remains subdued. The northern region of England performed relatively better, with store visits down by 11.4% compared to 2019.
Further analysis of city footfall revealed a significant decline of 17.2% compared to 2019, with a 1.1% drop from the previous week. On the other hand, town footfall experienced an 8.6% decline over a three-year period, but saw a slight increase of 0.9% week on week. High Streets saw a decline of 10.8% compared to 2019, but a more promising rise of 3.3% from the previous week. Retail parks and shopping centers faced similar challenges, with declines of 10.8% and 17.4% respectively compared to 2019, but both experienced slight recoveries of 3.9% and 2.7% week on week.
Another report by Springboard indicated a week-on-week decline of 0.2% in footfall over the last seven days. Retail parks and shopping centers experienced decreases of 0.9% and 1.8% respectively, while high streets saw a modest increase of 1%. However, there was an overall increase in footfall compared to the previous week on both Sunday and Monday, with an average increase of 3.6%.
While there may be slight variations in the figures reported by different tracking companies due to variations in data recording methods, it is clear that overall footfall is not recovering as expected for this time of year. Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard, suggests that the decline in footfall across the UK may be an early indication of the impact of higher energy costs, which came into effect on 1 October. This is in contrast to the previous week when footfall rose across all regions of the country.
These reports highlight the challenging environment that retailers are currently facing. Rising energy costs and the cost of living crisis are dampening consumer sentiment and impacting footfall. In order to overcome these difficulties, retailers will need to find innovative solutions to entice customers back into their stores.
Useful links:
– Retail Gazette – UK retail footfall fails to recover as expected
– The Guardian – UK shops hit by brutal combination of rising bills and low footfall
