In October of this year, UK retailers faced a worrying setback as footfall levels experienced a year-on-year decline for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The 1.3% drop compared to October 2022 highlights the ongoing impact that the rising cost of living is having on consumer spending. These figures, provided by retail experts MRI Software, raise concerns about the upcoming Christmas season and what it means for retail sales.
Furthermore, October marked the fifth consecutive month in which footfall weakened compared to the previous year. High streets saw a decline of 2%, while shopping centres experienced a 1.8% drop. The only destination that saw a marginal annual gain of 0.8% was retail parks, proving their ongoing appeal to consumers.
When looking at the month-on-month data, the situation appears slightly more positive. In October, shopping centres and retail parks demonstrated resilience with footfall increasing by 0.9% and 0.5% respectively, compared to a decline of 1.1% in high streets. However, despite these small improvements, the overall trend for footfall across all UK retail destinations continued to decline, with a 0.2% drop from September to October. This follows a larger dip of 2.8% from August to September.
Fortunately, the final week of October brought some relief to retailers, with footfall increasing by 9% compared to the previous week. This boost helped offset the average decline of 2.1% seen in the preceding three weeks as the weather worsened and consumers began their autumn shopping.
In terms of a comparison to pre-pandemic levels, October’s footfall performance showed a slight narrowing of the gap. The decline was -10.8% compared to the pre-pandemic period, a marginal improvement from September’s -10.9%. High streets saw the most improvement with a decline of -11.9%. However, shopping centres and retail parks experienced a wider gap at -15.7% and -3.1% respectively.
Overall, the year-on-year footfall drop in October raises concerns about consumer spending patterns and the outlook for the upcoming holiday season. With the cost of living still impacting discretionary spending, retailers are likely to face challenges in attracting customers. It remains to be seen how this will impact the retail industry moving forward.
Useful links:
1. Retail Gazette
2. BBC News Business
