Retail Footfall Dips Further in June

According to figures from Springboard and the British Retail Consortium, shopping centres and retail parks saw their footfall drop by 3.4% and 0.4% respectively. Meanwhile footfall on UK high streets rose by 0.1%.

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive, British Retail Consortium: 

“June’s good weather has again resulted in a marginal year-on-year improvement in footfall across the nation’s high streets, delivering the second month of consecutive growth since November 2017. However, retail parks and shopping centres have had an altogether more difficult time, albeit June 2017 was a tough comparable, and the overall trend of fewer visits to bricks and mortar stores remains.

“Consumer behaviour has changed, with shoppers now requiring much more choice in terms of how, when and where they shop and retailers are responding to this, investing in their physical store experiences and online presence. Initiatives such as the Government’s Great British High Street Awards are increasingly important as communities adapt and thrive during this period of retail transformation. However, considerable pressure on retail remains but policy makers can help by supporting our call for a two-year freeze in business rate increases to provide some headroom while a reform of the business rates system is carried out.”

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director, Springboard: 

"The drop in footfall in June, the seventh in as many months, means that we are now in in the longest period of continued footfall decline since 2015.  However, with drops of less than -1% in both May and June the three month rolling average is now -1.5%, the most favourable result since November 2017. But the underlying results reveal the pressures facing retailers; footfall during retail trading hours declined across all three destination types: with high street footfall rising marginally by +0.1% whereas in retail parks and shopping centres, which are dominated by multiples, footfall declined.  In retail parks this decline was just -0.4%, but in shopping centres it is more significant at -3.4%, averaging -3.1% since January.

"The shift to leisure based trips, initially evidenced by uplifts in footfall post 5pm, now also supports footfall during the day time trading period.  Many high streets have capitalised on this trend more swiftly than shopping centres, demonstrated by a drop of -0.8% in day time footfall in high streets in June compared with -3.9% in shopping centres.  Clearly many shopping centres need to transform quickly to be able to capitalise once again on their inherent assets of cohesive management and strength of offer. Understanding today’s consumer appetite for even local destinations to deliver retail alongside leisure and hospitality, will enable centres to capture footfall attracted by a variety of lifestyle uses; which is essential if shopping centres are to turn the tide on the ongoing decline."

Source: Insight Team & BRC Springboard.

Image - Courtesy of Shutterstock.

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