Retail footfall down 0.7% in June 2014

Retail footfall edged down 0.7% year-on-year in June although footfall in out-of-town retail locations rose for the sixth month in a row.

Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Springboard in their monthly footfall monitor show that footfall on the high street was 1.7% lower than a year ago while shopping centres saw a 1.2% decline.

Out-of-town locations, including retail and shopping parks, reported the only rise at 2.4%

Looking across the UK, Northern Ireland experienced the sharpest rise in footfall, reporting an increase of 11.8% on the previous year. Meanwhile, footfall in Scotland fell by 0.6% and Wales reported a decline of 1.4%.

Four regions in England reported footfall above the UK average – North & Yorkshire (-0.3%), South East (0.4%), South West (1.3%), and the East (2.2%).

BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: “At first glance, this month’s figures don’t paint a rosy picture for the retail industry with the headline figure showing footfall shrinking once again. However, out-of-town shopping destinations continue to outperform high streets and shopping centres, reinforcing the fact that shopping is something we increasingly do as a leisure activity and that well managed ‘destinations’, whether in or out of town, still have the power to pull in the shopping public.

“However, strong footfall doesn’t always equate to good sales and vice versa. Retailers have seen good sales growth in their online clothing and footwear offer and many are reporting positive results led by their online summer sales.”

Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, added: “June is the sixth month in a row in which activity in retail and shopping parks has increased, and so it appears that the trend for consumers to favour out of town locations over urban shopping environments has established itself as a key feature of 2014.

“In sharp contrast, in both high streets and shopping centres footfall has dropped in all but one month this year, which reinforces the much recognised need for investment in our long established and strategically significant town centre retail locations.”

Source: The Retail Bulletin
http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/retail_footfall_down_07_in_june_21-07-14/