Shoppers Numbers Up At Last, But Is It Enough?
*Figures supplied by Springboard
Week commencing 12 December 2011
• Shopper numbers were up sharply in the final week before Christmas as consumers took advantage of promotions and discounts.
• The year-on-year growth, up 2.3% across all locations, was helped by soft comparatives on the previous year when snow hit shopper numbers.
• On an annual basis both the high street and shopping centre footfall measures performed well growing by 2.6% each. Shopping centres also rose by 0.3%.
• Shopping centres saw the biggest boost to footfall, week-on-week, up by 5.7%.
• High street shopper numbers were up on last week by 2.3%, while out-of-town locations performed more modestly, rising by 0.5%.
Week commencing 5 December 2011
• The year-on-year comparisons showed that footfall in all locations fell compared with the same week last year.
• The number of shoppers on high streets fell sharply, by 2.6%, followed by shopping centres and out-of-town which fell by 1.9% and 0.2% respectively.
• Footfall fell back for both high streets and out-of-town falling by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively, compared with the previous week.
• Footfall for shopping centres continued to rise, up 1.3%, compared with the previous week.
Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said: “This is confirmation that last weekend was the big shopping weekend retailers had been hoping for. After a late start to Christmas buying, consumers were out on the streets in greater numbers than for the same week in 2010, although the big question is whether it has translated into enough actual spending to make up for a largely disappointing year.
“Retailers have been working hard to encourage people into their stores, running exceptionally high levels of promotions and discounts. They’ll be relieved to see that effort paying off but, for some, the season still hangs in the balance. Many sales are being made at the expense of margins and good trading in the next three days, particularly on Christmas Eve, will be crucial.”
Diane Wehrle, Research Director at Springboard, said: “Despite the slow start to the festive shopping season footfall during the week commencing the 12th December was up 2.3 per cent on the previous week, showing that momentum has gradually started to build and shoppers are hitting the high street to take advantage of heavy retailer discounting with Christmas just days away. With Christmas Eve this year falling on a Saturday, it is likely that many consumers will leave much of their shopping to the last minute, whilst retailers have the opportunity to take advantage of a full week of trading in the week before Christmas. Based on the footfall figures we have seen over the past weeks, we anticipate a real shopper rush over the next three days of trading with shoppers looking to take advantage of last minute offers retailers are putting on. With a slow start to festive footflow, we’re expecting a strong shopper show in the high street after Christmas as consumers look to take advantage of the Boxing Day and post-Christmas sales.”
For more information please visit: www.brc.org.co.uk