(Alliance News) - UK retail footfall slumped in the final month of the year, with rainy weather keeping shoppers away from the high street, numbers on Friday showed.
According to the latest British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic IQ data, footfall in UK retail destinations declined 5.0% on-year in December, worsening from a 0.7% fall in November.
In high streets alone, footfall decreased by 4.2% year-on-year in December, a worse outcome than the 1.7% fall in November. In retail parks, footfall was 4.8% in December, a steeper decline than November's 1.0% fall. Shopping centre footfall was 7.4% lower in December, after a 2.2% decline in November.
"December's heavy rain left many shoppers reluctant to brave the elements, who instead opted to browse online before making final purchases, or shop online altogether. This led to a substantial decline in footfall levels compared to December 2022, when there was significant pent-up demand for in-store shopping post Covid-restrictions," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.
Largely, it was an underwhelming month of footfall for the retail sector, Sensormatic analyst Andy Sumpter commented.
Sumpter added: "While we saw festive glimmers of shopper traffic peaks in and around discounting days, such as Boxing Day when footfall improved 39.2% week-on-week, many may have been waiting for a last-minute Christmas trading rush that never came.
"There's little doubt that the overall downward year-on-year trajectory in store visits in December - usually the crescendo of the golden quarter – will have come as a blow. Retailers will be hoping that demand improves as inflation starts to ease and the impact of the inflationary spending squeeze on disposable incomes softens."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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