Autumn rain keeps “shoppers at bay” in October

UK high streets were hit in October due to a combination of were and wintery weather and the Brexit breakdown, according to new data from Springboard and the British Retail Consortium.

The monthly footfall figures shows that UK footfall declined 3.2 percent year-on-year in October, compared with the same period last year, and steeper than September and both the 3-month and 12-month averages.

On the high street, footfall saw a far steeper rate of decline than September, at 4.9 percent. This was steeper than the three-month average decline of 2.8 percent.

Retail park footfall declined for the first time in five months by 0.5 percent, while shopping centre footfall fell by 2.4 percent in October, which was a slight improvement on the 3-month average of 2.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the UK vacancy rate increased to 10 percent in October, from 10.3 percent in July.

Helen Dickinson chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said in a statement: “High streets were hit hardest in October, with the wet and wintry weather putting off many consumers from venturing out to the shops.

“Weak consumer demand and Brexit uncertainty have both impacted sales in recent months, and this could be further affected by the imminent election campaigning. Nonetheless, retailers will be hoping for footfall to pick up as they enter the all-important Golden Quarter. There is some cause for optimism, with the vacancy rate decreasing slightly, buoyed by strong results in London which saw vacancies fall by almost a third.”

Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director, added: “The drop in footfall of -3.2 percent was the worst result for October in seven years. Whilst it can't be regarded as a purely pre Brexit breakdown as the weather also played a part, the prevailing political uncertainty must be having a considerable impact on activity given the low level of consumer confidence.

“When confidence is low it doesn’t take much to deter shoppers and the torrential rain in the last week of the month hit footfall particularly hard, resulting in a drop over those seven days of -6.2 percent. All three destination types – high streets, shopping centres and retail parks - were impacted by a much greater drop in the last week of the month than in the previous three. But by far the worst result came from high streets where footfall declined by -7.4 percent, which is not unexpected given their exposure to the elements.”