Retail footfall drops to 1.1 percent in July

Footfall in July fell by 1.1 percent, compared to the previous year, showing a “sea change” in consumers’ willingness to spend, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard.

High street footfall declined by 2.1 percent, while shopping centres experienced a 1.3 percent fall, its fourth consecutive month of footfall decline. The only category to see growth in the monthly footfall monitor was retail parks, which saw an uplift of 1.7 percent.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director, said: "July’s results might well mark a sea change in consumers’ willingness to spend, as it was the first time since January that footfall dropped during both retail trading hours and into the evening.

“Over the last few months the growing importance of the leisure based trip has become a key part of the narrative when talking about retail destinations, but a 0.5 percent drop in footfall post 5 pm in July is the first evidence of a tightening of purse strings on casual dining and leisure trips.”

The East and South East were the only two regions that saw footfall growth in July, with the fastest growth in the East, which has now seen eight months of consecutive footfall growth. East Midlands showed the fastest decline on the high street of all the regions, down 4.7 percent.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium, added: “Most shopping destinations saw a decline in footfall in July compared with the previous year. Even high streets, which have seen fairly stable growth over recent months, reported a decline. Retail parks were the exception and have fared relatively well since March this year reflecting in part lower rental costs compared to prime and town centre locations as well as convenience for shoppers.

“The overall decline in footfall translated into weak sales performance for stores in non-food particularly, which fell further into negative territory as consumers rein back spending on non-essential items.”

Overall, the steepest decline in footfall in July occurred in the South West and Greater London, both showing a fall of 2.1 percent. Wales showed the first decline in seven months, at 0.9 percent, while Scotland saw a further decline from 0.2 percent in June to 0.4 percent in July.