Fewer shoppers visit high street

The British high street saw a small dip in its visitors in May, in comparison to 2012. According to the British Retail Consortium and Springboard Footfall Monitor, a 1 percent drop in footflow affected the high street shopping areas, whereas shopping

centers saw a 1.7 percent decline.

On the upside, out-of-town locations saw a 1.2 percent increase which was their best performance since last November.

“On the surface these figures are fairly flat, but they're masking widespread regional variations and only two areas in England – Greater London and the East – are showing positive footfall growth compared with May 2012,” said BRC director general Helen Dickinson.

Sales remain constant despite footfall drop

"While footfall saw a slight drop compared with May 2012, the month's respectable sales growth suggests that conversion rates were good: people made fewer trips but responded well to good deals, especially on value ranges and seasonal promotions. Where there was a little growth, retail parks led the way, most commonly sited out of town."

Meanwhile Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, highlighted two interesting trends for UK high streets.

“Firstly, footfall in regional cities is increasing while it is dropping in smaller towns, indicating that shoppers are increasingly gravitating towards larger destinations,” she said. “Secondly, footfall outside of retail trading hours is increasing while declining over the daytime period. At least in part this is likely to account for the adverse performance of shopping centres, the majority of which have a very modest leisure offer.

"Town centres benefit from greater diversity than the majority of shopping centres, and the evening economy is clearly protecting and insulating the high street. This reflects the feedback we are receiving from town centre managers who state that by far the strongest demand for units is from food and beverage occupiers who operate outside of retail trading hours."

Images: Selfridges sale