UK retailers are "spooked" as footfall drops again

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 16, 2017

More news of declining UK store footfall came on Monday with specialist tracker Springboard saying that it fell 1.2% last month, the same drop as it recorded in August. 

And its top analyst said retailers are “spooked” and “on edge” as the countdown to Christmas shopping begins.
While the firm’s figures simply confirmed a picture we’ve already seen from other data specialist, it also shone a spotlight on which retail locations are prospering.

So which ones are? It seems retail parks are beating off the autumn blues and continuing a fairly strong run that has seen them proving more resilient than high streets and malls.

Retail park footfall rose 1.1% last month, which may have been down on August’s 1.6% but was a good result given the bleak backdrop.

The UK has seen its retail parks being transformed in recent years with a shift away from simply supermarkets, DIY and sports superstores to a much more interesting mix. More big name fashion stores and more wining, dining and entertainment outlets have all made retail parks very appealing, even when the weather would have been expected to work against them.

But shopping malls, with their higher mix of fashion-focused tenants, have been perennial under-performers and saw a further decrease of 1% in September after August’s 0.8% drop. It's clear that some suffered more than others. We frequently hear of buoyant traffic at some of the biggest malls with he best tenant mix, which means smaller locations in some regions are probably being hit hard. 

High streets did even worse. Despite having benefitted previously from the trend towards post-5pm shopping and a strong mix of cafés and coffee shops, high streets have begun to decline. Footfall had dropped 2.6% in August and it was down 2.2% last month. In fact, Springboard said that post-5pm footfall is dropping as well as visitor traffic during the daytime.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard Marketing and Insights Director said: “The drop in footfall in September [was] the third consecutive monthly drop of more than 1%. [It] drove the three month rolling average down to… by far the worst three month average since August last year. 

“September’s sales rose due to inflation, but the accelerating decline in footfall is a strong indicator of consumers railing back spending. Much is often made about the impact of weather, but with similar weather conditions to September 2016, this cannot be put forward as a driver. Aggressive early season sales indicate retailers are spooked, and they will be on edge with the six week countdown now on to the start of the festive shopping season.”