UK retail footfall decreased in August, though at a markedly slower pace than in July, shaking off disruption from riots, numbers on Friday showed.
According to the latest British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic tracker, UK retail footfall weakened 0.4% on-year in August, abating from a 3.3% slide in July.
Footfall in retail parks alone rose 2.6% on a year prior, swinging from a 0.8% decline seen in July. The decline in high street footfall ebbed to 0.3% in August from 2.7% in July, while in shopping centres, footfall dropped 1.8% yearly in August, after a 3.9% slump in July.
“As violent disorder erupted across the country earlier in the month, footfall was severely impacted as many people stayed away from shopping destinations,” says BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
“Retail parks saw footfall levels rise in the week following the riots as some continued to avoid high streets and shopping centres. Footfall recovered across all destinations towards the end of the month when warmer weather and summer sales prompted shoppers to browse their favourite stores.”
Sensormatic analyst Andy Sumpter said a bank holiday, tamer inflation and warmer weather encouraged shoppers to venture to UK retail locations.
“With all destination types improving on July’s visitor numbers, retail parks, which potentially picked up shopper traffic from town centres during riot disruption, had a standout month,” Sumpter added.
“Retailers will be hoping that the resilience seen in August, with footfall tantalisingly close to returning a positive year-on-year performance, will lead to longer-term growth for store traffic.”
Numbers on Tuesday had shown UK shop prices in August entered deflation for the first time since 2021. The BRC said that during the first week of August, UK shop prices decreased 0.3% year-on-year, below the three-month average no change and compared with July’s annual inflation of 0.2%.
“Shop price annual growth remained at its lowest rate since October 2021,” the BRC noted on Tuesday.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor