Retailers adjust to slip in high street footfall, BRC-Springboard says

Numbers of UK shoppers pounding the pavements declined again last month, with shopping centres the worst hit.

Footfall fell 0.9% in September, according to a monthly BRC-Springboard survey, which represented a return to the slide seen before the 0.1% rise in August as high street visitors diminished after two stronger months.

Other data showed this decline occurred at the same time as retail spending grew 1.3% in September and shop prices moved south.

This told a "fascinating story" about the sector, said British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson, tacitly pointing to the surge in online sales.

"This is a function of the changing face of retail and the hard work and innovation of British retail businesses who are responding brilliantly to technological advances and changing consumer habits."

Digging deeper than the headline numbers, high street footfall slipped 0.5% after two months of growth, while footfall in retail parks was flat after the small rise a month before.

Shopping centres saw footfall slip 2.5% in September, accelerating the fall from the 1.9% in August and above the 2.1% three-month average.

Warm and sunny weather was likely to have drawn consumers to high streets in September, said Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle, though the decline in shopping centres was not just a one off result.

Footfall in these locations has dropped by 1.8% for the year to date compared with -1.4% in high streets and a rise of 1.2% in retail parks.

"The issue for shopping centres could be that many have lacked the investment required to maintain their appeal for shoppers whose standards and expectations have risen," Wehrle said.

Analysts at Shore Capital said the return what was more 'normal' weather and a forecast cold snap might be a "little more conducive to the purchase of seasonal clothing and OXO cubes… More broadly though, ahead of the peak festive trading period, we sense October could be a toughing it out month."

"All in all, we expect October footfall data to follow the pattern evident in September of general weakness with retail parks still materially outperforming shopping centres and online sustaining its share gains."