UK retail footfall drops 2.3% amid 'consumer nervousness'
Retail footfall dropped 2.3% in the week ended 23 October due to "consumer nervousness" as the ongoing cost of living crisis squeezes household incomes amid recent political turbulence at home.
According to retail experts Springboard, footfall dropped in all key destination types - down 3.3% in high streets, 1.5% in retail parks, and 0.7% in shopping centres - and declined across all UK geographies - apart from Scotland where it rose by 1.1%
In six areas of the UK, the drop in footfall from the week before exceeded the average of 2.3%, dropping 3.7% in the West Midlands and 3.2% in the East Midlands. In high streets in the Midlands, the decline in footfall was even more severe - down 5.9% in the West Midlands and 5.2% in the East.
The uplift from 2021 across all UK retail destinations contracted to 5.9% from 6.7% in the previous week but the gap from 2019 widened to 11.1% from 9.2% in the week before last.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard's insights director, said: "There are several factors at play in terms of what is driving consumer activity; however, the most evident is the squeeze on household incomes as a consequence of inflation and increased mortgage rates. This, mixed in with the current political uncertainty, inevitably makes consumers cautious and then rail back on shopping trips.
"This is likely to have been compounded by the prospect of school half term this week, which may well have meant that shoppers deferred trips last week. Footfall typically rises in the week of school half term as families visit retail destinations for group shopping trips and days out, so footfall this week will be a good barometer of current consumer sentiment and behaviour."
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com