Retail footfall stumbles as price rises bite
Retail footfall faltered in October, industry data showed on Friday, as rising prices and the cost-of-living crisis deterred shoppers.
According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor, total UK footfall increased 2% in October year-on-year. However, once the impact of the various lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions were stripped out, it slumped 11.8% year-on-three-years in October, 2 percentage points worse than September.
Within that, high street footfall fell 11.6% compared to October 2019, just 0.3 percentage points better than the previous month.
Footfall at retail parks was down 3.7% on 2019, 1.1 percentage points worse than September, while shopping centres recorded a 21.8% slump on October 2019, although that was a 0.9 percentage point rise on the previous month.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Footfall took a stumble in its slow return to pre-pandemic levels, as rising prices and tightening purse strings meant fewer consumers made trips to the shops.
"October marked the first full month of higher energy bills for many families, reducing discretionary spending.
"The next months will be crucial, as the Christmas spending period begins: households are unlikely to see the cost of living crisis ease any time soon, and retailers are finding it harder to shoulder the mounting supply chain pressures."
Andy Sumpter, EMEA retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, said: "While Halloween sales may have given some respite to the high street, shoppers spooked by the rising cost of living meant the reality of growing consumer caution played out in October’s footfall figures."