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Fewer customers hit the shops in the UK in October, although the fall mainly reflected the timing of the school half-term, figures on Friday showed.
According to BRC-Sensormatic data, total UK footfall decreased by 1.1% in October on-year, swung from a 3.3% annual rise in September.
High Street footfall decreased by 3.6% in October, compared with a rise of 0.9% in September. Retail Park footfall increased by 4.8% in October, slowing from a 7.3% rise in September. Shopping Centre footfall fell by 1.6% in October, swung from a 2.3% increase in September.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘October’s footfall figures showed a marginal decline compared to last year, primarily due to half-term moving out of the comparison. Despite the decline, retail parks continued to attract shoppers, as they saw positive footfall growth for the third consecutive month. Across England, the northern towns performed best, with Leeds and Liverpool seeing positive footfall last month.’
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic, commented: ‘We expect to see a bumpy recovery as a myriad of market conditions - from the cost of living to shaky consumer confidence around the [UK government] budget continue to make footfall performance volatile.’
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