Retail sales drain away as rain hits high streets

BRITISH retailers missed out on a sunshine boost last month as shoppers shunned the high street during heavy storms and rain.

Shopper footfall dipped by 1.1pc in July, according to figures by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard. The dip was steeper than the 0.4pc threemonth average this year. The high street was hit the hardest, with a 2.1pc drop in footfall. Shopping centres suffered a 1.3pc slip in footfall, the fourth consecutive month of declines.

The East Midlands was worst hit with high street footfall slumping by 4.7pc.

“Most shopping destinations saw a decline in footfall in July compared with the previous year. Even high streets, which have seen fairly stable growth over recent months, reported a decline,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.

Ms Dickinson warned that the dwindling footfall “translated into weak sales performance for stores in non-food particularly, which fell further into negative territory as consumers reined back spending on non-essential items.”

Last month’s income tracker from Asda revealed that despite inflation edging down to 2.6pc on lower fuel prices, consumer spending power has fallen for families in 75pc of UK regions with an average £198 of discretionary income.

“July’s results might well mark a seachange in consumers’ willingness to spend, as it was the first time since January that footfall dropped during both retail trading hours and into the evening,” said Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director.