Footfall continues to decline on high streets
FOOTFALL ON Britain’s high streets and shopping centres continued to slide, according to the latest data from a sector monitor, with a deeper decline in January than in the same month in 2017.
Overall footfall in January dropped by 1.6 per cent year on year, a deeper decrease than the rate seen for January 2017 of 1.3 per cent, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard showed.
All regions showed a drop in footfall for January with the sharpest decline coming in Scotland at 4.6 per cent.
High-street footfall dropped 1.9 per cent in January, a deeper decline than seen the same month a year ago when it dropped by 0.8 per cent. However, this was below the three-month average of -2.1 per cent.
Shopping-centre footfall fell by 3.1 per cent in January, a deeper decline than the three-month average of 2.8 per cent.
Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director, said: “A drop in footfall of -1.6 per cent is an improvement on December’s -3.5 per cent, but it is the worst result for January since 2013.
“So it is clear that the challenges facing bricks-and-mortar retailing are continuing to build – the -1.9 per cent decline in highstreet footfall is more than double the -0.8 per cent in January 2017 and shopping-centre footfall continues to languish at -3.1 per cent following a drop of -3 per cent in January last year.”
There was good news for retail parks, which saw footfall increase by 0.9 per cent in January above the three-month average of 0.2 per cent.
But only the South-East and the West Midlands saw strong growth here in January, registering four per cent and 3.3 per cent growth respectively.
Ms Wehrle said: “In contrast, activity in retail parks continues to grow, with a shift in footfall from -0.4 per cent in January 2017 to 0.9 per cent this January, despite furniture and household appliance sales in January being the worst of all 13 categories.
“Retail parks clearly now fulfil a wider role for shoppers; yes, they are convenient and functional shopping locations, but are buoyed by the continuing growth in online spending.
“Not only are they efficient click-and-collect points, but their attraction is enhanced by a wider offer, embracing hospitality.”
Town-centre vacancy rate was 8.9 per cent in January 2018, down from 9.3 per cent in October 2017.
The improvement was described as “marginal” given the traditional boost of temporary lets during the festive period.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “January painted a picture of divided fortunes with a slight improvement in town vacancy rates but decline in shopper footfall.
“The latter fell in line with the underlying trend of reduced customer activity in shopping destinations, compounded by the squeeze on discretionary spending.
“Meanwhile, retail sales continue to be buoyed by inflation, masking the lack of real growth.
“The more positive picture for vacancy rates over the last quarter is marginal.
“The Christmas trading period traditionally sees a boost in temporary lets, as landlords get creative with the flexible use of space to create pop-ups. This was particularly evident in London this year due to its denser physical retail offer. The long-term trend is that vacancies remain stubbornly at around nine per cent, albeit much higher in many areas.
“If we look beyond the seasonal distortion, the pressures to rationalise and downsize store portfolios are continuing to build as structural and technological change gains momentum.
“Given that planning applications for new shops have fallen for the ninth year in a row, the mounting cost of property taxation will inevitably mean more empty shops on the high street.”