Shoppers venture out after storm passes

Christmas shoppers ventured out in greater numbers yesterday after Storm Deirdre passed – but the weekend’s overall footfall remains down on this time last year.

High streets across the UK saw a small boost, with the number of shoppers up 0.8 per cent on the same day in 2017.

It followed a bleak Saturday slump, with gales, heavy snow and freezing rain in many parts of the country blamed for disappointing figures.

But yesterday’s marginal rise was not enough to save the weekend’s overall footfall, retail intelligence experts Springboard said.

Combined footfall for high streets, retail parks and shopping centres was down 4.3 per cent on the same weekend last year, their figures suggested.

Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director, said that only some consumers may have been able to defer their shopping trips yesterday, making it hard for retailers to make up the overall spend.

She said: “This result is poorer than the same weekend last year when footfall declined by an average of 3.8 per cent over the two-day Saturday/sunday period.

“While the improved footfall today is made up of shoppers deferring trips from Saturday, the fact that the result is only flat with last year indicates that many trips planned for this weekend simply did not happen.

“Unfortunately the loss of spend is inevitable as many consumers will have made plans for Sunday that could not be altered.”