Retail footfall rose by +1.4% for week 52 of 2018 compared with the same week in 2017, reports retail analyst Springboard. However, the result was enhanced by the additional trading day before Christmas (with Christmas Day on a Tuesday).
High streets outperformed other retail destinations, according to Springboard’s data, with footfall increasing 2.8% year-on-year in the week commencing December 23. Shopping centres saw a modest 1.1% cent year-on-year increase while there was a 1.2% year drop in footfall to retail parks.
Boxing Day footfall dropped for the third consecutive year, with the prevalence of pre-Christmas discounting making the traditional rush to sales less relevant. According to Springboard, average footfall across the UK’s high streets, retail parks and shopping centres on December 26 dropped 3.1%.
Meanwhile, John Lewis & Partners reported thatits total sales for the week ending December 29 were up 4.5% on 2017, with ‘very strong sales on Christmas Eve and a confident start to Clearance sales both online and in shops’. Gift Cook and Dine were star performers, up 25%, as shoppers bought last minute Christmas gifts. Gift food was also up 103% for the department store chain.
However, media coverage at the end of 2018 and start of 2019 has highlighted the challenges facing retailers, with expectations of profit warnings from some major chains plus on-going consumer caution due to prolonged uncertainty over Brexit.
Quoted in The Sunday Times (December 30), Richard Pennycook, chairman of Fenwick Group (and BRC chairman) said of the challenging retail climate: “There is no obvious trigger for things to get any better.” He elaborated: “The consumer is cautious anyway, and Brexit uncertainty makes that even more exaggerated. At the same time, retailers and suppliers have the challenge of thinking about how much money they spend preparing for a hard Brexit that may or may not happen.”
Top: Christmas shoppers at Oxford’s Westgate Centre.
