London, 2017-Apr-18 — /EPR Retail News/ —
BRC- SPRINGBOARD FOOTFALL AND VACANCIES MONITOR – MARCH 2017
Covering the five weeks 26 February – 1 April 2017
- Footfall in March grew 1.3% on the previous year, the fastest growth since March 2014. This is well above the three-month average of -0.2%. Note there is an impact on this number due to a calendar distortion – March 2016 included Easter Sunday, when shops were shut, whereas this year did not, adding one more shopping day, and therefore one more day’s footfall, to the period.
- There was footfall growth in all three retail destinations in March. High street: 1.7%, Retail Parks: 1.4%, Shopping Centres: 0.2%. This month saw the fastest high street growth since March 2014.
- 7 out of the 10 nations/regions we report on saw a rise in footfall in March
- The steepest footfall decline occurred in Northern Ireland, where footfall fell by 3.7%. This was followed by the South West, where footfall fell by 2.3%
HELEN DICKINSON OBE, CHIEF-EXECUTIVE | BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM
“Shopper visits increased to all retail destinations in March, resulting in the fastest annual growth in footfall for three years. This is partly owed to the exclusion of Easter Sunday from the period, which therefore benefits from an additional shopping day. But even looking beyond the distortion, the positive growth across most of the country is a reassuring sign for retailers.
“The high street continues to outperform shopping centres and retail parks, for the second consecutive month. Disappointingly though, this didn’t translate into retail sales, which were down in March on the previous year. Now that the Easter holidays have arrived, the challenge for retailers will be to attract this greater number of high street visitors into their stores.”
DIANE WEHRLE, MARKETING AND INSIGHTS DIRECTOR | SPRINGBOARD
“March definitely provided a break in the clouds, with the +1.3% rise in footfall breaking a six-month consecutive decline and the +0.2% increase in footfall in shopping centres being the first since January 2016. Whilst some of the +1.3% may have been a consequence of the loss of a trading day last year due to an early Easter, the impact of this shift should not be overstated as it will have been mitigated by increased trade on the other days over the Easter trading period.
“Indeed, if anything it is more evidence of the continuing structural shift in the use of retail destinations for leisure and hospitality trips. Virtually all of the increase in footfall in March was derived from the post 5pm period while footfall during the trading hours of 9 am to 5 pm dropped –by just -0.5% in high streets, but much more significantly, by -7.1%, in shopping centres. Indeed, the worsening of consumer confidence and inflation from last year is likely to be constraining shoppers’ willingness to spend on retail goods. This all lends further evidence to the fact that retail is no longer the sole driver of footfall, with a strong leisure/hospitality offer being a critical element to secure retail success.”
Contact:
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Source: BRC