UK footfall fell 1.2% year-on-year in January, BRC says

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Feb 16, 2015

The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show that footfall in January this year was 1.2% lower than in January 2014. This is down from December's 0.7% fall.

The largest decline was seen in shopping centres, where footfall was down 2.8%. Things were better on the high street, where footfall was down 1.6% year-on-year, up from December's 1.8% decline.

Footfall in out-of-town locations rose by 1.5% in the month. The UK town centre vacancy rate was up slightly year-on-year, to 10.4% from 10.3% in October last year.

Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium Director General, said: "It has been heartening to see that footfall is up 1.5 per cent on January last year for out-of-town retail destinations. This reflects strong consumer confidence – more of us are happier to splash out on big ticket items, particularly furniture, which we usually travel out of town to view and buy.

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"January is traditionally strong for online sales and this year was no exception. This has undoubtedly impacted on footfall for high streets and shopping centres and is further evidence of the impact of our changing shopping habits. Retailers will be looking closely at these figures to help them harness the growth of e-retailing to drive consumers to their bricks and mortar stores. Click-and-collect services are an excellent example of how this is happening right now and innovations in this area are set to continue for some time to come."