4th Jan 2016 12:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - High street retailers experienced an uplift in footfall on 'Take Back Tuesday' and on Saturday January 2, according to a report by UK retail specialist Springboard, although footfall decreased during the week on the whole.
'Take Back Tuesday' - the first Tuesday after Christmas where shoppers return and exchange unwanted gifts - saw a 5.1% rise in footfall year-on-year, followed by a second peak of 9.7% on January 2 on the high streets, Springboard said, despite the wet weather.
However, during the week as a whole, from Monday December 28 to Friday January 1, footfall on UK high streets fell 3%, and 2.6% on New Year's Day. Last year, footfall rose 6.2% during the same week and 14% on New Year's Day.
"Whilst the wet weather impacted upon shoppers opting for covered and indoor places to shop, this decline in footfall is in line with the overall trend witnessed throughout 2015, and the rising strength particularly of out of town retail parks to draw shoppers away from the high street," Springboard said.
By comparison, shopping centres and out of town retail parks continued to draw shoppers during the week. Out-of-town retail parks saw an increase of 3.6% in the week and 7.8% on New Year's Day, while shopping centres experienced a 1.8% rise in the week and 9.2% on New Year's Day.
Overall, footfall across the UK was down 0.3% year-on-year during the period, although New Year's Day saw an uplift of 2.7%.
"Building on strong footfall experienced by high streets this time last year was always going to be a challenge for high streets, and these figures show there a job to be done in 2016 to in order for a positive uplift to be realised. Throughout 2015, high streets continued to be challenged by the convenience, choice and customer service shoppers can find in out of town retail parks and shopping centres," said Diane Wehrle, insights and marketing director at Springboard.
"There is a real opportunity for high streets to improve their offer, without overhauling their infrastructure, in a bid to win back shoppers this year and hold off the continued rise of footfall to out of town retail parks in particular," she added.
Separately, the Retail Tracker report from Hammerson PLC, the FTSE 100-listed property developer and owner, showed a like-for-like rise in sales of 1.0% across its own shopping centres in the week to December 26.
Hammerson, which owns the Bullring in Birmingham and Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London, said total sales for the eight weeks to December 26 rose 2.0% year-on-year for its centres, though fell 0.8% on a like-for-like basis. The total sales during this period were driven by discounting around the festive period and Black Friday.
"Customers are undoubtedly the winners from Christmas 2015. Unseasonably mild weather and price deflation have produced a challenging combination for fashion retailers this month, but with promotional activity now beginning in earnest on Black Friday, customers are voting with their feet," said David Atkins, Hammerson's chief executive.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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