A survey carried out over the last 12 months by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard has revealed a 2.2% drop in shoppers going to town centres and a 2.5% decrease in shoppers visiting shopping centres.
The reason for the decrease in high street shopping may be due to the rise of people using retailer’s own online stores to purchase goods and benefit from its online delivery service.
External affairs advisor at the BRC, John Munro commented: “The way that we shop has changed. It’s not only internet shopping, but it certainly has a lot to do with it; as people are now shopping in different ways. Whereas before people browsed at the shops, they are now researching online before they go shopping, and then going out to directly purchase.”
Director general of the BRC Helen Dickinson added: “The continued popularity of retail parks will cheer retailers who have invested in these locations – a footfall increase of 3.1% is the highest we’ve seen since May 2014.”
“The vacancy rate has remained stubbornly high – the dip below 10% for the first time may be indicative of successful attempts to reshape Britain’s high streets in some locations.”
Ms Dickinson added: “No matter how successful high streets are in re-inventing themselves, if they can’t deliver increased footfall we could easily see vacancy rates climbing again.”
The report did reveal a positive outcome for Greater London as the region saw a growth in footfall.
