Brits have favoured shopping online, causing footfall by almost 3% in June, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and data specialist Springboard’s latest figures. The report indicated that customers also avoided shopping centres, replacing them with retail parks out of town and causing footfall in the former to drop 2.4%.
Helen Dickinson, BRC director general said: “The fundamental shift in the way people are shopping seems to be driving the sustained reduction in shopper numbers to both high streets and shopping centres.”
"This is a clear demonstration that the re-invention of the high street is far from complete. The process of creating multi-use destinations in the heart of our towns and cities needs to continue in earnest if people are going to be drawn back to the high street. This has happened in some areas, but the energy and effort behind sharing best practice needs to be redoubled”, she added.
The drop in shopper footfall occurred across all regions, however mostly in Northern Ireland, Wales and the South East. Footfall across the UK retail sector fell by 1.5% in total.
“On the surface an overall drop in footfall of 1.5% does not appear to be hugely detrimental, however, it belies the long term decline in the attractiveness of urban retail destinations to shoppers”, said Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard.