UK retail footfall up but revival remains fragile

May saw UK retail footfall make small advances for a third month in a row, as the particularly warm weather caused more people to shop in person.

According to BRC/Sensormatic IQ research, total UK footfall decreased by 12.5% in May (Yo3Y), a 0.6 percentage point improvement from April. This is better than the three-month average decline of 13.7%.

And it is ahead of Italy (-19.4%), Germany (-20.2%) and France (-21.6%) in May (Yo3Y).

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at British Retail Consortium, says: “The anticipation for the Jubilee celebrations offered an added boost to footfall, with the public hitting the shops to find the best decorations and festive food and drink for the long weekend.”

“London enjoyed the biggest improvement out of all the major UK cities, seeing an increase in tourism as international covid restrictions are rolled back and we enter the summer season.”

“Improvement to footfall remains fragile as the cost of living bites. With UK discretionary incomes falling, government’s financial support to tackle surging energy costs may only provide temporary respite for households.”

“As inflation continues to climb and consumer confidence falls, it is by no means certain footfall will continue to improve in the months to come.”

Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA at Sensormatic Solutions, comments: “Total retail footfall across the UK continued a slow but steady recovery against pre-pandemic levels, edging up to its strongest point since the start of the year when compared to 2019 in May, with the UK continuing to lead the way in the High Street recovery compared to its G7 country counterparts.”

“However, with households already starting to feel the pinch of the rising cost of living and growing inflationary pressures, retailers will be hoping that cracks don’t start to appear in the footfall recovery.”

“As they look ahead to June, retailers will be hoping that High Streets will be rallied by the Jubilee weekend celebrations and that the event will prompt ambient shopper traffic and retail spend.”

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