Sancho Panza Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Retail Week 12/12/14 'High street footfall dropped 4% last month despite many retailers launching a raft of Black Friday deals to kick off Christmas. Overall footfall was down 2.4% after shopper numbers dropped 2.1% in shopping centres, but rose 0.8% on retail parks. The research from the BRC and Springboard found that shoppers are increasingly choosing to visit retail parks to benefit from free parking and good accessibility as they pick up click-and-collect orders. “Despite these figures, we know that retail sales for the same period remain strong” Helen Dickinson, BRC As retailers head towards the critical last two weeks before Christmas, more recent footfall figures reveal a mixed picture. Overall footfall for the first week of December, which included Cyber Monday, dropped by just 0.4%. In the second week of December, footfall on retail parks increased 1.6% but deteriorated further on high streets and shopping centres, where footfall down 4.5% and 4.1% respectively. BRC director-general Helen Dickinson said: “Despite these figures, we know that retail sales for the same period remain strong – and this is not due solely to the increasing popularity of online shopping. “Whereas once multiple shopping trips for a few items and leisurely browsing were the norm, now increasingly savvy shoppers are streamlining their visits to stores when making non-food purchases. The most successful shopping destinations are ensuring that they have a range of other experiences and activities on offer to drive up footfall.” All regions and countries with the exception of West Midlands (1.5%), East (2.2%) and Scotland (0.9%) reported declining footfall. Shift in consumer activitySpringboard retail insights director Diane Wehrle said: ‘’Yet again it is high streets and shopping centres that are driving the decline in footfall, whilst footfall in retail parks remains positive, albeit a smaller rise than in previous months. “The results clearly indicate that the structural shift in consumer activity brought about by the internet is ongoing, and that it is largely out-of-town locations that are continuing to capitalise on this change. “However, it needs to be recognised that retail parks started from a much lower base than that for either high streets or shopping centres, and there increasing attractive to shoppers is compounded by the benefit of free car parking. ' BRC 9/12/14 'Online sales of Non-Food products in the UK grew 12.0% in November versus a year earlier. In November 2013, online sales rose by 16.0% over the previous year. In November online sales represented 21.0% of total Non-Food sales of our Monitor, against 19.6% in November 2013. This is the highest penetration rate recorded since our monitor started in December 2012.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnails Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 not sure footfall matters now that you can do internet shopping. Just seems to indicate that customer have been driven elsewhere because of the expensive parking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Panza Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) not sure footfall matters now that you can do internet shopping. Just seems to indicate that customer have been driven elsewhere because of the expensive parking It matters to Landlords.A lot of the city centre type shops are owned by small family businesses alongside the Land Sec's of this world.For these Mom and Pop type LL's these footfall numbers are a disaster.I know a number and their faith in High St retail only gets shaken when they've been empty two years or so. Many have lots of equity,so there's still time to offload if you can find a sucker with deep pockets Edited December 12, 2014 by Sancho Panza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Too cold to shop now? Most councils have killed off city centres with high parking fees etc... I can't remember the last time I went into the City centre to do any shopping, must be at least 2 years or more ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzel Of Highbridge Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 This year I have bought all presents online and I will be buying the xmas food from Lidil. I won;t be visiting Tesco since they are notorious for putting up their prices by stealthily cutting all their offers on usual household stuff like cat food and washing up liquid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) This chimes with my footfall experience in Tun Wells. Suggestion is click and collect. Also some delivery companies are struggling. There is some news on Yodel today. Edited December 12, 2014 by Ash4781 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Footfall's useless. We had a useless LA officer type justifying his 80K salary by banging up about increased footfall in the town centre. I don;t think he was even performing any kind of measure, just guesstimatting. The footfall numbers have no bearing on how many people are shopping. The local town has a very high number of people best described as the living dead who spend their afternoon aimlessly wandering up + down the town's main drag. I know where people are coming from , in relation to footfall + shopping centres. But as others have said we've got the interweb now. I've done 90% of my xmas buying online this year. I really don;t like shopping. I really really hate xmas shopping. Maybe the shopping centres need to let me email my list and then wrap the stuff for me. Then I might go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Over the last few years quite often it's like there's more security on the malls than shoppers - and that's even when it seems quite busy. It's noticeable because 20 years or so ago there were very few if any. Edited December 12, 2014 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Panza Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 http://www.ipsos-retailperformance.com/OurSolutions/ShopperCount 'With the highest level of lifetime accuracy guaranteed at 95+ per cent, our footfall counters measure and report on customer numbers entering your stores, building up a factual picture of the flow of customer traffic hourly, daily, weekly and year-on-year.' http://www.bpf.org.uk/en/files/reita_files/property_data/BPF_Property_Data_booklet_2013_spreads_web.pdf UK retail space dropped from £220bn in 2012 to £207bn end 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 ....shopping by keep putting all sorts into your basket, then realise you really no longer want almost most of whatever it is.....take your time,sleep on it...won't miss it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzel Of Highbridge Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 The concern I have if we go solely to online is the advent of 'personal pricing'. Where the prices are set by algorithms according to the individual. The legislators really need to get ahead of the game on this one. This is the reason I like (not as much as I did) google shopping as it displays the same price for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Click and collect or order in store for next day is a really big growth area. John Lewis/Waitrose, Boots etc are taking much more business through this channel. -No need to wait for the postman, or queue at the post office. -It arrives the next day. -No postage to pay. -Prices are competitive to Ebay/Amazon -Quality items - no fakes -You have a real person* to resolve the problem if something is wrong, rather than a call centre. -Some stores are open late nights, so you can pick up after work -Free parking (usually) *A rarity these days. Edited December 12, 2014 by 200p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Click and collect or order in store for next day is a really big growth area. John Lewis/Waitrose, Boots etc are taking much more business through this channel. -No need to wait for the postman, or queue at the post office. -It arrives the next day. -No postage to pay. -Prices are competitive to Ebay/Amazon -Quality items - no fakes -You have a real person* to resolve the problem if something is wrong, rather than a call centre. -Some stores are open late nights, so you can pick up after work -Free parking (usually) *A rarity these days. Ironically the biggest users of click and collect are the staff that either work in the stores or other nearby stores/offices/businesses. Effectively, many of those, most likely to still patronise those shops can now bypass them for an online sale. Even if they start off using the own retailer's click and collect chances are, in time, they will gravitate towards click and collect from the cheaper online marketplaces like ebay/ amazon. Experience would make me think the new click and collect footfall will be unlikely to spend on anything else either. Like free parking, or lower business rates it's just another temporary reprieve because if you needed a lasting solution to people not being home to accept parcel deliveries you wouldn't invent the High St. Secure delivery to your car boot, regardless where it's parked, is the very near future. Edited December 12, 2014 by SNACR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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