Retail footfall in Wales fell to the weakest monthly performance of 2023 last month in a poor start for retailers during the crucial festive season. The latest data from the Welsh Retail Consortium (WRC) for the month of October shows that Welsh footfall decreased by 5.6% year-on-year.
This was down from -1.4% in September, but better than the 海角视频 average decrease of 5.7% (YoY). Wales ranked sixth out of all the nations and regions in the 海角视频 behind London, East of England, South East of England, England and Scotland.
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY NATION AND REGION
In terms of cities, Cardiff’s footfall levels decreased by 6.5% (YoY), 4.5 percentage points worse than September, which saw it ranked eighth only ahead of Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds.
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TOTAL FOOTFALL BY CITY
Footfall to shopping centres also fell by a major 8.7% in October (YoY) in Wales, 1.1 percentage points worse than September.
Head of WRC Sara Jones said: “Welsh footfall slumped to its weakest monthly performance of 2023 in October, providing retailers with a miserable start to the so-called golden quarter of festive trading. Unsurprisingly, the appalling weather conditions and repeated deluges and disruption exerted a heavy toll on shopper footfall.
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“A year on year drop in shopper numbers of 5.6 per cent put Wales lagging behind many other parts of the 海角视频 and will undoubtedly fail to ignite confidence in a subdued trading period for retailers.
“With luck, in many instances it may only lead to a deferment of purchases. Typically, November and December account for more than a fifth of the year’s sales, and so retailers will be hoping that shoppers will return to the high streets over the next two months, and that the uptick will make up for the poor October performance.”
She added: “With the clock ticking down to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and subsequent Welsh Budget we’d encourage policy makers to pursue further measures to lift consumers' spirits and avoid adding any pressures on to household finances.
“Following the Welsh Finance Minister’s statement on the financial position last month, and with details of cuts across almost every department, it remains a nervous time for the industry who are currently contending with a swathe of Government imposed regulation and wider cost pressures.
“We urge the Finance Minister to consider freezing business rates for the forthcoming financial year, reducing the rates burden will help retailers to protect jobs and keep costs down for hard pressed Welsh consumers.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said: “October saw overall footfall decline again year-on-year, off the back of subdued September figures, with shopper traffic regionally impacted by Storm Babet which delivered the most severe and widespread disruptive weather of the year to date.
“The ongoing cost-of-living pressure continues, despite inflationary easing, to impact shopper behaviour through October. Our destination data seems to show that consumers are visiting fewer stores during each trip. This suggests a move away from shopping around for the lowest prices and best deals toward more focused purchasing as consumers become more accepting of the current reality of paying more to buy less.
“With this in mind retailers must capture customer loyalty and spend as early as possible. As we head into the critical Christmas purchasing period the focus must be on optimising their online presence or creating engaging experiences that can entice passing trade in-store to be converted into sales.”