The Welsh retail sector, from the high street to retail parks, is continuing to be squeezed by concerns over Brexit and the rise of e-commerce, shows latest research.
Figures for July from the Welsh Retail Consortium and consultancy Springboard shows:
- An overall year-on-year footfall decline of 3%, though shallower than the 4.8% dip seen in June.
- A decline of 3% on the high street.
- Retail park footfall decline of 0.5%, the shallowest seen since March.
- Shopping centres saw seeing a decline of 5.4%, the worst of all 海角视频 nations.
- A town centre vacancy rate of 13.4%, although marginally better than April's 13.9%,
Sara Jones, head of policy and external affairs, at the Welsh Retail Consortium, said: “The small improvement in the number of empty retail premises recorded in the last quarter, although welcome, should be treated with caution when assessing the health of the industry in Wales.
"And whilst the continued decline in shopper numbers was not as significant as the previous month, retailers will continue to feel the heat as we near the end of the summer
" At a time when the combination of slow real wage growth and Brexit uncertainty has left consumer spending languishing, the latest vacancy and footfall data will do little to instil much needed confidence into our struggling industry.
“The challenging retail environment is taking its toll on many high street brands who must contend with rising import costs, a multitude of public policy costs and with business rates at a ten-year high.
"A coherent plan for retail is needed. The Government should freeze business rates before embarking on a wholesale reform of this broken tax system, whilst working with the industry to understand the wider challenges that are on the horizon for Welsh retailers."
Diane Wehrle, Singboard's marketing and insights director, said that July was a much more challenging month for high streets and shopping centres in Wales than for its out of town destinations.
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She added: "The 2% drop in high street footfall followed a decline of 3.9% in July last year and in shopping centres the drop of 5.4% followed a drop of 2.4% last year.
"The exceptional weather in July last year did not deliver a strong comparable in Wales as it did across the 海角视频, and so the continuing declines clearly reflect the ongoing structural change in retailing.
"Indeed, the ongoing challenges faced by bricks and mortar destinations is reflected in Wales’s vacancy rate, which at 13.4% remains higher than the 海角视频 rate of 10.3%.
“Consumer demand is ever more polarised between convenience and experience, and the stronger performance of Wales’s out of town destinations where footfall dropped by just 0.5% in July reflects the fact that retail parks are more successfully bridging the convenience-experience gap.
“The attraction of retail parks was demonstrated clearly in the last week of the month when temperatures reached record levels. Indeed, the more positive footfall result for Wales’s out of town destinations in July, particularly the fact that footfall rose by 0.2% during day time trading hours, demonstrates that if the offer is right consumers will spend.”