General retail footfall figures still fail to recover fully, says BRC

There is a bigger fall of 28% if you compare July this year with July two years ago, pre-pandemic.

The high street continues to be hardest hit of the retail sectors on the two-year comparison, with a 34.6% decline on July two years ago.

Retail parks were hardest hit month on month, with a 6.9% decline between June and July, according to the BRC’s Sensormatic IQ data.

Although convenience stores did much better than most shops during lockdown, re-opening does not appear to have restored the fortunes of wider retail.

But the BRC added that the last week of July did see a turnaround in footfall, which could mean things will get better for general retail from now on.

For the third consecutive month, Northern Ireland saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions at -19.9%, followed by Wales at -25.8% and Scotland at -27.1%.  England saw the deepest decline at -28.7%.

Helen Dickinson chief executive of the BRC, said: “After improvements in footfall in the early part of 2021, the situation has plateaued with little change in footfall levels for a third month in a row.

“The turbulent weather, with initial heatwaves giving over to torrential rain, appears to have dampened the mood for shopping in July, with a particularly pronounced fall in footfall at retail parks.

“However, the last week of July offered a glimmer of hope for retailers as the easing of restrictions led to the best weekly performance of 2021.

“Retailers hope this trend will continue as the rise of vaccinations and falling coronavirus case numbers boosts consumer confidence.”