Average UK retail footfall in November grew by 4.5 per cent on October, but footfall dropped 4.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2016.

This is according to the latest Retail Traffic Index from Ipsos Retail Performance, which found that in-store traffic on Black Friday improved 0.9 per cent on last year, while the number of shoppers for the full week (Sunday 19th – Saturday 25th November) was down by 4.8 per cent compared to 2016.

Footfall traffic varied significantly across the UK, with store footfall worst hit in London and the south east, where it fell by 10.5 per cent year-on-year, as an increasing number of consumers made the switch to online to search for deals.

Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance, said of the figures: “Black Friday and the promise of promotions and discounts put many people off shopping in October. When the discounting came, while footfall did improve on last year, many of the price cuts were generally shallower and the offers narrower, with retailers intent on preserving demand as we move into the holiday season.

“Retailers across the UK will take a lot of satisfaction from the marginal 0.9 per cent increase in footfall on Black Friday, and the accompanying growth in online activity.”

Ipsos also forecast that footfall this December would fall 2.1 per cent when compared with December 2016. Denison continued: “Heading into Christmas, retailers simply cannot afford shoppers to burn the candle at both ends, foreshortening both Christmas and October spending. This year it’s likely we will see a ‘careful as you go’ Christmas, with retailers closely managing discounting and promotions against demand, and shoppers vigilant in making their shrunken disposable income go further.”

Separate November figures released by Springboard found that footfall in retail parks grew by 1.7 per cent in the week following Black Friday, but declined 0.3 per cent year-on-year. UK High Streets suffered the most, reporting a week-on-week increase of just 0.3 per cent, but a drop of 4.5 per cent when compared with the same week in 2016.

Shopping centres recorded the largest uplift in footfall from the previous week of 2.1 per cent, but an annual drop in footfall of 2.6 per cent suggested that shopping centres were still attracting fewer customers than last year.

Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, said: “These results are likely to be driven by the surge in Click and Collect following the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday – evidence why the retail parks are seeming to buck the UK High Streets slowdown.”

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