Cost-of-living woes continue as November footfall dips

Data from BRC-Sensormatic IQ revealed that UK footfall declined in November by 13.3% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

This fall was 1.5 percentage levels below October and worse than the three-month average decline of 11.5%.

High Street footfall fell by 13.6% compared to pre-COVID levels, while retail parks and shopping centres saw a fall of 4.2% and 23.2% respectively.

Northern Ireland saw the shallowest footfall decline of all regions, at 7%, while Wales was the most affected, seeing a dip of 16.2% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Interestingly, Belfast was the only UK city to see an uptick in footfall compared to 2019 levels, with an increase of 5.7%. This is a huge jump from the second best performer, Manchester, who saw a decrease of 7.6%.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:

“Footfall took another stumble as the cost of living crisis put off some consumers from visiting the shops in November. Others opted to stay home due to the scattering of rail strikes, or chose the World Cup over shopping visits. Many big cities were particularly hard hit.”

“Rising inflation and low consumer confidence continue to dampen spending expectations in the run up to Christmas”, she added.

However, the data revealed an increase in footfall from 2021, with a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said:

“With footfall on Black Friday surpassing 2021 levels, retailers will be hoping this signposts a resilience in consumer demand, even in the context of the rising cost-of-living, as they head into the critical December Christmas trading period.”