The final two weekends before Christmas and the first days of the Sales provided temporary boosts in shopper numbers, with some days showing year-on-year increases of up to 25 per cent. But the Retail FootFall Index for December shows an overall decline in shopper numbers of 2.6 per cent compared to 2006, continuing the underlying trend of falling footfall seen throughout 2007.

Experian’s Martin Davies said: “This year marked a watershed in the way consumers shop, with the traditional six-week seasonal shopping period on the High Street banished for good and replaced with just two peak weekends and increased internet shopping

“Britain is now a nation of savvy shoppers who understand retail and use this power to shop efficiently and bag the best bargains. Consumers held back from multiple visits to the High Street and instead condensed their festive shopping into one or two big swoops much closer to Christmas, by which time retailers had cracked under the pressure and introduced early sales and discounting.

“Retailers will have to work hard to take the upper hand back from consumers next Christmas and the lessons learnt from this festive shopping period will be analysed long before the decorations are returned to the loft. However, their first challenge will be to hold consumer interest past the Spring stock turnaround, especially as reality kicks in and consumers find themselves back at work and facing the first credit card bills of the year.”

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