Footfall Index
Published: 10 February, 2011
For the past three years footfall levels have dropped each year in January, so a +1.8 per cent increase year-on-year is a relatively strong performance. The month-on-month drop at -25.8 per cent is somewhat irrelevant for January as this is expected post Christmas.
The first week of the year saw footfall increase by +14.1 per cent year-on-year which was a direct result of heavy snowfall in early January 2010 restricting shopper’s mobility and therefore magnifying this year’s growth figure. The three weeks to follow all experienced negative year-on-year growth but with such a large increase in the first week, the month overall increased year-on-year.
On a regional basis there were some vast differences in year-on-year footfall performance, where perhaps the snow in 2010 would have made more of an impact on some regions over others. The South West & Wales saw footfall increase by +6.2 per cent year-on-year with the West Midlands also performing above the average at +5.1 per cent.
The four worst-performing regions were Eastern at -1.2 per cent year-on-year, Yorkshire-Humber at -0.7 per cent, Scotland at -0.5 per cent and the North West at -0.1 per cent. With the exception of the North East which saw a positive growth in footfall year-on-year, these regions represent the areas worst hit by the snow in December 2010. Naturally the expectation would have been that they may have therefore seen greater bounce backs from this, but this is not the case.
While the Retail Park Index remained at similar levels to the UK National throughout December, in January 2011 it outperformed, increasing by +4.6 per cent. To a certain extent this is a reflection of poor performance during the snow of January 2010: in periods of adverse weather, consumers are attracted more towards shopping centres than retail parks. The February year-on-year figures, when published in March, will therefore give a more representative indication of footfall patterns comparably between retail parks and shopping centres.
