Experian's Footfall Index
Published: 13 April, 2011
The UK National Index decreased by -2.3 per cent in March versus 2010, which is so far the biggest monthly year-on-year drop seen this year.
Whilst January experienced positive growth on the year of +1.8 per cent, February fell back at -1.8 per cent and that negative gap has widened moving into March. In 2009 and 2010 the Index saw positive growth from February moving into March, but this year that variance was -0.4 per cent month-on-month.
The first week of March set the scene for the month with footfall dropping by -3.7 per cent year-on-year. The second week fared no better and in fact saw footfall drop by -7.0 per cent year-on-year, the second worst week of the year. The third week fell by -1.9 per cent, the fourth by -3.5 per cent and then a u-turn into the last week of the month where footfall actually increased by +4.6 per cent. The increase seen in the last week of the month came off the back of Mother’s Day on the Sunday which helped to accumulate footfall during that week and into the weekend. Also the comparable week was set against Easter last year where there was little or no trading on the Sunday. The year before also included Good Friday, so more of the available shoppers may have taken short breaks, inflating this year’s weekly growth for that last week of March.
