BRC Points To Return To Office Trends Driving Retail Foot Traffic In January

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that total U.K. retail foot traffic increased 12.5 percent year-over-year (YoY) in January, 2.6 percentage points worse than December but better than the three-month average increase of 10.3 percent. The BRC measured the fiscal January period from January 1 through January 28 when generating the BRC-Sensormatic IQ data.

“Retail foot traffic saw strong growth this month as employees made more trips into the office and international tourism improved, compared with last year when some Covid restrictions were in place,” explained Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, BRC. “Growth was most pronounced in high streets and shopping centers as many shoppers sought out a bargain in the January sales. Meanwhile, retail parks faltered as the cost of living crisis put many shoppers off buying big-ticket home products often located there.”

Looking at the segment data in more detail:

• High Street retail foot traffic increased 20.2 percent in January (YoY), 0.5 percentage points better than last month’s rate and better than the three-month average increase of 15.2 percent.
• Retail Parks saw retail foot traffic decrease by 3.5 percent in January (YoY), 1.9 percentage points worse than last month’s rate and worse than the three-month average decline of 2.9 percent.
• Shopping Centre retail foot traffic increased by 12.4 percent in January (YoY), 1.0 percentage points worse than last month’s rate but better than the three-month average increase of 10.2 percent.

England saw the highest increase in retail foot traffic of all nations and regions at +16.2 percent, followed by Wales at +14.6 percent and Scotland at +12.2 percent. Northern Ireland saw the lowest increase at +9.1 percent.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels (Yo4Y), Total retail foot traffic decreased by 6.5 percent; High Streets by 8.5 percent, Retail Parks decreased by 7.7 percent, and Shopping Centers by 25.2 percent.

“Retailers will welcome this recovery, and despite the cost of living squeeze, retail foot traffic has continued towards its pre-pandemic levels,” Dickinson continued. “The challenge for retailers will be to convert this extra retail foot traffic into sales, at a time when many consumers are reining in their discretionary spending. The government could capitalize on the growth in tourism by reintroducing VAT-free shopping to help entice even more international shoppers to the U.K.”