Welsh retail footfall has seen a much-needed boost in September but is still below pre-pandemic levels.
According to the Welsh Retail Consortium, shops in Wales saw an uplift in September as continued good weather and back to school offers encouraged consumers back to the high street.
Figures from last month show that footfall decreased by 8.7% in September, compared to a year-on-three-year comparison of September 2019.
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This was 4.4 percentage points better than August and better than the UK average of 9.8% Yo3Y.
Of the nations and regions in the UK, the decline was only greater in London, which recorded a decline of minus 12.5%, and Northern Ireland and Scotland which both recorded a decrease in footfall of minus 13.4%.
The shallowest decline on three years pre-pandemic was the South West England at minus 4.7%.
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY NATION AND REGION (% CHANGE ON 2019)
GROWTH RANK |
NATION AND REGION |
% GROWTH Yo3Y |
1 |
North West England |
-4.7% |
2 |
West Midlands |
-5.2% |
3 |
South West England |
-5.5% |
4 |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
-5.5% |
5 |
East of England |
-6.6% |
6 |
South East England |
-7.5% |
7 |
England |
-7.9% |
8 |
North East England |
-8.2% |
9 |
East Midlands |
-8.3% |
10 |
Wales |
-8.7% |
11 |
London |
-12.5% |
12 |
Northern Ireland |
-13.4% |
13 |
Scotland |
-13.4% |
In Wales, shopping centre footfall declined by 28.3% in September (Yo3Y), an improvement on the decline of 30.1% in August.
Of the UK cities, footfall in Cardiff decreased by 13.6% (Yo3Y), 0.9 percentage points worse than August.
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY CITY (% CHANGE ON 2019)
GROWTH RANK |
CITY |
% GROWTH Yo3Y |
1 |
Manchester |
-2.0% |
2 |
Nottingham |
-7.8% |
3 |
Liverpool |
-8.8% |
4 |
Leeds |
-8.9% |
5 |
Edinburgh |
-10.2% |
6 |
Glasgow |
-10.4% |
7 |
Birmingham |
-11.5% |
8 |
Bristol |
-12.1% |
9 |
London |
-12.9% |
10 |
Cardiff |
-13.6% |
11 |
Belfast |
-18.7% |
On year-on-year footfall changes, total Welsh footfall increased by 7.9% Welsh shopping centres by 6.7%, while footfall in Cardiff increased by 3.4%.
Although retail remains below its-pandemic levels, these figures are positive as footfall has continued to improve over the past year.
Head of the WRC Sara Jones said: "It was a much-improved September for Welsh shops, with footfall figures up by almost 5 per cent on the previous month and pipping the three other UK nations when it came to store visits. Back to school offers and continued good weather have undoubtedly provided a much-needed boost, and Welsh retailers will be hoping that these figures can be sustained as we move into the all-important Golden Quarter of retail spending.
"Shopper numbers do, however, remain down on pre pandemic levels and alongside the challenging current economic landscape there continues to be a cloud of concern over what the future holds, and how the industry may be able to weather the storm. Retailers have already been facing immense cost pressures from high energy bills, commodity prices and transport costs, in addition to a tight labour market."
She added: "Despite these challenges, they are doing their best to support their customers, expanding value ranges, fixing the price of essentials, and absorbing price rises where they can. We are asking that the Welsh Government support these efforts by freezing the business rates multiplier, rejecting the introduction of workplace parking levies, and rolling out the delivery of the Retail Strategy, by doing so this will help not just our shops but also consumers and households across the nation."
Retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions Andy Sumpter said: "While total UK retail saw footfall recovery rise to its highest point this year compared to pre-pandemic levels in September, boosted in part by Back-To-School trading at the beginning of the month, retailers won’t be looking at High Street performance through rose-tinted glasses.
"With all eyes turning towards the Golden Quarter, perhaps with a starker air of caution given the financial turbulence seen over the last few weeks and higher energy bills starting to hit consumers from October, many are already downgrading Christmas trading forecasts amid shaky consumer confidence. And this means that amongst the usual pressures of preparing for peak, retailers will need to think hard about how they can support – and deliver value to - an increasingly cautious cost-of-living shopper during what will be a critical trading period."
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