Congestion charge helps push down shopper numbers
Combined factors hit London footfall
March 1 2003
The number of shoppers visiting key retailers in the London congestion charge area decreased again during the second week.
According to the FootFall Index the number of shoppers in the congestion charge area was down over 4 per cent compared to the same week in 2002 in relative terms.
At the same time, shopper numbers in the Greater London area outside the congestion charging zone ncreased by 0.3 period on the same period last year although the overall trend is still down.
David Smyth, marketing manager at FootFall, said: “This relative decrease in shopper numbers in the congestion charge area can be put down to a combination of the congestion charge and reduced consumer confidence.
“We have seen the effect of the congestion charge now for almost twi weeks. We can also factor out a number of issues at play at the moment – the closure of the Central line, heightened security issues.
“However it is becoming clear that the well-reported effect of consumer confidence is having a larger impact on shopping habits at the moment. The congestion charge, although adding to this in some respect, is probably not the major cause for the downswing in numbers.
“As half term is split over these last two weeks we will need to wait for at least another week before we can see a clearer picture of how shopping habits have really been affected by all the issues currently at play.”
