Easter fails to lift April shopper numbers
UK consumers keep retailers guessing
May 6 2003
The late Easter failed to cure the weakness in UK retail, with April shopper traffic down 0.5 per cent on 2002, according to the SPSL index.
Retail traffic over Easter was also down by 0.8 per cent compared to last year, despite an Easter Monday shopping surge which lifted spending by 5 per cent on Easter Monday in 2002.
Year-on-year figures are down for the third successive month. Dr Tim Denison, Director of Knowledge Management at SPSL said: “There are signs that consumers are curbing their shopping appetite or at least thinking about it, some because of increased credit card debt others because they have taken equity out of their homes in a stabilising market.”
“Whatever the cause, there is a move towards greater consumer prudence. The chancellor may welcome any move the Bank of England makes to encourage the borrowing boom to continue. The wise retailer will be concentrating on stimulating the ‘impulse buy’ by offering high-quality goods at lower than expected prices until confidence picks up, perhaps later in the year.”
