Final week of shopping sees numbers continuing to rise
Figures released today from retail analyst, FootFall, show a fifth consecutive week-on-week rise in visitors to retail destinations, suggesting that worries about high shopper levels not being sustained until Christmas may have been unfounded.
In the week commencing 12 December 2005, FootFall recorded a rise in shopper numbers of 7.7% on the previous week, although a fall of 4.2% year-on-year was also recorded.
Natasha Burton, marketing manager at FootFall, said “Retailers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief as it looks like the success of the last few weeks will continue right up until Christmas. Although levels are still slightly down on last year this follows our expectations that the 2005 Christmas levels would reflect the patterns we saw in 2003.
“The department stores are the real winners this Christmas; not only achieving a substantial week-on-week rise of 10.6% but also outperforming 2004 by 0.9%. Carefully planned marketing campaigns have hit consumers exactly as intended, with high levels of customers maintained throughout the week as well as weekends. In fact, stores such as Debenhams and House of Fraser are already starting their sales, suggesting that they have put plans in place to see them well into the New Year.
“This week footfall levels will rise significantly as the final countdown to Christmas really kicks in. There are plenty of opportunities for savvy retailers to capitalise on the last minute rush; their challenge will be to convert footfall to sales and make sure that pre-Christmas browsers are encouraged to part with their cash, especially with many companies moving their final pay day forward to this week,” concludes Burton.
Retail FootFall Index (RFI) UK
Change for week 50 (12th December – 18th December 2005): +7.7%
Change for week 50 year-on-year: – 4.2%
FootFall Department store Index
Change for week 50 (12th December – 18th December 2005): +10.6%
Change for week 50 year-on-year: +0.9%
