Heatwave takes its toll on UK retail
Shopper numbers fall in high temperatures
August 9 2003
While the recent spell of good weather across the UK has helped boost shopper numbers, the oppressively hot conditions over the past week have started to have the opposite affect.
The weather has had a major impact on many retail sectors over the past week, according to the latest retail traffic index figures from SPSL. Traffic was down by an average of 19.2 per cent across most retail sectors from Sunday through Thursday.
Most retailers have seen some decline week-on-week which, according to sector varies from a few per cent to almost 31.5 per cent.
Sunday August 3 was one of the days most affected, coming in the first really sunny weekend day for some weeks. Another factor affecting traffic on Sunda was the final day of the Robbie Williams concerts at Knebworth on Sunday which took a potential 125,000
people out of retailers’ grasp. A further 125,000 people from the Saturday concert were still sleeping off the day before as they’d not got out of the Knebworth car park until 4 am on Sunday morning
Dr Tim Denison, director of knowledge management at SPSL said: “The public had plenty of warning that Wednesday, August 6, was likely to be the hottest day of the year so far with potential record breaking temperatures. This alone may have put many off from a trawl around the shops.
“However there were some signs of a very slight improvement on Thursday this week. Were people getting used to the high temperatures?”
Clothing traffic was the most affected, with some retailers showing up to a 31.5 per cent decline in traffic this week. It’s certainly likely that many customers were reluctant to try on clothes in the heat, particularly as some retailers have just ended their summer sale campaigns and launched their autumn ranges.
Least affected was the DIY sector, which was only slightly down on the previous week. Many were still selling the last of their garden furniture and barbecue ranges, but there’s also been a major rush on plants, hoses, cooling systems and fans. In fact, most retailers sold out of fans earlier this week. Also only slightly down are travel agents who are coming up to their second traffic peak of the year, the first being in January.
