Insight: 42% of retailers experienced footfall growth on Black Friday
New figures have shown that UK retail footfall increased by 0.95% year-on-year on Black Friday with 42% of retailers experiencing footfall growth.
According to Ipsos Retail Performance, the compiler of the Retail Traffic Index, fortunes were mixed for retailers depending on the emphasis they gave to online or in-store campaigns. Following the success of online and mobile sales last year, many retailers were found to devote more time and effort to their digital strategies this year.
Dr Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance, said: “The scenes in stores up and down the country thankfully didn’t repeat the chaos and madding crowds of 2014 – however, retailers will be happy to see some controlled growth on last year’s footfall.
“The million pound question on everyone’s lips now is how will Christmas shopping fare in the wake of the Black Friday promotional campaigns. Last year, sales were pulled forward by the increased November activity, and as we move into December, we’re expecting to see a repeat of last year’s pattern with footfall slow to build, after Black Friday has taken the stuffing out of bargain-hunters, but we’re predicting a resurgence of activity in the last week before Christmas.”
